It's good to be at the top of the corporate ladder, but it's also a lot of work! Once you start climbing the administrative ranks and find yourself among the big dogs, the roles and responsibilities of certain positions begin to overlap and can seem questionably similar.
Two jobs that are often confused for one another are Executive Assistants and Chiefs of Staff. While they both entail a myriad of similar duties and require wearing many hats to ensure that the executives they work for are able to effectively do their jobs, there are stark aspects of each career that differentiate one from the other. Here's how to tell the difference:
What Does an Executive Assistant Do?
Executive Assistants are experts at being the behind-the-scenes backbones that make sure their organizations run smoothly and efficiently. They accomplish this by clearly communicating with their boss, staff, and the public; they have open availability to support their bosses at virtually any time; and have excellent organizational and time management skills to ensure that schedules, meetings, and other logistics go off without a hitch.
Glassdoor.com tells us that by doing their jobs well, Executive Assistants "ensure that executives have the time and bandwidth to do what only they can do, and delegate the rest appropriately." Some of their most important duties include:
Managing schedules
Financial planning
Overseeing events & projects
Recruiting and managing other administrators
Booking travel
Being an Executive Assistant may seem like a tiring job with little reward. It's true that it takes the right person to fulfill the long hours, strong work ethic, and high attention to detail it requires to be a successful Executive Assistant, but it's a job that definitely has its perks. Working around high-level executives can open an array of professional doors, including potentially working your way up to the executive position yourself one day.
What Does a Chief of Staff Do?
Chiefs of Staff (COS) is most commonly known as their executive or Chief Executive Officer's (CEO) right-hand man. They are typically given a focus area to devote their attention to depending on the corporation that they work for. According to Forbes, COS responsibilities could include:
Taking calls and attending meetings that their boss couldn't make
Taking notes during the meetings that CEOs do attend
Writing first drafts of proposals, emails, and letters for their boss
Acting as the sounding board for their boss's new ideas
Acting as the main source of communication for their boss with other executives in the organization, clients or major stakeholders
Looking for new technologies or companies to acquire and develop
Like an Executive Assistant position, being a good COS requires strong communication, organizational, and problem-solving skills. Many of their contributions may go unseen, but unlike an Executive Assistant, it's a position that tends to be universally respected. People recognize COS as being closely associated with their CEO or executives, which shines more of a spotlight on their role within their organizations, while Executive Assistants are sometimes viewed more as a secretarial position.
Respected or not, the roles of Executive Assistants and Chiefs of Staff are critical to the success of the executives and companies they work for. They are essential to ensuring that tasks, both large and small, are not only accomplished but are done so thoroughly and efficiently.
Whether you are an Administrative Executive searching for the perfect Executive Assistant or COS to add to your team, or you think you have what it takes to be the next great Executive Assistant or COS, The Hire Standard is here to help you make your dream a reality. Serving the San Francisco bay area and beyond, we work hard to pair fabulous employers with their ideal potential employees.
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