For personal assistants to the wealthy and celebrated, the demands of an ordinary day can be extraordinary.

One assistant recalls being given just a few days notice to rebook travel, hotel and social arrangements for a client's large family.
A New York-based personal assistant says her client called while she was on a long-delayed vacation at an Indian Ocean resort. The reason: The client forgot his fax number.

Still another laughs at the notion of an "after-hours" life free of work demands. Her client, a celebrated lawyer, is only a Blackberry or e-mail message away. It's a 24/7 job that leaves room for only three to four hours sleep per night, she says.

Then there are the celebrity clients who discuss the business of the day attired only in underwear, as their personal assistants strive to maintain professional composure.

As one PA put it, a client should look for a personal assistant who never says no, thinks nothing is impossible and will do anything to get the job done-provided it's legal.

One client, Turner Classic Movies television host Robert Osborne, says of his personal assistant, "You can trust him to take over and do those things that have to get done to make your life work, that you really don't have time to spend on and that other people can do better than you. It's a wonderful feeling.''

Finding The Right PA
A family office manager or other advisor who wants to find the right personal assistant for a client must pursue the task with the same diligence as any important business venture, experts say. Professionals in the personal and executive assistant field recommend gold-standard recruiting agencies such as Pavillion, Bouvier and Robin Kellner in New York, Christopher Baker Staffing in Los Angeles, Charles MacPherson in Toronto and Greycoat Placements in London.

Personal assistant organizations have stringent admission rules and can also provide reliable referrals. They include New York Celebrity Assistants, the Association of Celebrity Personal Assistants in Los Angeles and the Association of Celebrity Assistants in London.

"I can't tell you how many clients think they can hire a personal assistant literally on the fly," says Christopher Baker, head of Christopher Baker Staffing. "I had one high-net-worth client rushing to the airport, with 20 minutes to catch her plane, telling me on the phone that she needed a personal assistant right away, while taking other calls on her [cell phone] and having her nails done in the back of her limo.''

Professionals say it behooves clients in search of an assistant to give ample time and thought to hiring. The hiring process should include several levels of interviews, they say.

"The initial PA interviews are for weeding out applicants and getting a feel for a good fit for client and applicant," says Anthony Zelig, president of New York Celebrity Assistants. Zelig spent 5 1/2 years as personal assistant to Julia and David H. Koch, who is rated 37th on the Forbes.com billionaire list and is New York City's wealthiest citizen. "Those interviews are probably with a manager, agent or business manager. The client should know that the prospective personal assistant will be interviewed by the current personal assistant, a manager and, ultimately, the employer himself.''

A stringent check of an applicant's resume and references is a must, but it's the interview that can reveal whether or not a candidate uses discretion and can be trusted, Zelig says. An applicant who reveals too much about their last employer should be avoided, he says. "The client should be wary of the prospective personal assistant who is too specific'' or gossipy, he says.

Looking For A 'Service Heart'
Baker, who notes about 80% of personal and executive assistants are women, says a personal assistant should have a "service heart." He describes this as "somebody who wants to help genuinely, but not in a creepy kind of way.''

Claudia J. Allon, for example, says she acts motherly in her role as administrator and executive/personal assistant to prominent defense attorney Barry Slotnick. Robert Freedman, a retired Manhattan veterinarian who serves as part-time personal assistant for several New York clients, including Osborne of Turner Classic Movies, says clients should demand consistent service from their PA. "Consistency is primary, and so is knowing how to keep your mouth shut. And you have to be truly interested in and care about your client's needs,'' Freedman says.

Osborne says the ideal PA "is on time, sticks to it, doesn't need to be the center of attention, gets the work done and doesn't talk too much!''
Personal assistants say they must be flexible and able to turn on a dime, such as changing travel plans or obtaining a passport for a client at the last minute. It's all about having a can-do attitude, they say.

Noting that "the larger the wealth, the bigger the life," Zelig says a personal assistant serving a high-net-worth client may be involved in the management of multiple households and numerous social, political and charitable events. The demands are more intense but Zelig enjoys the challenge. "Never say no. You must think nothing is impossible,'' he says.

Allon, a mother of three and a former U.S. Marine, says a PA should have "a very strong sense of numbers." Much of a PA's duties involve juggling dollar figures, says Allon, who holds an MBA degree.

"You're shopping, buying things, balancing the Amex card. If there's a discrepancy, we're not talking a few dollars; we can be talking about thousands," she says. "You have to be extremely organized. You are following up on everything: insurances, flex plans, hedge funds, stocks, working with accountants, family members."

The ability to handle multiple tasks at once is a key quality in a personal assistant, experts say.

"Right now, besides my regular weekly bill paying clients, I am running around checking out office space for a psychologist who has to move from her current location, going through resumes and interviewing secretaries for another psychologist, photographing antique furniture that another client wants to sell on EBay and negotiating with the New York City Department of Education to get back some expenses for two women who paid out of pocket for services for their autistic children that should have been provided by the city,'' Freedman said in July.

Prospective assistants must also be screened for their ability to work with staff already on the payroll, Baker says. "I have a Forbes 500 inherited-wealth client with an estate manager, plus senior, junior and assistant-to-junior PAs. It's very important that they all get along," he says. "The client should look for a recruiter who can match the PA's personality to that of the household."

Personal assistants must also have the ability to communicate well with their clients, partly so they can prioritize tasks, Allon says, noting a successful attorney such as Slotnick is "besieged by people who want his services.''

"I can get a best guesstimate of what the priorities are, but things may have occurred to which I am not privy that could change the entire landscape," she says.

A 'Bigger' Life
Personal assistants say their jobs introduce them to a "bigger, more active life,'' allowing them to meet dynamic, interesting people, while traveling to the loveliest of places and staying in the best hotels and resorts.

Liliana dalla Piana, president of the Association of Celebrity Assistants, says her clients have included celebrities who thought nothing of discussing business while in their underwear, and more modest clients such as Gail Rebuck, chairwoman of the United Kingdom's Random House Group, and Lord Philip Gould, former strategic adviser to Tony Blair. She currently is personal assistant to entrepreneur-dancer Michael Flatley.

"You do have to learn to accept certain idiosyncrasies in certain clients, but the work is interesting and there can be travel and staying in the best hotels," dalla Piana says. "I have loved working for these clients.''

The rewards for being a personal assistant can include a salary of $125,000 or more annually ($50,000 to $65,000 with five years experience is standard), says Baker. If personal assistants work for a corporation, they receive the medical, pension and vacation benefits offered other company personnel. If the PA is paid by the client, salary and benefits come "out of the client's pocket,'' Baker says.

A survey taken by the New York Celebrity Assistants organization found that PA salaries in New York can range from $60,000 to $150,000 annually, depending on experience and other factors. If the personal assistant is hired through a recruiter, a client can expect to pay 20% to 25% of the first year's gross salary as a finder's fee, Baker says. He adds that salary is not always based on a client's wealth and that show business people sometimes feel they can pay lower salaries because of the prestige they can bring to a PA's career.  

"They want a lot of coverage and figure they're worth it-at their price," Baker says.

Mary Battilana, personal assistant to a professional athlete for about seven years until 2006, was paid about $70,000 annually, plus benefits. While some personal assistants will view a job as a "stepping stone" to a bigger career, Battilana says, she considers herself a "lifer."
"I like doing it. I can't go to an office and sit in front of a computer for eight hours,'' she says.

Working for an athlete meant she was on call every day at all hours, she says, explaining, "I lost that 'thank God it's Friday' feeling, but by the same token, I never had the Sunday night ickies.''
From her apartment, Battilana handled her employer's insurance policies, including those for nine automobiles, and did his bill paying. He signed all of his checks; she mailed the paperwork to him when he was on the road.

"I gave him back-up so he would know what he paid," she says. "He was very lucky to have me, a scrupulously honest person, taking care of him.''