Beyond Skills: Why Personality Matching Is the Secret to EA/PA Success

Traditional recruitment often focuses overwhelmingly on skills and experience, treating executive and personal assistant roles as purely technical positions. At Mils Recruitment, Georgia Mills knows better. After placing numerous successful EAs and PAs with high-profile executives, she's identified that personality compatibility is often the decisive factor in long-term placement success.

An executive assistant role is uniquely intimate in the professional world. This person will manage your professional life, anticipate your needs, represent you to others, and often be privy to confidential information. The technical skills—calendar management, travel booking, email coordination—can be learned. But the interpersonal dynamic between an executive and their assistant is either there or it isn't.

"Some executives thrive with a proactive, outspoken assistant who will challenge them when needed. Others prefer someone more reserved who excels at behind-the-scenes support," Georgia explains. "Some work in structured, predictable environments; others in fast-paced, constantly changing circumstances requiring exceptional adaptability."

Having experienced these different dynamics firsthand during her eight years supporting C-suite executives, Georgia has developed a unique ability to read between the lines of what clients say they want and what they actually need, matching not just skill sets but working styles, communication preferences, and personality types.

This approach is why Mils Recruitment placements last. "I'm not interested in quick matches to hit arbitrary KPIs," Georgia says. "I'm building partnerships that will serve your business for years to come. When the foundation of trust and compatibility is there, the professional relationship can grow and evolve as your business needs change."