Bitsnarf

Category: Announcement

  • The First 8 Months

    Hello EA pros! I hope you’re doing well. Today I have a quick post with a couple of updates.

    Theme change

    I had to change themes. The previous theme’s mandatory all caps theme bothered me. While I liked it at first, I felt like I was shouting and found I missed the minimalist black and white theme.

    This is what happens when I come back to my site after a break: I find I’m bored with the theme and make a change. Yes, it’s busy work. I should actually be writing content, not fiddling around with the theme.

    Plans

    With 8 months in Canada under my belt and thinking about what I want this site to be, I’m going to stick with what I do best: share practical information, tips and tricks for EAs, including written journaling. I truly feel keeping a journal is one of the best things an EA can do for themselves

    That’s not to say that other admin professionals can’t benefit from any materials on this site, but the focus is returning to the EA role.

    What brought this on was a LinkedIn article I read about building your brand. I cringe whenever I read these “branding yourself” makes me feel like a fancy cheese or part of a skeevy marketing campaign. Semantic yes, but words matter. You won’t hear me talk about “building your brand.” You’re not a fancy cheese. You’re an EA and a dang good one. You want to present yourself as such. This probably makes me old fashioned. So be it.

    Anywho, when I updated my LinkedIn profile recently, I thought: some of the now removed content on creative journals is not how I want to present myself. Hence the site updates. The great thing is that we can re-invent ourselves at any time. I hope you’ll come along for the ride.

    What’s not changing: most site content will be restricted to subscribers. There are no fees or charges. Subscribing is the mechanism I use in place of newsletters. I like data, which is anonymous, unless, of course you leave a comment. I have to admit that not having the pressure of running a business has been a relief.

    I’d like EA Mentor to be a safe place for EAs to visit, learn and be with like-minded peers.

    Thanks for spending time with me today.

    Are there topics you’d like me to cover? What are your plans for the next 4 months? Drop a comment and let’s discuss!

  • The First 6 Months

    Hello EA pros. I’ve been in my new role for 6 months and lived in Canada for 4 months. Let me tell you, I’m exhausted. Most of my spare time is focused on self-care because that’s all I have energy for. In this post, I’ll share some personal history since moving to Canada as well as my decision to shift the focus of this site in a new direction.

    My teams

    Are comprised of software development engineers and technical program managers. The teams are spread across the globe, from Germany to India. As you might guess, scheduling takes up most of my time, juggling existing meetings to squeeze in global time-zone friendly meetings.

    In addition to learning to work with new leaders and teams, we’ve moved to a new country where we don’t know anyone. The move happened so fast that we didn’t have time to donate disused household goods before we left Seattle. In our place at New West, we are sort of settled in, but still have a long way to go.

    Mental bandwidth

    All of which is to say my lack of posting is directly a result of my not wanting to come up with fresh new ideas on how to be a great EA – check out the Resources page. Every spare moment I have is spent on self-care: journaling, coloring, crafting, photography. Taking a quiet moment to have a nice cup of tea. Reading classical literature.

    That’s when it dawned on me: my super power right now is self-care.

    EAs NEED self-care

    EAs hold knowledge known to few others in the company; we know secrets we can never tell.

    We work with all levels of an organization, all types of people. More and more, we work with global teams, adding cultural and linguistic complexities. We work with a wide range of leaders, some great, some not so much.

    Sometimes we’re treated badly, experiencing everything from disparaging comments, bullying, harassment. Those of us who excel in our role treat everyone politely and professionally (at least most of the time), whether we personally like someone or not.

    It’s tiring and difficult to explain it to people who are not in this profession. That leaves us with finding like-minded peers to commiserate with, but griping about the day’s b.s. doesn’t solve the problem long-term.

    That’s where self-care comes in. While I believe everyone benefits from self-care, I feel EAs need it most. We’re so busy helping others that we may not take as much time to care for ourselves.

    We need to put our own oxygen mask on first in order to be effective at work.

  • EA Mentor Updates

    Life has a way of dishing out the unexpected. I wasn’t looking for a new role, but a random work email arrived in my inbox in mid-December about 2 EA roles: one in Vancouver BC and one in Dublin. 

    The email included a brief description of each team and their leaders. The Vancouver description was intriguing and the job requirements played to my strengths: organizing, managing up, and managing deliverables.

    A life-changing career decision

    My hubby and I have talked for many years about moving to Canada. We figured the best way to do this was through our employers so I had to go for it. As much as I wanted the role, I didn’t attach to an outcome. If it was meant to be, I’d gel with the team and everything would work out. Otherwise, I’d learn about how another team at Amazon works and more about my own strengths and weaknesses as an EA.

    As I mentioned, I wasn’t looking for a new role. I like the people I work with and the pay is great. The work was interesting but due to the way the org is structured, I was out of compliance with the EA to leader ratio. This meant my own work was more tactical because there wasn’t time and bandwidth to be strategic.

    I decided to interview for the Vancouver role and the interviews took place within 2 weeks of my applying. At the end of that period, I was offered the role. The hubby and I discussed it then I accepted it.

    I started the new role last Tuesday with the Seattle team while the relocation logistics are worked out. We’ll move to Vancouver around mid-March.

    Site plans for the foreseeable future

    • This is the last public post; new posts will be restricted to subscribers
    • Subscribing is free because I can’t make money off the site at this time
    • Future posts will chronicle my new career adventure
    • Content will focus on Executive Assistants who are new to the role or who wants to transform into a strategic business partner

  • Hello!

    Welcome to the EA Mentor! I’m so glad you’re here.

    Site purpose

    My goal for the EA Mentor is distill and share what I’ve learned in my career with new Executive Assistants (EAs). The pace of business today is fast and EAs need to stay one step ahead of their team and peers.

    Embrace change

    I’m always surprised when an EA says they can’t be bothered to learn new apps, learn the advanced features of Office products, or try out new AI apps, like ChatGPT. What you don’t know can hurt you.

    Let me repeat that: what you don’t know CAN hurt you.

    With the layoffs during Covid and more recently in the tech sector, it is more important than ever to step up your EA game. Pre-Covid, most layoffs were among new hires, first in, first out. The tech sector layoffs of the past few weeks showed tenure no longer matters. Workforce reduction was a math problem for the company to solve.

    I encourage you to remain curious and embrace the new. School is never out if you want to weather the storms of this career.

    EA focused

    I put a lot of thought into the focus of this site: all EAs, new EAs, all office professionals. After researching office professional sites, I realized there is plenty of good content for general office professionals and advanced EA training, but there is not much for brand-new EAs. The goal of this site is to fill that gap.

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