The word “secretary” was being bandied about as long ago as the late 14th century.  Literally meaning “person entrusted with secrets,” secretaries reported directly to kings. 

Although the term “assistant” is preferred these days, both terms aptly describe a position of trust and support.  In the category of personal assistants, the skills set has to go a bit beyond software savvy or WPM.  In fact, the job description can sometime defy belief.

Personal assistants are often stuck with strange, thankless tasks, like fielding calls from a nagging mother-in-law, or approaching a handsome stranger on behalf of an employer looking for a date.   One woman, in need of a new bathing suit, had her personal assistant head to Bloomingdale’s to get another shopper with a similar build to try on suits for her – in exchange for cash. (True story.)

Of course, these assistants also handle the more mundane matters in life, like booking flights, paying bills, returning calls, retrieving dry cleaning, and wrapping presents.

Personal assistants used to be the kind of luxury that was afforded only to the rich and famous.  But these days, more and more busy, successful individuals are deciding that making dinner reservations themselves is simply more of a burden than they can bear.

Claudia Kahn, owner of The Help Company, says the demand for personal assistants has quadrupled in the last two years.  And it’s not just celebrities calling her. These are “very busy people who have big lives,” and who want someone to do their errands, manage second and third homes, or simply answer their phones.   With executive assistants handling primarily professional duties, a personal assistant’s “to do” list could be quite expansive.

“Twenty-four hours is simply not enough time in the day,” said Dionne Mahaffey-Muhammad, owner of Celebrity Personal Assistants, Inc. and author of Beyond the Red Carpet: Keys to Becoming a Successful Personal Assistant.  “We have to offload our tasks to someone else – that’s the only recourse an extremely busy person has.”  Mahaffey-Muhammad said that when she started her firm in 1999 it was geared exclusively to celebrities and athletes. But now she works with more executives, philanthropists, socialites and other “behind the scenes” types.

Good personal assistants have lots of professional contacts to help them get a wide variety of tasks completed.  They learn the names of family, friends and – perhaps most importantly – the other personal assistants connected to their own boss.   But the qualities that make a person a great assistant – whether administrative, executive, or personal – haven’t changed for more than 700 years.

Trust and support remain the hallmark of any great assistant.

Adapted from Jessica Dickler, CNNMoney.com staff writer May 16 2007