If you advertise a position for a PA role (personal assistant) then you may notice that you get a vast amount of applications as it’s a quite a sought after job, especially amongst people just starting out in the working world looking for a good starter job.

So what are the key qualities of a good PA that you should look for at the application and later interview process?

Punctuality – this is essential as it’s a good indication of how organised someone is, if they can’t make an interview on time then they are unlikely to have taken it seriously.

Experience in a similar role – the role of a PA isn’t something that you can train for at college or university so experience will be a real bonus especially if you only intend on having one PA.

Great organisation skills – the best way to test this in an interview setting is to give them a diary and a sheet of appointment times to input then ask them what they would do to book train tickets and hotels. This is a great way of seeing how they handle data entry under pressure.

And lastly always check that they have good references.