The Definitive Personal Assistant & Secretarial Handbook: A best practice guide for all secretaries, PAs, office managers and executive assistants Paperback – September 28, 2012

I've just started reading this book, and already I have found the information to be extremely valuable. I'm currently an assistant to a VPR & Dean, and recently have gone through a transition in bosses. Things weren't going so great, but after picking up this book I now better understand what my role is and what I should be doing better to help my new boss transition into the business.I'm now in the process of transitioning into a new city, and am searching for a job as an Executive Assistant. This book has helped me to better understand myself and be able to express my goals and ambitions for the business I'm going into, as well as being able to answer interview questions more thoroughly and completely, and I haven't even finished reading the book! I highly recommend this book to anyone aspiring to be an assistant, or even existing assistants to better understand their roles, know more about what they want out of their position, and how to handle certain types of situations that they may not be as familiar with, or feel their skills are lacking. Make yourself a more valuable player in your job by reading this book! It is a great resource!!

I'm sure the author is an expert in her field, and I do feel badly giving this a mediocre review. But the title for this book is a misnomer.Having worked as a paralegal for over 15 years, I was looking to make a change, which involved less travel and a work schedule more in line with a 40-hour workweek. Although legal assistants do perform a variety of clerical and secretarial tasks, the position is different from that of a legal secretary, which seemed like a natural transition to me. So I searched for a recently-published book that would address today's office setting, including updates in technology (so different from when I entered the workforce), substitutions for dictation, which I'd heard was now passe, etc. But this text is all about emotions, affirmations, posture (!) and a host of other topics that are not what the average reader would expect to find in a book with this title.Maybe it will be helpful for high school students or those just entering the secretarial field (the portion about Minutes-taking was somewhat helpful). But for someone looking for tips on the hands-on, day-to-day workings of an office position, this is probably not the resource for you.

I am on my second reading of this book and I'm thankful to Sue France for writing it in the first place. I was looking for a book that covered the skills needed to be an administrative assistant and found out this book covers more than just the technical skills, it also covers the soft skills or "people skills" needed for my chosen profession. Her book helped me realize that if I wanted to be the best possible admin assistant I needed to improve, grow, continue to learn. Her book gave me the those tools and an new attitude. She has been very kind in answering any questions that I might have. I am building a professional library and her book holds a special place on that shelf. It is well worth the investment.

This book is AMAZING! Coupled with the resources made available on the website mentioned in the book, I've learned so much about myself, my boss, and my company - and I've been able to apply the tips and goal-setting tools to my job to make work a more rewarding and happy place to be! I highly recommend this book! It's loaded with everything from quizzes to templates.

This item really helped me out. I purchased it for a co-worker who wanted some additonal help and looked it over myself. There were so many helpful hints & although I'm not an admin, working in a small company makes you wear multiple hats. Therefore, I picked up a few notes not only for the work place, but for my personal life as well!

Agreed with another reviewer - not really any practical advice for an experienced assistant. I was hoping for examples of standard items - like agendas, minutes, desktop organization, etc. None of that, all conceptual. If you struggle to be appropriate or have healthy priorities or understand office politics, could be for you.

Learned a few things in here.

I've been an Executive Assistant for over 10 years and found this book to be extremely helpful! I've even ordered it for both of the assistants that I oversee and its helped them to truly understand the assistant role and what is expected of them. GREAT BOOK!

Many people liked this book, giving it sparkling reviews, but it became more "The Secret/Law of Attraction" halfway through.It is more about building relationships, getting on with different types of bosses, and thinking positively, which may be the most important tips for a secretary after all.

At my last appraisal my boss said he wished there was a book out there which showed him how he should best work with a PA (I am the first assistant he hasn't had to share!) so I know he will enjoy this book as much as I do! Thank you.

Another book by Sue France that Im happy to recommend for new and experienced business support professionals. Its full of useful tips and information. It's introduced me to a few new ideas and tools to make my job a lot easier. It manages to cover all the basics an administrator / personal assistant would need to know and has useful chapters on networking, social media and managing conflict in the workplace which are aimed at the more experienced business support professionals.

Love this book. I have been a PA for almost 8 years, but still found this a really useful reference book. I would recommend this to colleagues and regularly pick it up to go over certain chapters.

Bought this book thinking it was a guide. Has proved to be invaluble, as it's full of useful hints and guides as to the work a PA should be doing. Would recommend this to anyone who is moving into a PA role.