“Am I an Overpaid Messenger or Executive-in-Training?”

I was hired as an executive assistant to a CEO with multiple businesses in the real estate field, and was excited to learn more about the industry up close. Since I’ve been hired, though, I haven’t had a chance to learn much; my boss is keeping me busy with data entry, scheduling tasks, and running both personal and business errands on his behalf. I’m getting paid well, which makes me confused about why I’m being given low-level work. Is this what it takes to grow, or am I wasting my time? 

—Not Sure If I’m an Overpaid Messenger or Executive-in-Training 

IT seems like you both came in with a two-for-one expectation: Your boss thought he was getting a personal assistant along with the executive assistant, and you thought you were getting a mentor along with a boss.

When your boss decided to hire an executive assistant, he probably didn’t sit down and write up a detailed job description, or contemplate whether the position’s title should be executive assistant, personal assistant, or the new trending term: EA/PA, a combination of both. But there is a big difference between the two, and it’s your job to let him in on that little detail, unless you’re fine with scheduling his haircuts and ordering his kids’ school supplies between business meetings.

When you accepted this job, you recognized that although it may not seem glamorous, it would be a step on the ladder, allowing you to learn more about a potentially lucrative industry. You assumed that the boss, who obviously knows a lot about what you’d like to know more about, would teach you a thing or two. And while training sessions over hot coffee and Danishes may not be a realistic wish, it sounds like you may not be getting even the on-the-job exposure you were hoping for.

I’m going to guess that you’re the first person your boss hired for this particular role, which means that the formula to succeed is to actually create your own job profile.