Hiring guide
How to Hire a Personal Assistant
Hire a personal assistant: where to find PAs, the skills to test, a diary-and-inbox work sample, red flags, discretion checks and onboarding.
The short answer
Hiring a Personal Assistant comes down to verifying diary management across time zones, including protecting focus time and resolving double bookings without escalation, inbox triage: deciding what to answer, delegate, file or flag, in the principal's voice where appropriate and travel planning with contingencies such as alternative routes, visa checks and backup bookings before you commit interview time. The process below runs 5 stages, screens on evidence rather than résumé claims, and scores every candidate against the same criteria.
- Watch for: Shares names or details of previous principals during the interview, which shows how they will treat yours
- Watch for: Describes the job only as tasks completed, with no example of anticipating a problem before it happened
- Score on: Quality of judgement in the work sample: what they escalated, what they handled and why
- Score on: Accuracy and tone of drafted replies in the principal's voice
Paste your Personal Assistant job description; Cohesyve finds, contacts and tests candidates on the real work and ranks them. Ten candidates free, no card.
Applying for a role like this? Practise the assessment free →If you need to hire a personal assistant, start by deciding whose life the role supports: one executive at work, a founder across work and home, or a private household. That choice shapes where you look, how much access you grant and what you test. This guide covers sourcing, the skills that separate a good PA from a great one, a practical work sample, and how to set the relationship up in the first weeks.
Why this role matters
A personal assistant protects the most limited resource in the business: one person's time and attention. A strong PA anticipates clashes, filters requests and keeps commitments from slipping, so their principal spends the day on decisions only they can make. A weak hire creates the opposite effect, because every missed booking or mishandled message lands back on the person they were meant to help, and the PA usually sees confidential personal and business information.
Where to find candidates
- Specialist PA and executive support recruitment agencies, which pre-screen for discretion and diary management
- LinkedIn searches for current PAs and executive assistants supporting a single senior leader
- IAAP (International Association of Administrative Professionals) chapters and members holding the Certified Administrative Professional (CAP) credential
- Household staffing and private-office agencies when the role covers family, travel and home logistics
- Referrals from other executives' assistants, who tend to know who is reliable and discreet
Skills to look for
Red flags
- Shares names or details of previous principals during the interview, which shows how they will treat yours
- Describes the job only as tasks completed, with no example of anticipating a problem before it happened
- Cannot explain how they decide what reaches the principal and what they handle themselves
- Sloppy written material, such as errors in their cover email or the work sample
- Uneasy with changing plans or out-of-hours requests when the role clearly involves both
The interview process
- 1
Scoping call with the principal
Before advertising, agree with the person being supported which parts of their work and life are in scope, what access the PA will have (inbox, calendar, cards, home), and their working style. This becomes the brief for every later stage.
- 2
Screening conversation
Ask the candidate to walk through a typical week with their current or last principal, which tools they used and one time they prevented a problem. Listen for discretion: they should describe the situation without naming people or private details.
- 3
Diary-and-inbox work sample
Give a mock calendar with clashes and a dozen mock emails of mixed urgency. Ask the candidate to resolve the conflicts, draft three replies, and write a short note to the principal listing what needs their decision. A job simulation of this real work is one option for running the step consistently across candidates.
- 4
Meeting with the principal
The person being supported should meet the finalists. Chemistry and trust matter here more than in most roles, so ask how the candidate likes to receive instructions and how they push back when a request conflicts with an earlier priority.
- 5
References and checks
Speak to former principals directly where possible and ask about discretion, reliability under pressure and how they handled mistakes. Run background checks proportionate to the access the role carries, within local law.
Cohesyve
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Cohesyve takes your Personal Assistant job description, finds and contacts candidates and tests each one on an AI job simulation of the job, so the stages above start with people who have already done the work. Ten candidates free, no card.
How to evaluate
- Quality of judgement in the work sample: what they escalated, what they handled and why
- Accuracy and tone of drafted replies in the principal's voice
- Evidence of anticipating needs rather than waiting for instructions
- Discretion shown throughout the process
- Fit with the principal's working style and communication preferences
Onboarding
- 1Write a one-page "how I work" note from the principal covering priorities, people who always get through and preferred communication channels
- 2Grant access in stages, starting with calendar and email, and add payment cards or home access once trust is established
- 3Hold a short daily check-in for the first weeks so the PA learns how the principal makes decisions
- 4Share a list of key contacts with context on each relationship
- 5Agree in writing on confidentiality, out-of-hours expectations and how urgent requests are signalled
Common questions
What is the difference between a personal assistant and an executive assistant?
The titles overlap. An executive assistant usually supports a senior leader's business work and may manage projects or other admin staff, while a personal assistant often covers both business and personal matters for one person, sometimes including household logistics.
Should a personal assistant be employed or freelance?
If the PA needs deep access to your accounts, home or confidential business information, direct employment gives you clearer control over confidentiality and expectations. Freelance or virtual support suits lighter, task-based help.
Do personal assistants need a certification?
No certification is required. Credentials such as IAAP's Certified Administrative Professional (CAP) show commitment to the profession, but a well-designed work sample tells you more about how a candidate will actually run a diary and inbox.
How do I test discretion in an interview?
Notice whether candidates name previous principals or share private stories, and ask how they would respond if a colleague or family member asked about the principal's schedule. References from former principals are the strongest evidence.
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