Entry-Level Positions For Aspiring Executive Assistants At Boost VC

This is a great question because there are so many different things you can do. I'll talk about executive assisting as a field and then venture capital.

For executive assisting, there are many different paths for an easy start. Receptionist is a perfect starter job if you want to eventually become an executive assistant or chief of staff.

Receptionist is a great place to start anywhere, literally anywhere. Other starter roles include administrative assistant, office assistant, or office manager. These roles typically involve office inventory, perhaps making or getting coffee for people, and data entry.

Essentially, any typical administrative-related tasks are a good place to start. Jobs that utilize similar skill sets, especially people skills, are also valuable.

My time in restaurants was great; I started as a hostess. That's a really good place to begin, and it's a great job to have while you're in college or right out of college.

Hostess positions can lead to becoming a server, bartender, or other front-of-house or back-of-house positions in a restaurant. Retail is also a good option; I worked at Lucky Brand Jeans for a while, which was fun.

Being able to put yourself in a position to serve people, in any retail or hospitality-related job, is a good place to start. These roles involve administrative tasks that you'll perform a good portion of the time as an executive assistant.

When I was transitioning away from teaching, I knew I wanted to do executive assisting because of the many transferable skills. I didn't know what field or industry to go into. My recruiter asked how I felt about venture capital, and I had no idea what it was.

Venture capital sounds adventurous. The term comes from "adventure capital," as you're adventuring into the unknown with money. It's a scary but exciting prospect.

For venture capital, I've seen people go multiple routes. Getting an internship at a venture capital firm is one of the best ways to get into the field and gain experience, though it's very competitive.

While I didn't do internships in college, which I wish I had, they are highly recommended for venture capital. Another approach, which has worked for my boss and our current intern, is cold outreach to managing partners via email.

My boss actually met someone in person after giving a talk at his university, which was helpful. It's a good idea to check if your university is hosting speakers in your desired field and attend those events.

This allows you to meet people in person and build relationships. Research firms you'd love to work for and reach out offering to "pick their brain" for ten minutes about their journey in venture capital.

Going into these conversations with the intention to learn and giving them an opportunity to share their story is another good way to get in. Cold outreaches are a numbers game; you might send out 50 and hear back from only one or two people.

Majoring in business isn't a guaranteed route into venture capital, but I've seen many associates and partners start that way, often by getting an MBA from schools like Yale, Wharton, or Stanford GSB.

This is a wider net, as people go into business for various reasons. However, it can be a way in.

For entry-level positions in venture capital, you could start as an analyst. This is a good starting point because you'll be looking at a lot of data and doing data entry.

It's similar to starting as a clerk for a law firm if you want to go into law. In a VC firm, data entry might be an even more entry-level position than an analyst.

An analyst role is a step up, where you work with the data, visualize it, and work towards specific objectives and results for the company. These would be the positions I'd consider if you're aiming for executive assisting and then venture capital.