It has been quite the year for the world and it’s hard to believe it’s already almost over. We’ve had a fantastic year at PA Life, with a roster of successful events and some fabulous meet ups at brilliant venues. We’d like to thank all of our readers and partners for your support this year – without you we wouldn’t have anything to brag about! Before we rush off to spend the holiday season with our friends and family, let’s look back at our top 15 most read stories of 2016.
1. Top desk etiquette tips
Your desk is your space when you’re at work. It is a sacred bubble that you keep as your own, but remember that what you do with it can affect your colleagues, especially if you work in an open-plan office. Here are some top tips from Staples to help you adhere to desk etiquette.
2. 8 questions you should ask at a job interview
It’s important to remember that a job interview is a two-way conversation; you need to extract information from your potential employer as much as they need to learn about you. While you’re practising your answers to their questions, it’s important to have a few of your own in mind. Here are the eight questions you need to ask at any job interview, according to Glassdoor.
3. 10 productivity apps you need to try
Technology is a blessing and a curse these days. But new apps are constantly being developed to help people achieve the most in the least amount of time and many of them feature integration across multiple platforms. We recommend trying out these 10 productivity apps to see which ones work for you.
4. 9 quick ways to de-stress at work
Stress is a given for the majority of employees. Even if you’re not the type to get stressed out often, there will inevitably be times when it all just gets a bit too much. But you don’t need to be a work-life balance guru to find relief. Here are nine quick tips to de-stress at work from Idealist Careers.
5. 6 effective ways to manage your boss
As a PA, your job requires you to keep track of your own time while helping your executive be more effective. It’s a juggling act that all assistants have to learn to control during their career. Here are six handy hints to help you manage your boss.
6. How the EA role has evolved
The role of PAs and EAs is still widely misunderstood and many people think they’re simply glorified secretaries. However, it has become a valuable career with progression opportunities, according to Sarah Daffy.
7. The 50 most common interview questions
It’s likely you’ve been through an interview at some point in your life – maybe even several. To say you know the usual questions is an understatement. But job listing site Glassdoor sifted through thousands of user reviews to come up with a list of the 50 most common interview questions. So brush up on these and you’ll pass with flying colours.
8. Tips for making to-do lists work for you
The problem with to-do lists is they only tell you what you need to do, not how to do it or in which order. Sometimes a list can even make it harder for you to prioritise. Blogger Shayla Price has put together some strategies to better manage your tasks.
9. David Bowie left £1.4 million to his PA
The late great David Bowie spoke very highly of his long-time PA Corinne “Coco” Schwab. His generosity has extended to his afterlife, with the singer reportedly leaving £1.4 million to Schwab in his will.
10. Tips to help you thrive when your boss doesn’t respect you
Research shows that feeling valued is one of the most sought-after aspects of a job, yet 54% of people feel their managers do not respect them. Writing for the Harvard Business Review, management professor Christine Porath gives some top tips for keeping on your path to success when your boss doesn’t respect you.
11. Bristol EA release how-to book for the PA community
How to be a PA is a new book for PAs, EAs and Admins now available on Amazon. Written and published by UK Executive Assistant Maria Fuller, How to be a PA is the new ‘go-to guide’ for PAs and tipped to become the market-leading reference book for career-focused assistants.
12. 5 ways to close a cover letter
Sometimes your cover letter is the only thing that gets read by potential employers, so it’s important to get it right. You want to describe your skills and how they can help the company without gloating. You also need to close it with a line that calls the recruiter to action. Glassdoor put together these five handy tips for closing a cover letter to land an interview.
13. How to deal with frustration at work
Most people will face situations that they wish their employer had handled differently. However, there are constructive ways to deal with frustration at work, according to Jan Bruce, Co-Founder and CEO of meQuilibrium. Writing for Motto, Jan outlined these three top tips.
14. 5 ways to stay resilient at work
Job stress has become a major problem in the world, so much so that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has labeled it as the “global epidemic of the 21st century”. That’s why resilience is so important to the modern office worker. Here are five ways to stay resilient at work.
15. 9 signs you have a poor work-life balance
We write a lot of articles with tips for achieving a better work-life balance, but some people have a hard time recognising they have a problem. Millennial blogger Rachel Ritlop outlined nine signs you have a poor work-life balance in a recent article for Forbes. Take steps to rebalance yourself if you notice any of these.
