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Keller Executive Search is widely recognized as a leading executive search firm that supports organizations by finding top quality leadership and filling supporting roles like personal assistants in a timely and effective manner. We specialize in finding highly-skilled personal assistants with exceptional attention to detail for our clients’ vacancies.
Personal assistants play a vital role in improving the efficiency and productivity of an organization. They are responsible for handling schedules, travel, and various other administrative and personal tasks, which allows other professionals to focus on their own responsibilities. They aid in reducing stress, enhancing time management, and improving work-life balance when time-consuming duties are delegated to them. In essence, they provide exceptional support and function as a right-hand person for the professional and private life of the leadership they assist.
As it is such an important role, it can be difficult to identify the perfect match for the position. Our decades of hands-on experience in personal assistant executive search help clients around the world discover top-quality candidates.
Keller Executive Search combines its extensive experience with impressive personal and professional qualifications, in-depth technical knowledge, and specialized headhunting skills to bring our clients the best talent available, from a superb executive assistant to a personal assistant for a private household.
One of the roles that comes closest to understanding an executive’s daily capacity is the personal assistant, and the market for it is large but tightening. There are approximately 502,800 executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants working in the United States alone, with a median annual salary of $74,260, about 50% more than the $49,500 median for all occupations. The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects the field to shrink 2% between now and 2034, versus average growth of 3% elsewhere. Although that shrinking incorporates 50,000 openings projected each year, almost all of them from people retiring or moving into other work, so the market retains its competitive edge for experienced, qualified candidates. This environment makes finding dependable senior assistant staffing difficult.
The bulk of senior assistant recruitment is in education, government, professional services, health care, financial services, and technology. The flat outlook is a result of AI tools and self-service software taking over routine document and scheduling work, and assistants now supporting several leaders instead of just one. Both of these trends raise the bar for the position rather than reducing demand for the best people. Executive Assistants, Senior Executive Assistants, Executive Business Partners, Chiefs of Staff, Personal Assistants, and Directors of Administration are all highly sought after for much the same reason.
Keller Executive Search, a respected personal assistant recruitment firm, helps with assistant hiring in all of these sectors and in major cities worldwide, finding employers senior support professionals who can hold together a complex executive workload and still exercise judgment under pressure.
Technology Company
Private Equity Firm
Family Law Firm
Biotechnology Company
Law Firm
Energy Group
Media Group
Healthcare System
Nonprofit Foundation
The boundaries are important when a new job description is being set out, especially as titles in this area can overlap. An executive assistant is tied to the office and keeps the collective calendar running. The Chief of Staff works for the agenda. They are responsible for a variety of multidisciplinary priorities for the principal and often are expected to be able to act on their behalf. A personal assistant is the professional closest to the individual, not the role, with responsibilities that span both the professional and private sides of someone else’s life.
The remit is vague and shaped by the unique needs of the person being supported. That could mean screening calls and correspondence, speaking in the principal’s voice, briefing them on what’s behind a door before they open it, running personal errands, reconciling expenses and household accounts, managing domestic staff and vendors, or maintaining continuity across time zones. The best assistants are those whose problems are never known to their principal.
It all comes down to trust. A personal assistant has access to financial records, lifestyle, and family matters, and commercial information long before it is announced, often without any formal line of reporting to anyone but the person they serve. Discretion is not a soft skill; it is the job.
The entry-level applicant pool is deep and a degree is rarely required. When you reach the point of putting an assistant in charge of a principal’s whole life, that pool shrinks dramatically. It is a matter of judgment, discretion, and personal chemistry rather than credentials. Assistant staffing at this level is a matching problem, not a sourcing problem.
Our dedicated team begins the recruitment process by gaining an in-depth knowledge of your business, company culture, staffing needs, and desired qualities in prospective employees. We then analyze your existing leadership team to identify possible gaps that need filling by a personal assistant.
After our assessment concludes, our team of recruiters begins a rigorous search for the right assistant. We aim to find a diverse selection of skilled administrative personnel, each with the skill set, experience, and knowledge needed for the job. To find the very best talent available, our talented recruiters access a global network of professionals that we have access to through our recognized membership with NPAworldwide.
We value inclusivity, and we select workers based purely on their qualifications, skills, and suitability for the job opening, without regard to gender, ethnicity, age, religion, or personal expression. Instead, we aim to find job seekers whose values and working style are in alignment with our client’s organization.
The initial group we select is then screened thoroughly. We make use of background checks to verify each candidate’s resume and rule out criminal histories. We also make use of advanced psychometric testing to learn more about their individual personality types, leadership skills, and communication methods. Vetted candidates are then placed on a shortlist. This curated shortlist can then be presented to our clientele for selection, so that they may proceed with interviews and a job offer. In this way, we aim to streamline your hiring and onboarding process and provide results in a timely manner.
Over the years, our firm has gained an enduring reputation for high-quality candidates and reliably good outcomes. Our headhunters have also gained many years of first-hand experience working in the field of personal assistant recruitment. While all of these experiences have contributed to shaping the tailored executive search approach we are known for today, one experience is particularly memorable for the transformative impact it had on our methodology.
We began our journey using a generic recruitment approach that we applied to every search. This worked well for the small client base we served at the time, and we didn’t think to change it until we were hired by a larger organization that needed an executive assistant search completed urgently. As we had become used to our moderate success using a cookie-cutter methodology, we made use of it for this project as well.
To our surprise, however, our search did not yield the top candidate our client was looking for. Our generic approach failed to take their needs into account in terms of the prospective employee’s personality type and communication skills. As a result, we could not secure a successful placement.
Although it was challenging, this experience taught us the value of assistant staffing tailored to each company’s unique requirements. We have achieved great success since adopting a customized approach, and our name has now become synonymous with premium executive search services. We’ve also made a great impact on the industry and contributed to improving the global understanding of recruitment.
Our passionate team prides itself on the lasting client partnerships we are able to foster and maintain through this methodology.
Learn more about workplace coaching, PTO, employee motivation, and talent acquisition in Keller Executive Search’s exclusive Insights and Thought Leadership pieces below.
As a staffing agency with global reach, we source skilled and seasoned personal assistants for positions across a wide range of industries. Some (but not all) of the industries we find leading candidates for include:
Drawing on decades of personal and executive assistant recruitment experience, our specialist headhunters look beyond the job description alone. Instead, we are committed to securing the best talent for high-level support roles in organizations and private family offices we partner with.
Because we partner with companies and high-profile individuals in every major industry, where confidentiality is a condition of every engagement, we are continuously mapping talent pipelines and tracking emerging assistant career paths. This, in combination with our extensive experience, industry insight, and proven track record, allows us to advise our partner organizations confidently, especially when the ideal talent acquisition solution sits outside traditional role definitions, such as blending private-family support with corporate liaison and coordination duties.
Our recruiters utilize their deep understanding and knowledge of the industry, alongside our extensive network of connections and specialized executive search skills, to find the right candidates. This includes things like a personal assistant working on a part-time basis, on contract, or as a full-time employee, personal assistants to the CEO and other C-suite executives, an office assistant, other types of executive assistants, or a virtual PA.
Additionally, we are able to find qualified executive assistants and other talented professionals for roles such as executive personal assistants, project coordinators, client-facing service specialists, office managers, legal assistants, estate managers, and household managers, among many others.
Keller Executive Search is a globally renowned personal assistant recruitment agency with a long history of filling these roles, alongside a wide variety of other supporting positions. While there is no shortage of choice when selecting an assistant staffing agency, our outstanding service and strong partnership with our clients make us stand out above the rest.
It is our mission to help our customers find the perfect match for their business and hiring needs through our expertise and broad network of qualified candidates to choose from.
When you become our client, you can rest assured that you are getting advice and services based on the most up-to-date knowledge of the industry. Our recruiters consistently stay abreast of current trends, challenges, developments, findings, and advancements in the industry. This continuous learning ensures that your decision-making is supported by the most accurate information and most helpful assistance available.
One of the reasons why we are considered a top executive search and recruitment firm in the industry is our unwavering commitment to conducting each search with precision and professionalism. We expertly match personal assistant candidates with top organizations, while ensuring that confidentiality and client safety are upheld at all times throughout the process. To protect sensitive client and candidate data, we make use of responsible and ethical practices throughout the headhunting process.
Additionally, we are known for our reliability, making us a trusted recruitment partner when your business needs a new hire. It is our mission to exceed your expectations by providing you with a candidate who can hit the ground running in any position. However, we understand that no recruitment methodology can guarantee a perfect outcome every time. Because we acknowledge this, each client also receives replacement coverage for the first 365 days of a placement. This means that if any candidate we place proves to be unsuitable or incapable of fulfilling their job duties within the first 365 days of their employment, our team will provide a more suitable fit at no extra cost.
We value every client’s questions, critiques, and comments, as we use them to improve our support and our offerings. For this reason, our recruiters are poised to respond to clients with respect and keep the conversations as constructive as possible.
Contact Keller Executive Search today to request a consultation and discuss your requirements with an expert consultant.
"The entire process of working with Keller Executive Search to fill our opening was a really smooth and easy experience. They took the time to understand the specific kind of person we were looking for, and we ended up with professionals who fit in perfectly. We were also very much impressed with their follow-up and support."
- Jane W., Chief HR Officer
"We immediately saw a big improvement in our daily operations after bringing on new management professionals with Keller Executive Search’s help. The service we received was comprehensive and we felt that the team handled every part of the process with care. Overall seamless experience. Thanks!"
- Emily R., Director of Organizational Development
"As a small operation, we were worried that hiring an external recruitment firm would be too expensive. But the role we were looking to fill was specialized and we needed to bring in professionals who understood how to recruit for that specific role. Luckily we were positively surprised by Keller Executive Search’s tailored approach to helping our small firm out, they were reasonable in their pricing and provided a consistently high quality of service. We were able to fill the role quickly and were very pleased with the qualifications of the candidate pool they presented."
- James K., Chief Executive Officer
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We use several methods to assess discretion. Structured checks such as background screening, professional reference checks, and psychometric testing for conscientiousness and impulse control form part of our standard initial assessment. For sensitive positions like a personal assistant, we also read the signals in how a candidate conducts themselves during the selection process itself, tracking how they answer questions and what they are willing to volunteer unprompted. Tenure patterns count as well. Long service with a small number of principals tells us more than a broad resume, because trust in this role takes time to build and is seldom regained once broken. Candidates who fail this read do not reach our shortlist, however strong they look on paper.
The problem is volume, not the solution. An open personal assistant posting garners hundreds of applications and it takes just the time the hire was supposed to free up for the executive to sift through them. Depth at the entry level does not say anything about supply at the level where you trust someone with a principal’s whole life, which is a much smaller field and one that rarely browses executive assistant jobs on public boards. Our recruiters go straight into the field. A search firm also does something a posting structurally cannot do, which is to lead the process without announcing it. For principals who do not wish it to be known that they are replacing an assistant, and for households who do not want their arrangements to be described in public, our headhunters can conduct the search under strict confidentiality.
