Catena is now Pearl Talent! Same mission, new name.
A vague job description won't attract the right executive assistant. It'll attract everyone, which means you end up spending more time filtering out people who were never a fit in the first place. EA responsibilities vary a lot depending on your company, the executive they're supporting, and how much ownership the role carries. So it's helpful to specify in your job description exactly what you're looking for.
This guide walks through what to include in your job description for an executive assistant, and we'll share a template that you can adjust based on how the role works at your organization.
The goal of an EA job description isn't to list every task they might ever touch. It's to give candidates a clear enough picture that the right people self-select in and the wrong ones move on. Here's what actually matters when you're putting one together.
Start with the tasks on which EA will spend most of their time. If 70% of the job is calendar management and meeting prep, say that. If the role leans more toward project coordination and cross-functional work, make that clear instead.
Candidates need to know whether this is primarily administrative or more strategic, because those attract very different people. A job post that tries to be both usually ends up attracting neither.
Name the title of the executive and give context on how that person works. For example:
The more specific you are here, the easier it is for candidates to picture whether they're the right fit.
Don't just write "proficient in office software." List the actual platforms your team uses. If your stack includes Google Workspace, Slack, Notion, and Asana, say so. If the EA will need to work inside your CRM or manage a shared inbox in HubSpot, include that too.
This does two things: it helps experienced candidates find you, and it sets clear expectations so nobody shows up on day one surprised by the tooling.
This is one of the most important things to get right, and most job descriptions skip it entirely.
Some executive assistants are expected to make decisions on behalf of the executive throughout the day. Others follow directions closely and check in before acting. Neither approach is wrong, but a candidate who thrives with high autonomy will be miserable in a heavily directed role.
Be specific about which one this is. One sentence is enough, something like "you'll be expected to handle most scheduling and communication decisions independently" or "this role works closely with the executive on all decisions before they're made."
Even a short description of what good performance looks like gives candidates something concrete to aim for. Compare these two approaches:
Vague: "We're looking for someone detail-oriented and proactive."
Specific: "After 90 days, we'd expect you to be managing the executive's calendar independently, handling most inbound requests without checking in first, and proactively flagging scheduling conflicts before they become problems."
The second version tells a candidate exactly what they're working toward. It also makes your own evaluation process easier down the line, because you've already defined what success means before the person starts.
Adjust the sections based on how senior or broad the role is at your company.
Job Title: Executive Assistant to [CEO / COO / Founder / VP of ___]
Company: [Company Name]
Location: [Remote / Hybrid / On-site, City]
Employment Type: [Full-time]
[2-3 sentences about your company, what you do, the stage you're at, and anything that gives candidates a sense of what it's like to work there. Keep it honest and specific rather than generic.]
We're hiring an executive assistant to work directly with [executive title]. This role is responsible for [a brief summary of scope, for example: keeping daily operations organized, managing communications, and making sure nothing important slips through the cracks]. The right person is someone who takes ownership of their work, thinks ahead, and doesn't need to be told what to do next.
This role is a good fit if you're the kind of person who [adjust to match your culture, for example: thrives in a fast-moving environment where priorities shift often / prefers structure and process / enjoys being the person who holds everything together behind the scenes].
Calendar and scheduling
Communication and gatekeeping
Travel and logistics
Meeting support
Project and operations support
Document and presentation prep
[Instructions on how to apply, what to include, and any specific questions you want candidates to answer. For example: "Send your resume and a short note explaining a time you helped an executive stay ahead of a hectic week to [email/link]."]
A clear job description gets the right people to apply, but it doesn't guarantee you'll hire the right one. How you evaluate candidates matters just as much as how you describe the role. Here are 3 mistakes that lead to wrong EA hires even when the job post is perfect.
An EA with three years of supporting a fast-moving founder through a fundraise and team expansion can outperform someone who spent a decade in a slow-moving corporate environment. Your interview process should test for judgment, communication, and how they handle ambiguity, rather than just checking how long they've been doing the job.
Confirming employment dates doesn't tell you anything useful. Talk to the actual executives they supported. Ask how they handled competing priorities, how much direction they needed before acting, and whether that person would hire them again. One honest conversation like that is worth more than three rounds of interviews.
Knowing Google Calendar or Asana is something most people can pick up in a week. Knowing when to reschedule a meeting without being asked, when to handle a client email independently versus flagging it, or when to interrupt the executive because something genuinely can't wait, that's what separates a useful EA from one who just follows instructions.
If your company needs an executive assistant, chances are you're already stretched thin on time. Running a full hiring process on top of that, writing the job description, posting it, sorting through hundreds of applications, scheduling interviews, vetting references, only adds to the problem you're trying to solve. The whole point of hiring an EA is to get time back, so spending weeks buried in a recruiting process to find one kind of defeats the purpose.
A more practical option is to work with a talent partner, like Pearl Talent, that handles the search & placement for you.
Pearl Talent places executive assistants from the Philippines, Latin America, and South Africa with US and EU companies. Every role gets an individual search rather than a match from a pre-built bench, and candidates are sourced from top local companies and universities rather than traditional BPO pools.
Here's what's included:
Our candidates are pre-trained and ready to hire. You can browse available hires to find your next executive assistant.
.svg)
