Hiring, training and leadership

How to become a personal assistant

Official title: Personal assistant

Also called: Executive assistant, EA, PA, Executive secretary, Virtual assistant, Team adminstrator, Support officer

Personal assistants provide administrative, secretarial and general support to managers and colleagues. They may organise travel, take minutes and manage calendars.

Main tasks

Manage schedules and daily appointments
Organise meetings and important activities
Arrange travel and accommodation bookings
Answer phone calls and messages
Prepare business documents
Help with office and administrative tasks
Coordinate tasks with different people
Prepare reports

How to become one

You usually learn on the job to become a personal assistant and a qualification may be useful. You usually don’t need specific NCEA levels for this job, but Level 2 may be useful. Other requirements: a New Zealand Certificate in Business (Administration and Technology) (Level 3); a New Zealand Certificate in Business (Administration and Technology) (Level 4); a New Zealand Diploma in Business (Administration and Technology) (Level 5 or 6).

See the full Tahatū profile

Ways in

Certificates and diplomas: Advanced certificates and diplomas in management and business studies. TEC links this job to study in business and management. Qualifications: NZ Dip in Business, Dip in Business Studies, Cert in Business Studies, Dip in Business, Dip in Commerce. Usually 1 year. Graduates of these qualifications earn a median $52,000 a year one year after study and $61,000 five years after; 61% are employed one year after (TEC, from Stats NZ IDI data).

Pay · Past change · AI and this job

Most common pay: $67,000 to $97,000 a year (median $82,000), a TEC estimate before tax.
Lower: $53,000 a year · Upper: $115,000 a year
TEC's pay figures are estimates only. TEC says they must not be used to set pay, in pay negotiations or in visa applications.
Change in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses: Steady (TEC). This is past change, not a forecast.
People employed in the group Personal Assistants: 10,086 at the 2018 Census and 9,300 at the 2023 Census (-7.8%). Past change, not a forecast.
Generative AI could change many tasks in this job, which usually reshapes the work more than it replaces it, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

About 8,000 people did this job at the 2023 Census (TEC).
In the group Personal Assistants, 96% of workers are female (sex at birth, 2023 Census).
Where people in the group Personal Assistants work (2023 Census): Auckland 35.1%, Wellington 19.4%, and Canterbury 11.7%.

Questions people ask

How do I become a personal assistant?

How much does a personal assistant earn in New Zealand?

The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $82,000 a year, before tax. Most common pay is $67,000 to $97,000 a year.

Has the number of people working as a personal assistant grown in New Zealand?

It has held steady: TEC records the number of people doing this job as steady between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses. This is past change, not a forecast.

Will AI change the work of a personal assistant?

Generative AI could change many tasks in this job, which usually reshapes the work more than it replaces it, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

Tertiary Education Commission (Tahatu Career Navigator): Tahatu career ideas: descriptions, tasks, pay estimates, people employed, employment change 2018 to 2023, entry requirements, registration, interest scores (Site scrape 2026-10 (816 career ideas, sitemap lastmod 2026-10-01)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census totals by topic for individuals 2013, 2018, 2023 (CEN23_TBT_004): employed by occupation, ANZSCO V1.3, summed to unit group (2023 Census (CEN23_TBT_004)), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census 2023: employed by regional council, occupation (ANZSCO V1.3 unit group) and sex at birth (2023 Census), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

This content is sourced from the Tertiary Education Commission through the Tahatū Career Navigator website (www.tahatu.govt.nz) and used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. All or some of the information has been modified by Peernovo. TEC has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. TEC will not be held accountable for any errors within this content.

Qualification information from NZQA, used under CC BY 3.0 NZ.

This work is based on/includes Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Census data via Figure.NZ.

Includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

Sources: Tertiary Education Commission, Tahatū Career Navigator (career ideas, pay estimates, entry requirements and study options, CC BY 4.0, modified by Peernovo); Stats NZ, 2023 Census (via Figure.NZ) and the National Occupation List (CC BY 4.0); NZQA qualification information (CC BY 3.0 NZ); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Links between career ideas and ANZSCO groups, degree fields and broad job groups are Peernovo's.

These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Graduate outcomes: these results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Updated 4 October 2026