5 ms·

>No one's livelihood should depend on having to read the room like a geisha. Why not? Isn't that most jobs? Seems to me a lot of jobs require you to "read the

• krapp 5y ago
  >Why not? Isn't that most jobs? No. In most jobs, employees know specifically what their employers' requirements are, they have specific tasks and itineraries and boundaries. "Know what I want before I want it" isn't an appropriate expectation to have of any assistant.
  • ABeeSea 5y ago
    I certainly would expect, for example, a senior or staff engineer to have far more autonomy in setting the requirements, specific tasks, and boundaries. Being able to predict the technical needs of the company before they are needed is a big part of those roles.
  • bigyikes 5y ago
    At a certain price point, it certainly is an appropriate expectation. Even at my job, where all my work is laid out for me in the form of Jira tickets, fulfilling unsaid (or unknown) desires is hugely beneficial for my team, company, and career. Sure, I’m technically paid to solve problems, but really I’m paid for the ability to think creatively and execute autonomously.
  • vasco 5y ago
    Most jobs like you described are super low paid. The more agency you're supposed to use in your job to take decisions, generally the higher paid you'll be. It's like you want everyone to be a drone or else they're being exploited.
• Rastonbury 5y ago
  People who expect EAs to read minds are watching too many movies with butlers or pepper pots like secretaries. Imagine asking your EA why they didn't do something you expected them to do without being explicit about what you want.
  • zeven7 5y ago
    Maybe some people are flexible and just like to have a random day off every once in a while and don't care so much exactly if it's a certain day or not
  • burnished 5y ago
    Why would they do that in this scenario? There is a world of difference between trusting someone to clear your schedule and tell you that you are taking a day off, and silently expecting them to do that on a specific day.
  • kortilla 5y ago
    Imagine asking a software engineer why they shipped code so slow it made a system unusable when “don’t slow the software down 1000x” wasn’t explicitly in the requirements. This is exactly the same thing. Assistants are there to help people and to know what to do with high level directives. “I want to take a stay at home vacation next week” should not require explicit instructions to reschedule everything and notify people…