1. Jobs are 9 to 5. Careers are more than that. I will never forget a wise coworker telling me exactly that toward the beginning of my first position. Being an assistant means your time is not your own. If your boss is up brainstorming ways to change the world at 1 a.m. and she needs you to schedule a meeting immediately so she can make it happen, you (absolutely should) do it.
2. Your job will always be to make your boss's life easier. That will never change. Oftentimes in an assistant-type role, you become every higher-up's assistant by default. That's overwhelming! When everyone needs you to do everything, remember that your boss and her priorities are your priorities. Everything else is secondary.
3. It's just a waste of time to resent your most menial assignments. You know that, right? Everyone has to do office coffee runs at some point. Everyone.
4. Your boss doesn't care about your excuses. Unless there is something terrible happening (like a death in the family or a medical issue), there is no reason why you shouldn't get your work done. She doesn't need to know you are stressed (implying that she is stress-inducing) or busy (implying that you can't handle her stress-making tasks) or that you got stuck in traffic (implying that you don't plan ahead well). Lady's busy, she doesn't have time for your stories.
5. No matter where you are in your career, your boss will always notice when you put in extra effort. It's not hard to do exactly what you need to do to get by as an assistant. It is hard to make time to go ~*above and beyond*~. Give her several flight options in advance of her trip, pitch her ideas after a meeting you were in just to take notes on, etc. There is nothing better in the world than one of these:
6. She'll also always notice when you don't make an extra effort. If you're leaving at 5 p.m. every day after a solid day's work of the bare minimum, she knows. She knows.
7. It's smarter to ask a million questions so you get something right the first time. This is something you will learn the hard way. Confront that deep-rooted Millennial fear that you are annoying or that your boss is mad at you. Force yourself to ask all the questions you have upfront. Your questions aren't stupid. Seriously.
8. You're likely working for someone you want to be someday, so ask her bigger-picture questions too. See above. Ask all the questions. How did your boss become who she is? Would she maybe want to do coffee or lunch sometime to talk about how she got there? If she took you on as an assistant, she thinks you have the potential to follow in her footsteps. How exciting is that?! Take advantage of it.
9. Similarly, you're not going to get bigger opportunities in your career unless you ask for them. Be upfront with your hopes and dreams. Make it clear that you have a plan and that other people want you to work for them. If you are a great assistant, why wouldn't your boss want to keep you in her life as long as possible? Again, you have to push through the awk and ask for bigger opportunities when you're ready.
10. People respect when you ask for feedback. If you've already noticed that your boss notices when you put in extra effort, you probably have already thought to ask for her feedback. Checking in to see if you're doing a good job is important — it shows you want to do better and lets her know that you have The Future and Next Steps on the brain. I always sent my boss a "Hey, can we catch up?" email every three-ish months or so, and she never has turned me down.
11. When your boss takes the time to give constructive criticism, it means she thinks you're worth it. If you've taken the step of asking for feedback, you have to be prepared for what said feedback will be. If your boss has taken the meeting and said you need to do X, Y, and Z better and that burns, know that it means that she thinks you are totally capable of doing it and she wants to help you get there.
12. There is no situation where it is smart to blame anyone else for a mistake you are responsible for. Everyone fucks up. When she was your age, your boss fucked up too. She would much rather you just say you messed up and that you're sorry and that you have a brilliant plan to fix your mistake. Like that time I by accident stranded my boss in Texas for an extra day on a business trip. That happened and we still get along great.
13. Pay attention to detail. Triple-check your work. See above. It often takes a major mistake to realize it's so important to be diligent with your work. Be smarter than me! Check the date on your boss's return flight before she actually leaves for her business trip!
14. When you are stressed, know your hard work will be worth it. Assisting is stressful and exhausting and blah, blah, blah. It's also the best way to get your foot in the door toward your dream career. What's the expression? Low woman on the totem poll runs shit one day? No, but you get it.
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Tess Koman covers breaking (food) news, opinion pieces, and features on larger happenings in the food world. She oversees editorial content on Delish. Her work has appeared on Cosmopolitan.com, Elle.com, and Esquire.com.
