Personal assistant - value?

[ExtraSlow]

So in my life, I've known some really powerful executives, and one thing I've always been impressed by is the ability of a GOOD Executive assistant to cut out distractions, reduce wasted time, and generally make that person more effective. I've heard that some rich folks even hire a personal assistant for much the same reasons. Sounds awesome.

Then this advert on linkedin caught my eye:



I'm sure an assistant based in a foreign country, who is likely handling stuff for a dozen or more clients, is nowhere near as useful as a dedicated person who sits in the office next to you, but . . . . it's also nowhere near the cost.

Not that I'm getting either type, but it's fascinating to consider the value proposition here. If you paid someone $9/hr for say 2 days a week, and they took care of a sufficient number of tasks for you, I'm sure you'd be able to consider that decent value.

Thoughts?

[you&me]

Interesting idea, but I think the effectiveness of a personal assistant comes down to their ability to put out fires and jump on grenades... Distracting, yet urgent things that need to be taken care of... The kind of things that are difficult to manage with a 12 hour delay.

I suppose for less urgent things like travel arrangements and such, it would work, but on the chance that there was a mistake made, or changes needed and you're looking at a potential 24hr turnaround, no thanks.

[vengie]

Tim Ferris discusses using a foreign EA in his book 4 hour work week.
Interesting idea, not something I'd be interested in using at this time. #I'mnotimportantenough

[Buster]

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So in my life, I've known some really powerful executives, and one thing I've always been impressed by is the ability of a GOOD Executive assistant to cut out distractions, reduce wasted time, and generally make that person more effective. I've heard that some rich folks even hire a personal assistant for much the same reasons. Sounds awesome.

Then this advert on linkedin caught my eye:



I'm sure an assistant based in a foreign country, who is likely handling stuff for a dozen or more clients, is nowhere near as useful as a dedicated person who sits in the office next to you, but . . . . it's also nowhere near the cost.

Not that I'm getting either type, but it's fascinating to consider the value proposition here. If you paid someone $9/hr for say 2 days a week, and they took care of a sufficient number of tasks for you, I'm sure you'd be able to consider that decent value.

Thoughts?

I know you're looking for a new job.

But you can do better than $9 per hour.

[SKR]

A Broad Works. Haha.

[Darell_n]

Can you ask for their only fans link during the job interview? Surely that would have some value.

[ThePenIsMightier]

Can I fuck it?


Why, oh why can I not find that clip from Robot Chicken?!!?

[mr2mike]

[max_boost]

How about an intern
I heard they just work for free

Wait nvm that’s an American thing

Yes yes influencers outsource everything to Asia

[pheoxs]

I think an assistant can have lots of value but really comes down to how you utilize them. I think there's 3 areas they can work for you, saving time, saving money, and saving mental strain. In a lot of cases even as little as a few hours a week could help automate a lot of your life. 100 bucks a month really isn't much and in some cases they can probably save you that much in the long run.

Time:
- Help manage and input things into your calendar, create summary of what you need to do that week. They can book appointments for doc/car/etc and work around your availability.
- Ideas for date night, scour a few blogs / avenue Calgary for things happening each week so you always have a list of fun things to do whenever you choose to go out. It's amazing how much happens in this city that people just don't hear about until after its passed
- They can also assist with kids in terms of inputting syllabus and important dates into calendars, reminders of things like field trips or big exams coming. They can also do research for programs or camps you want your kids to get into so you don't miss any application dates. You can also get them to fill in mundane forms for applications.
- Research for trips, most people enjoy planning trips but not everyone does. Being able to tell someone you want a 10 day trip next March and have them go find options across a bunch of countries with pricing so you can have a list to choose from can save some headache and then just focus on the fun part of the trip planning. Or you have a destination already picked go get them to do research on all the possible activities and available dates in that area. Can improve the trip or even reduce a lot of stress by avoiding showing up when something is closed or without a reservation.

Money:
- You can give them a list of places you want to eat or go for date night and get them to plan when it's best to go. For example we went to Deane house for their Chef's tasting menu; Sundays its $75 while other days is $110.
- You can keep a list of things you want/need and have them periodically check deals across a bunch of vendors to see if they can cheaper prices. Likewise major purchases they can continue to track to see if prices drop so you can do a price match and get $ back.
- Car shopping you can give them what you want and basically get them to call every dealer in the AB/BC and keep trying to haggle them all and see what they manage to get. Even a bit off a car pays their cost for months.
- Scholarships if you have kids. Really your kid should be doing this but even 18 year olds are still quite dumb so having someone scour for obscure scholarships they may be eligible for could still be a grand here and there of free cash
- Finding services, if you need lawn care done or furnace tune-up and don't have a set company it can be worth it to have someone find options for you. Prices vary across places so even checking a dozen places you can often find a more reputable company for less or find early season deals to save before things get busy. If you want to go full fancy then make a group chat going with your neighbors and then get your assistant to call around and get deals on servicing multiple houses at once. A lawn care place could easily give you enough off if you can get half a dozen lawns on the same street that yours is free.

Mental Strain:
- Cancelling memberships or subscriptions, dealing with any warranty claims, follow ups on tasks you just hate doing or take ages on the phone.
- Tracking important dates, reminders for birthdays as well as prep for those. Order gifts/flowers ahead of time for reoccurring ones so you never forget any.
- Extra person to assist booking busy reservations. For example camping sites or concerts that go on sale and near instantly book up. We've wanted to go see Lake O'hara for a while but it's the biggest fking pain to get a slot.
- Best of all you can get your assistant to troll certain people on forums just for fun without having to interact with them yourself.

[dj_rice]

Rich folk problems.

[The_Penguin]

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I know you're looking for a new job.

But you can do better than $9 per hour.

[haggis88]

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Best of all you can get your assistant to troll certain people on forums just for fun without having to interact with them yourself.

You'd need to pay me more than $9 an hour to interact with Toma, Kert or SportEL

[ExtraSlow]

Rage2 pays me $9 per hour to troll beyond.

[schurchill39]

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Rage2 pays me $9 per hour to troll beyond.

[ThePenIsMightier]

I'm still only making $8.90 as we haven't had a chance to renegotiate since I reached the #1* spot.


*#1 middle-aged street racer.

[bjstare]

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I think an assistant can have lots of value but really comes down to how you utilize them. I think there's 3 areas they can work for you, saving time, saving money, and saving mental strain. In a lot of cases even as little as a few hours a week could help automate a lot of your life. 100 bucks a month really isn't much and in some cases they can probably save you that much in the long run.

Time:
- Help manage and input things into your calendar, create summary of what you need to do that week. They can book appointments for doc/car/etc and work around your availability.
- Ideas for date night, scour a few blogs / avenue Calgary for things happening each week so you always have a list of fun things to do whenever you choose to go out. It's amazing how much happens in this city that people just don't hear about until after its passed
- They can also assist with kids in terms of inputting syllabus and important dates into calendars, reminders of things like field trips or big exams coming. They can also do research for programs or camps you want your kids to get into so you don't miss any application dates. You can also get them to fill in mundane forms for applications.
- Research for trips, most people enjoy planning trips but not everyone does. Being able to tell someone you want a 10 day trip next March and have them go find options across a bunch of countries with pricing so you can have a list to choose from can save some headache and then just focus on the fun part of the trip planning. Or you have a destination already picked go get them to do research on all the possible activities and available dates in that area. Can improve the trip or even reduce a lot of stress by avoiding showing up when something is closed or without a reservation.

Money:
- You can give them a list of places you want to eat or go for date night and get them to plan when it's best to go. For example we went to Deane house for their Chef's tasting menu; Sundays its $75 while other days is $110.
- You can keep a list of things you want/need and have them periodically check deals across a bunch of vendors to see if they can cheaper prices. Likewise major purchases they can continue to track to see if prices drop so you can do a price match and get $ back.
- Car shopping you can give them what you want and basically get them to call every dealer in the AB/BC and keep trying to haggle them all and see what they manage to get. Even a bit off a car pays their cost for months.
- Scholarships if you have kids. Really your kid should be doing this but even 18 year olds are still quite dumb so having someone scour for obscure scholarships they may be eligible for could still be a grand here and there of free cash
- Finding services, if you need lawn care done or furnace tune-up and don't have a set company it can be worth it to have someone find options for you. Prices vary across places so even checking a dozen places you can often find a more reputable company for less or find early season deals to save before things get busy. If you want to go full fancy then make a group chat going with your neighbors and then get your assistant to call around and get deals on servicing multiple houses at once. A lawn care place could easily give you enough off if you can get half a dozen lawns on the same street that yours is free.

Mental Strain:
- Cancelling memberships or subscriptions, dealing with any warranty claims, follow ups on tasks you just hate doing or take ages on the phone.
- Tracking important dates, reminders for birthdays as well as prep for those. Order gifts/flowers ahead of time for reoccurring ones so you never forget any.
- Extra person to assist booking busy reservations. For example camping sites or concerts that go on sale and near instantly book up. We've wanted to go see Lake O'hara for a while but it's the biggest fking pain to get a slot.
- Best of all you can get your assistant to troll certain people on forums just for fun without having to interact with them yourself.

You're talking about onshore (i.e., expensive) EA capability here. I wouldn't trust an offshore $9/hr person to do any of that reliably, except the shitposting.

[ExtraSlow]

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You're talking about onshore (i.e., expensive) EA capability here. I wouldn't trust an offshore $9/hr person to do any of that reliably, except the shitposting.

That was kind of the point of my post. What WOULD you be comfortable outsourcing to that kind of person?

[bjstare]

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That was kind of the point of my post. What WOULD you be comfortable outsourcing to that kind of person?

The threshold is so low that it's at the point of "it will take less time to do this myself than explain it to someone."

[JRSC00LUDE]

I can't even imagine this being a good idea to be honest.