Personal Assistant Online Course with Internship Agreement
The Personal Assistant course teaches you to run an executive's working day across offices and time zones. You will manage calendars, coordinate tasks in Asana, Trello or Monday.com, check AI-drafted summaries and handle personal data under GDPR and UK GDPR. It suits newcomers and assistants moving into broader roles. Study 100 % online for 180 days, with an internship agreement included, for €200.
- 180 days of access
- 100 % online, at your own pace
- Level: beginner · No prior experience required
- Assessment: 10 quizzes (50 questions) and a final project
- Internship agreement included
- Certificate with a verifiable QR code
- Languages: Spanish, English, French
- Price: €200
Who it is for
- People starting out as personal or executive assistants
- Administrative staff supporting several managers or offices
- Assistants who want to move towards a chief-of-staff-style coordinating role
- Professionals considering the IAAP CAP certification
What do you need to start?
Prior knowledge
- No prior knowledge of office administration is needed
- Comfortable reading and writing business English
- Basic everyday computer use: email, files and web browsing
Software and equipment
- A computer with a reliable internet connection
- Access to Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace for practising shared documents and calendars
- Asana, Trello and Monday.com each offer a limited plan for individuals or small teams, enough for practice
- The IAAP CAP Body of Knowledge is a free download from the IAAP website
What you'll be able to do
- Choose between Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace tools and share cloud files without creating stray copies
- Calculate the real overlap of working hours across time zones, including clock-change weeks
- Rotate inconvenient meeting slots fairly and give each meeting an objective, an owner and a follow-up
- Set up task boards with clear owners, views and a precise meaning of 'blocked'
- Review and correct AI-generated drafts and meeting summaries before sending them
- Handle candidate and staff data confidentially in line with GDPR and UK GDPR
- Prioritise competing requests from several executives and delegate documented, repeatable tasks
- Select the right channel, virtual mailroom or e-signature tier, and spot when paper is still required
Skills you will practise
- Microsoft 365
- Google Workspace
- Cross-timezone scheduling
- Asana, Trello, Monday.com
- AI meeting summaries
- GDPR / UK GDPR
- Prioritisation across executives
- E-signature workflows
- Virtual mailroom
- IAAP CAP preparation
Syllabus
- The Modern Toolstack: Microsoft 365 & Google Workspace — Deciding which tool does each job, who should have access, and how to collaborate across both suites without duplicating files.
- Complex Calendar & Cross-Timezone Meeting Management — Finding true overlap windows, handling EU and US clock-change gaps, rotating inconvenient slots fairly and using booking tools with judgement.
- Project & Task Coordination Tools (Asana, Trello, Monday.com) — Choosing views, assigning a single owner per task, defining 'blocked' and telling a busy board from a healthy one.
- Responsible Use of Generative AI for Drafting & Meeting Summaries — Checking AI notetaker transcripts and draft summaries for accuracy before forwarding them to people who missed the meeting.
- Data Privacy & Confidentiality for Assistants (GDPR/UK GDPR) — Recognising sensitive personal data in everyday folders and refusing unsafe transfers, such as sending recruitment files to personal email accounts.
- From Executive Assistant Toward Chief-of-Staff-Lite — How the role has moved from diary and correspondence towards coordinating travel, resolving clashes and securing cross-department sign-offs.
- IAAP Certified Administrative Professional (CAP): Certification Pathway — What the CAP is, how IAAP works as a professional body, and how to use the CAP Body of Knowledge.
- Business Writing & Communication for International/Remote Teams — Matching message, subject line and channel to the reader so updates sent by chat, email or shared document get acted on.
- Supporting Multiple Executives: Prioritization & Systems Thinking — Ranking competing requests, focusing on the high-risk share of the workload and delegating tasks that follow documented procedures.
- Hybrid Office Operations Without the Paper Trail — Unified voice, chat and video routing, virtual mailrooms, e-signature tiers, retention duties and the cases still needing courier or wet ink.
Internship agreement
An intern with this course could support one or more managers with calendar and meeting scheduling across time zones, travel arrangements and meeting follow-ups. Other suitable tasks include maintaining task boards in a project tool, drafting and checking internal updates and meeting summaries, and helping with digital office processes such as e-signature workflows or incoming post handling, in an executive office, operations or administration department.
The internship can run at the same time as the course, within the 180 days of access.
Frequently asked questions
Will the Personal Assistant course make me a Certified Administrative Professional?
No. The Personal Assistant course includes a module on the IAAP Certified Administrative Professional (CAP) pathway: what the certification covers, how its Body of Knowledge is organised and how to use it to prepare. The CAP itself is awarded by IAAP, a membership-based nonprofit for administrative professionals, not by this course. The course gives you the practical skills of the assistant role and a clear map of that certification route.
Which tools and rules will I actually work with?
The course covers Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace for shared documents, calendars and chat; Asana, Trello and Monday.com for task coordination; AI notetaking and drafting tools; and e-signature platforms and virtual mailrooms for hybrid offices. On the regulatory side, it covers GDPR and UK GDPR for handling personal data, and the IAAP CAP Body of Knowledge as a professional reference for administrative work.
What could I do during the internship, and who finds the company?
You find the host company yourself; the school issues the internship agreement and its annex, which the company signs electronically, usually within one or two working days. With this course you could schedule meetings across time zones, maintain task boards, prepare and check meeting summaries, coordinate travel or support digital post and e-signature processes in an executive office or administration team.
Is being a personal assistant still mostly typing letters and managing one boss's diary?
Not any more. The course shows how the role has moved towards coordination: booking travel, resolving scheduling clashes, chasing sign-offs between departments and supporting several executives at once. Much of the work is judgement, such as deciding whose turn it is to take an early call, which request comes first, or whether an AI-drafted summary is accurate enough to send.
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Content updated: 07/10/2026