After 15 years as an executive assistant in higher education, I've learned the keys to succeeding in this growing yet competitive field.

As an immigrant, nothing was handed to me when I started as a junior assistant at City College of San Francisco. The government environment lacked training and systems for newcomers like myself. I had to work twice as hard just to understand my responsibilities.

Luckily, friends and mentors at City College lent a hand. By interviewing across departments, I created office guides, systems and procedures to share. Not all experiences were rosy though - jealousy posed problems. I quickly learned to work efficiently without making others "look bad." Mastering "political capital" can go a long way.

Over the years, I served hardworking, brilliant but sometimes difficult bosses - Vice Chancellors, General Counsel, a President and Chancellors. It wasn't always easy, but each provided invaluable lessons. My love of technology motivated me to continually hunt for programs and techniques to improve and accelerate my work - I perked up whenever I saw software that could automate workflows.

Now, I aim to share these skills, knowledge and experiences through my Medium blog. My goal is to help up-and-coming EAs and VAs thrive in this competitive industry, avoid pitfalls I faced as a newcomer, and hopefully encourage others to pursue this rewarding career path.