Let me tell you what the principals you want to work for are actually thinking. Because nobody else in the industry will.

I've been in this market for over a decade. I've placed Executive Assistants into hedge funds, private equity, family offices, and founder-led businesses where the pressure is real and the expectations are higher than most people in this profession have ever experienced.

And in that time I've noticed something that nobody in recruitment will say out loud because they're too worried about upsetting candidates or damaging their brand.

So I'll say it…

The unsung hero and mission-critical narrative is killing your chances with the principals who actually matter. 

For example - scroll through your LinkedIn feed this week. 

You’ll see an endless amount of unsung heroes, mission-critical, and backbone of the business posts. Posts about EA Appreciation Day. Networking events dressed up as professional development where everyone pats each other on the back and discusses how undervalued they are. I get it. This profession has been underpaid and misunderstood for years and the advocacy comes from that place. And maybe you've posted some of it yourself. I have no issue with that. But if you're serious about the top end of this market, it's worth asking whether that language is working for you or against you.

Here’s the truth from someone who sits between the hiring market and the people trying to enter it. 

The principals I work with - the ones running multi-billion $ funds, managing generational wealth, and leading teams in top-performing deal environments - they’re not reading these posts. They don’t relate to that language. And when they hear it in passing or in the interview room, it turns them off. It tells them you do not understand their world. You’re speaking a language that has nothing to do with what actually matters in these environments. 

There's a difference between talking about the work, and actually doing the work. 

What mission-critical actually looks like 

I know many Executive Assistants earning $250,000 - $300,000+ a year in the US - or upwards of £100,000 in London. They’re not unicorns. They exist. I place them. 

They’re completely different to what you see celebrated on LinkedIn. 

They’re not talking about being unsung, they’re rarely interacting with much on LinkedIn, in fact - they’re not even thinking about the profession. They’re thinking about their principal's business and priorities. What’s coming and what needs to happen before it does. 

They’re actually doing the work - whilst most just talk about doing the work. 

These people are incredibly sharp, polished, and precise. They communicate clearly and briefly. They make very few mistakes, and if they do, they fix it fast without making it somebody else's problem. 

Most importantly - they know how to be around a principal. Through the pressure, the bad days, and the moments when the room needs unwavering confidence and stoicism. They’ve also separated their personal feelings from their professional response in a way only experience allows. 

They’re also commercially savvy - and I don’t mean they understand a business needs to make money, I mean they understand deal mechanics, who’s important, who’s got leverage, which deals are closing or folding, who the main players are in their principals world, and they can connect information they hear today to what they heard months ago.

These are the 'mission critical' assistants. Their compensation alone suggests this. Despite this, they're not calling themselves 'mission critical' in the public domain. 

The bit nobody says 

Principals are making this hire for a selfish reason. It’s not to help you, to push you forward, or because they appreciate your heroism. They’re hiring you to support them - and they’re interviewing accordingly. 

Can you keep pace with me? Can you operate in my world without slowing me down? Can you handle real pressure and problems without making it my problem? Can I see myself working with you long-term and trusting you with important items? 

The EA who earns $300,000 understands this by default. They talk in outcomes and solutions - not fluff and abstractions. 

The moment you start self-identifying as the unsung hero, or mission critical, is the moment a principal loses respect for you - but whilst your work is hard, it's not principal hard. 

Principal respect, acknowledgement, and advocacy comes after you've proven yourself - not before. 

My advice to EAs looking to truly push forward in their careers

Unless your bills are being paid by other Assistant’s advocacy - stop talking about how hard you work. 

Nobody at the top of this market cares. Effort is assumed. What they’re paying for is judgement, precision, and the ability to operate in a sophisticated environment without friction. 

Stop describing your roles in tasks. Start talking about what changed because you were there. Not what you managed, but what you actually made possible. Commercial outcomes, disasters avoided, etc. 

And if you’re not sure what this looks like in your current role, this is the most important thing to figure out. Because the principals paying serious money know exactly what they need. 

Fluff and noise vs. sharp, sophisticated, and outcome-focused. 

Be the latter.