Hi New and Returning Readers,
I do realize I have about 6 reader questions in my queue that I need to address... Here is a short post if you are not from here!
1. For every 5-7 miles, allot about 30 min-45min of travel time during traffic on the local or surface streets. 1 hour to 1.5 hours on the freeways for 10-15 miles during traffic. But there is always traffic. Taking side streets like Fountain, alley ways, or other non major streets do shave off minutes from your commute. Also, allot time to find parking and to where you need to be if you're not valeting.
2. When you are turning left, a max of 3 cars should turn while it is yellow or shortly after it turns red. Otherwise, if you are expecting to be able to turn while it is green, that will never happen because there is so much bumper to bumper traffic at peak times.
3. There is no “central hub” or landmark of LA that ties the city together. They are only little pockets everywhere of really cool neighborhoods and things to see.
4. You really need a car to get everywhere. Sure you can ride the bus, metro, or cab it, but a car will be much more reliable and convenient when everything is so spread out and traffic is rampant.
5. If you like being outdoors, hiking at Runyon Canyon or on other mountain ranges are good options. To walk, window/shop or dine, there’s the Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica’s 3rd Street Promenade, the Grove in West Hollywood, Universal City walk in Universal City, Walk of Fame/Stars at Hollywood and Highland, Melrose Avenue, Rodeo Drive, and Downtown Disney in Anaheim/OC. There are no shortage of malls or strip malls in LA either.
6. Parking is not completely free. Malls and structures will have the first 2-3 hours free and if you go to the movies you get an extra hour or two free. Valet can be anywhere from $3-$20, most often it is about $6. Be careful when you park at a meter or in residential areas. The signs can be quite confusing about the hours you need a permit, are allowed to stop/park, or when the meter is free.
7. Keep your eyes peeled as you may see celebrities! Many do live in Beverly Hills, the Valley, and frequent regular businesses.
***New “rule” - when you ask me a question for anonymous advice and I answer it, could you write an anonymous comment so I know you read the post? You can just write “Thx!” or something! :)
As always, I usually tweet any new posts I have. And anyone can email me questions and I respond only via this blog, not to your personal address. It usually takes me 5-6 days to answer.
I also write over at Jobstr.com under Hollywood Executive Assistant.
http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4303-hollywood-executive-assistant
As always, I usually tweet any new posts I have. And anyone can email me questions and I respond only via this blog, not to your personal address. It usually takes me 5-6 days to answer.
I also write over at Jobstr.com under Hollywood Executive Assistant.
http://jobstr.com/threads/show/4303-hollywood-executive-assistant
Hi - I just spent last weekend driving around L.A. for the first time - it would have been helpful to have read this post! :) Anyway, I have a few questions I'm hoping you can help me with. Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated.
ReplyDeleteI am 51 years old, and spent the first 15 years after college in a professional role in the advertising business working for large successful ad agencies - in a mid-manger level role. After that I spent the next 10 years as a combination stay-at-home mom and freelancer (an advertising term for this type of work, most would call it contract work) also doing some part-time work for non-profits, usually around advertising/fundraising. I have spent the past 3 years working for a community college selling advertising (how I got the job) and also handling operations management for the student newspaper. I took this job because:
- I can no longer get a job doing what I used to do in advertising: I'm no longer qualified and never moved into upper management, which makes me too old for my former role (advertising is a very young business)
- I really wanted to move away from advertising towards non-profits and/or higher education as they are more age friendly and my interests had moved there.
- my husband and I were hit very hard by the financial crisis, and I just needed a full-time job quick with good benefits
- the position offered a lot of autonomy which helped with the "mom" factor.
Now that my kids are older, I need to re-boot my career and make more money. The type of work I did in my advertising career required very strong organization skills and great customer service skills. I was able to get a lot of contract work for this reason, usually being hired at the last minute to "clean things up" when ad agencies I had previously worked for couldn't handle their workload around my specialty (media planning and buying). I have been told that I would make a great executive assistant.
Here is my question for you: I can look for an executive assistant position in higher education, which most certainly means it will be at a slower pace than your job (and less pay). I do understand that your career is in the for-profit, corporate sector, which is where I have spent most of my career, so I completely get where you are coming from, but I still think you can help me. And, I'm curious about EA work in the corporate sector also.
But, here are my concerns:
1. that this is a step down in "status" that I might not be able to handle, although as I said, I do very well with customer service and being all about the other person. In other words, do you find that you are often "looked down upon" and that being able to roll with that is part of your job? Or do you feel the reverse, that people generally treat you with a lot of respect?
2. I'm concerned that I might not be able to handle the loss of autonomy, but maybe there is more in being an EA than I'm aware of?
3. Also, when looking for a job, I'm concerned that I may be seen as being overqualified and under-qualified, but I'm fairly good at re-packaging myself and using my sales skills and if anyone can do overcome this obstacle, I feel I can ....but maybe the whole thing is just unrealistic...
So, I would love your input - I'm guessing these may be some tough questions outside your normal "zone". But I'm under the impression that you love a challenge!!
Thanks so much - WONDERFUL blog!!! Again, any help would be much appreciated and my apologies for the long, rambling, not-so-well written questions.