Hello. I’m a forty-year-old man from London, currently working as a personal assistant for the daughter of a South Asian oligarch. For the sake of her privacy, I’ll be referring to her as ‘Geeta’ and give no sensitive details about her personal identity. Geeta is currently a twenty-year-old woman in London for university, living in a penthouse with her pet dogs, along with a maid and personal assistant. I share a small room with the maid in the staff quarters within the building.

As a personal assistant, my job is mainly to serve her outside her home, which means accompanying her to classes, shopping trips, restaurants, social events, or hanging out with friends, while the maid is mainly responsible for serving her inside her home, such as cleaning or cooking. Her own maid is South Asian, and has a good relationship with Geeta and myself. Geeta is generally a kind and loving person, but is highly vulnerable to different moods. Ask me anything.

  • @[email protected]English
    12•14 hours ago

    Is there much of a job market for personal assistants? It seems like a potentially volatile job to have, since it seems like largely depends on the whims of one person. Suppose they just decide they have a personal dislike for you and then you’re just gone like that, where do you go from there? Is there an actual network of people you can through to get other similar positions, or do you start from square one and it’s just a word-of-mouth thing? What are the benefits like, is there any medical/retirement benefits?

    • @[email protected]OPEnglish
      12•13 hours ago

      I mostly try to keep myself from getting on her bad side. Geeta is a kind person, but she has very frequent mood swings and often gets unhappy very easily, so it’s always important to have the ability to read the room in certain situations when you’re in my line of work. I rarely express my thoughts and suggestions, and stick to my role of being a humble servant who politely nods at everything she says. I’m being paid to serve her, not to bother her with my own opinions.

      • Pandantic [none/username]English
        2•8 hours ago

        I’d love to hear more about the other part of the question - how did you get into this line of work and what will you do when this job is over? Like is there a network of personal assistants that you can go back into the pool? Also medical benefits?