How to hire an executive assistant

How to hire an executive assistant, step by step

Here's a step-by-step executive assistant hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write an executive assistant job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new executive assistant
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does an executive assistant do?

Post an executive assistant job for free, promote it for a fee

Post free

1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring an executive assistant, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   An executive assistant's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, executive assistants from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   Here's a comparison of executive assistant salaries for various roles:

   Type of Executive Assistant	Description	Hourly rate
   Executive Assistant	Secretaries and administrative assistants perform clerical and administrative duties. They organize files, prepare documents, schedule appointments, and support other staff.	$16-34

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • PowerPoint
   • Customer Service
   • Phone Calls
   • Calendar Management
   • Administrative Tasks
   • Financial Reports
   • Project Management
   • Provides Administrative Support
   • Meeting Minutes
   • Event Planning
   • Conference Calls
   • Payroll
   • Office Equipment
   • Human Resources

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage and maintain AVP calendar and schedule using independent judgment.
   • Manage and review WinStar (KRONOS) time clock hours for hourly union employees.
   • Organize and manage administrative, audio/visual (WebEx, GoToMeeting), and catering of department meetings.
   • Manage the scope of accounting processes including billing, bookkeeping and expense data management with strong oversight of A/R and A/P.
   • Create and manage executive presentations using Visio and PowerPoint.
   • Compile, manage and organize travel and expense reports processing and submitting reports using PeopleSoft for reimbursement.

   More executive assistant duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your executive assistant job description helps attract top candidates to the position. An executive assistant salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for an executive assistant in Wyoming may be lower than in New York, and an entry-level executive assistant usually earns less than a senior-level executive assistant. Additionally, an executive assistant with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average executive assistant salary

   $50,539yearly

   $24.30 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level executive assistant salary

   $35,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 20, 2025

   Average executive assistant salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$64,830	$31
   2	New York	$64,562	$31
   3	District of Columbia	$60,864	$29
   4	Washington	$60,830	$29
   5	Massachusetts	$59,114	$28
   6	Connecticut	$57,534	$28
   7	Maryland	$56,085	$27
   8	Virginia	$53,255	$26
   9	Pennsylvania	$52,661	$25
   10	Illinois	$51,367	$25
   11	Oregon	$49,706	$24
   12	Nevada	$48,808	$23
   13	Ohio	$47,935	$23
   14	Michigan	$47,335	$23
   15	Wisconsin	$47,223	$23
   16	Minnesota	$47,157	$23
   17	Maine	$46,921	$23
   18	Georgia	$46,239	$22
   19	Colorado	$46,154	$22
   20	Texas	$45,123	$22

   Average executive assistant salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Meta	$104,444	$50.21	26
   2	BP America Inc	$104,253	$50.12
   3	The Carlyle Group	$102,102	$49.09	1
   4	Varian Medical Systems	$102,072	$49.07	4
   5	Microsoft	$100,610	$48.37	10
   6	Cambridge Associates	$99,165	$47.68
   7	KLA	$97,411	$46.83	2
   8	Apple	$97,273	$46.77	20
   9	GCP Applied Technologies	$96,392	$46.34
   10	Pandora	$95,782	$46.05
   11	Visa	$95,660	$45.99	9
   12	Edwards Lifesciences	$94,793	$45.57	1
   13	ResMed	$94,183	$45.28	1
   14	Snowflake Computing	$92,027	$44.24	5
   15	Workday	$91,976	$44.22	18
   16	Marcus & Millichap	$91,949	$44.21	8
   17	HSBC Bank	$91,679	$44.08
   18	Cisco	$91,557	$44.02	84
   19	BMO Capital Markets	$91,444	$43.96	3
   20	Xilinx	$91,232	$43.86

4. Writing an executive assistant job description

   An executive assistant job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of an executive assistant job description:

   Executive assistant job description example

   Administrative support the Chair for the Department of Surgery which includes activities for the department.
   
   This role supports the Department of Surgery Chair with both academic and clinical responsibilities. There will be regular interaction with internal and external contacts from both the Medical Center and Loyola University at a senior management level. Prior administrative experience in a clinical or academic environment is preferred and expert knowledge of Microsoft office suite is preferred.
   
   ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT - Significant calendar management and event coordination responsibilities. Maintains executive's calendar(s) to include scheduling meetings for executive and the department. Arranges professional appointments and room set-up as needed. Prepares and distributes meeting materials, attends meetings as requested, transcribes and distributes meeting minutes. Proactively monitors and prioritizes executive's calendar to anticipate and resolve conflicts.
   
   COMMUNICATION - Composes effective and concise correspondence, announcements, training materials, narrative summaries and reports, proposals and letters of recommendation as needed. Compiles data to prepare operational reports and assists with preparation of material for on-boarding new surgeons, academic promotions, reappointments, and expense reports. Managers and maintains records of professional memberships, affiliations, conferences for executive and department.
   
   AD HOC PROJECTS & EVENT PLANNING - Works independently and completes various projects as needed or as directed by administrator by proficiently researching and gathering information from internal, external and internet sources. Summarizes and compiles findings in written reports, spreadsheets, graphs or other appropriate format. Effectively utilizes a variety of resources to plan and execute both on-site and off-site event planning.
   **Position Requirements:**
   
   **Minimum Education:**
   
   Required: High School Diploma plus training acquired through work experience or education
   
   Preferred: Administrative or technical background acquired through completion of 2 - 3 years of college
   
   Specify Degree(s): Business
   
   **Minimum Experience:**
   
   Required: 6-10 years of previous job-related experience
   
   Preferred: 10+ years of previous job-related experience
   
   **Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion**
   
   Trinity Health is a family of 115,000 colleagues and nearly 26,000 physicians and clinicians across 25 states. Because we serve diverse populations, our colleagues are trained to recognize the cultural beliefs, values, traditions, language preferences, and health practices of the communities that we serve and to apply that knowledge to produce positive health outcomes. We also recognize that each of us has a different way of thinking and perceiving our world and that these differences often lead to innovative solutions.
   
   Our dedication to diversity includes a unified workforce (through training and education, recruitment, retention, and development), commitment and accountability, communication, community partnerships, and supplier diversity.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right executive assistant for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with executive assistants they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit executive assistants who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your executive assistant job on Zippia to find and recruit executive assistant candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with executive assistant candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new executive assistant

   Once you've decided on a perfect executive assistant candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new executive assistant. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

   Sign up to download full list

   Sign up

How much does it cost to hire an executive assistant?