What we notice when we assess an EA.
Thirteen years recruiting Executive Assistants, Private PAs and Chiefs of Staff, and now hundreds of them scored through the assessment. This is what that work teaches us: how the strongest candidates think under pressure, where capable ones come unstuck, and how to see the difference before you make the hire. Written for the people hiring, and for the people sitting the assessment who want to know what we are actually looking for.
Most of the writing on Executive Assistant hiring online is either thin SEO content or vendor marketing dressed up as insight. The pieces below are different: they are drawn from thirteen years of specialist EA recruitment and from sitting on both sides of a Chief of Staff and EA Manager desk. Every article is written to help someone make a better decision, whether that is commissioning a Core Standard assessment for a shortlist, sitting TCS Certified to demonstrate your own capability, or understanding how a structured, scenario-based assessment works in practice.
We publish a new piece roughly every month. If there is a question you think should be answered here and is not, email us and it will likely end up in the queue.
Inbox Triage: what the reviewer is actually looking for
The first module of every assessment is a live inbox and a principal you cannot reach. How the reviewer reads what you do with it, what changes by level, and the three habits that cost a band.
How to use your Recruiter Summary: a recruiter’s view
One page, a band per pillar, three standout moves and a verdict. Where it belongs, where it does not, and how to talk about it, from a recruiter’s side of the desk.
The three Certified levels, explained
Operational EA, EA to Senior Leadership, Executive Business Partner. What each means, what decides yours, and what to do when it is not the one on your business card.
Chief of Staff or Executive Assistant: which one are you actually hiring?
The difference is remit, not seniority. An eight-question test for the role you are writing, and how to assess for each before you commit to the wrong one.
The executive assistant in-tray exercise: what to set, and how to score it
Three tasks you can set this week, the time limits, and a five-pillar scoring sheet that stops you marking the candidate you already liked.
Executive Assistant interview questions that actually work
The questions that reveal how a candidate thinks, with what a strong answer sounds like next to a weak one.
The personal assistant test, and how to assess a PA
Office PA or private household PA: what a personal assistant assessment should measure, and how to run it.
How to test an Executive Assistant before you hire
An interview shows how someone presents, not how they work. How to actually test an EA before you make an offer, and the three things to watch for.
How to hire an Executive Assistant in 2026
Why CV-plus-interview stopped working, what’s replacing it, and a modern process for hiring EAs that a busy operations lead can actually run.
What separates a great EA from an average one
The five pillars we score against, the behaviours that distinguish top-decile EAs, and the judgement calls that rarely make it onto a job description.
Anatomy of a TCS report
A page-by-page walk-through of a real (anonymised) assessment report. What each score means, how to read a reviewer note, and how to action the result.
Ready to use what you’ve read.
Whether you’re hiring an EA, running a team of them, or sitting the assessment yourself, everything starts on one page.