Hire Full-Time Executive Assistant for Consulting Company

Hiring a full-time executive assistant is the right move for consulting companies whose CEO or managing partner has consistent, high-volume support needs that exceed what part-time or subscription models can adequately handle. When the demand is there and the right EA is found, a full-time hire delivers the deepest institutional integration and most reliable operational partnership available.

This guide covers the complete process: confirming the full-time decision, sourcing candidates, evaluating them against consulting-specific criteria, and building the relationship for long-term effectiveness.

Confirming the Full-Time Decision

Before beginning a full-time search, confirm that full-time is the right model. The indicators that full-time is warranted:

Volume: You need 30 or more hours per week of consistent EA support. If your time audit shows less, start with a part-time or subscription arrangement and scale up.

Complexity: Your support needs are complex and varied, requiring an EA who develops deep institutional knowledge rather than handling discrete tasks.

Physical presence value: Your EA role involves coordinating a physical office, managing in-person interactions, or handling materials that require on-site presence. If the role is fully digital, the physical presence advantage of full-time in-house hiring is limited.

Long-term commitment: You are prepared to invest in a multi-year EA relationship with full employment infrastructure.

If these indicators are present, full-time is the right move. If they are borderline, consider a managed platform at full-time equivalent hours as an alternative that delivers similar coverage with lower employment overhead.

The Full Cost of a Full-Time Consulting EA

Before beginning the process, understand the actual cost. A common mistake is evaluating the decision based on salary alone.

Salary range (US-based, full-time):

• Entry-level to professional (3 to 5 years): $55,000 to $80,000
• Senior professional (5 to 10 years): $75,000 to $100,000
• Senior with consulting firm background (10+ years): $90,000 to $130,000

Add for full-time employment costs:

• Benefits (health, dental, vision, retirement): 20 to 30 percent of salary
• Payroll taxes (employer FICA, unemployment insurance): 7 to 12 percent
• Recruiting cost (agency fee or internal time): $15,000 to $27,500 if using a placement agency
• Equipment and workspace: $3,000 to $8,000 in year one

Total first-year all-in cost:

• Professional-level hire: $90,000 to $140,000
• Senior consulting-experienced hire: $120,000 to $180,000

This is the correct number to use in any ROI calculation. Comparing salary alone against a virtual platform’s monthly fee is not an apples-to-apples comparison.

Sourcing Full-Time Consulting EA Candidates

EA Staffing Agencies Specializing in Professional Services

For full-time, in-house hiring, a specialized EA staffing agency is often the most efficient path. Agencies with professional services or financial services EA placement experience maintain pools of candidates with consulting firm backgrounds.

The placement fee (18 to 25 percent of first-year salary) is significant but often justified by the quality of the candidate pool, the agency’s screening, and the speed of the process compared to self-sourcing.

Evaluate agencies on:

• Specific experience placing EAs in consulting or professional services firms
• Quality of their screening process (not just matching resumes to job descriptions)
• Access to passive candidates not actively applying to job boards
• Understanding of the specific demands of consulting firm EA roles

LinkedIn Direct Sourcing

A targeted LinkedIn search for senior EAs with consulting firm experience in your geographic market, combined with personalized outreach, accesses candidates who may not be actively searching.

The effectiveness of this channel depends on the quality of the outreach: personalized messages that describe the specific opportunity, the firm, and why the candidate’s background caught your attention produce better response rates than generic templates.

Professional Referrals

Referrals from other consulting firm principals are among the highest-quality candidates. Your network of peers has observed their EAs perform under real conditions. A referred candidate also arrives with a social proof signal that shortens evaluation and increases confidence.

Ask specifically: “Do you know a strong EA who might be open to a new opportunity, or can you think of anyone in your network who would be right for this?”

Job Postings

LinkedIn and Indeed job postings generate volume but require careful filtering. Write the job description with enough specificity to attract qualified candidates and filter out those who do not meet the consulting-specific requirements. A vague description attracts a broader but lower-quality applicant pool.

The Evaluation Process

Define the Job Description First

Before evaluating candidates, write a precise job description that specifies:

• Exact responsibilities (not generic “EA responsibilities” but specific functions: full calendar ownership, email management with drafting, travel coordination for X trips per month, etc.)
• Required experience (years, types of executives supported, industry context)
• Communication quality standards
• Hours and compensation range

For a complete job description framework, see our guide on consulting executive assistant job description for CEO.

Resume Screening for Consulting-Specific Signals

Look for:

• Prior EA experience supporting C-suite or senior partner level executives
• Industry background in consulting, strategy, professional services, financial services, or adjacent professional environments
• Tenure: long tenures (3+ years with one executive) indicate compatibility and reliability
• Scope: evidence of genuine CEO-level support (managing client relationships, travel, BD administration) not just scheduling and filing

Red flags:

• Very short tenures at multiple employers (may indicate fit issues)
• Gap in experience description (what were they actually doing in the role?)
• No client-facing or external stakeholder management in a consulting EA role

Structured Interview

Conduct a consistent structured interview across all finalists. Key questions for consulting EA hiring:

“Describe how you managed a complex multi-stakeholder calendar for a senior executive. What was the most challenging aspect?”

“How have you handled confidential information in a professional services or consulting context?”

“Give me an example of when you anticipated a need before being asked. How did you identify it and what did you do?”

“Describe a situation where you had to represent your executive in a client or senior stakeholder interaction. How did you prepare and what was the outcome?”

“How do you prioritize when two urgent requests arrive simultaneously?”

Work Sample Assessment

Request a relevant work sample: a briefing document format they have used, an example of professional correspondence they drafted, or a calendar management approach they employed. Evaluate the quality, not just the existence, of the sample.

Reference Checks

Contact former executives the EA supported directly. Ask specifically:

• Quality of judgment and initiative in complex situations
• Standard of client-facing communication
• Reliability and follow-through
• How they handled errors or difficult situations

References from consulting firm or professional services environments are most relevant.

For a comprehensive guide to what to evaluate, see our article on what to look for in a consulting executive assistant.

According to Harvard Business Review, the best executive assistant hires happen when executives invest significant time in defining the role before beginning the search, and treat the hiring process as seriously as they would any senior operational hire.

Onboarding for Long-Term Success

The onboarding investment for a full-time hire is the same as for any EA arrangement, but the stakes are higher because the relationship is intended to be long-term.

First week: System access, firm context briefing, key client introductions, scheduling and communication preference documentation

First month: Full scope delegation, prompt feedback on every output, weekly calibration conversations

Months two and three: Expanding proactive authority, moving from guided delegation to genuine ownership of the EA’s functions

Six-month mark: Evaluate the relationship quality and make any structural adjustments before patterns become entrenched

Compensation and Retention

Consulting EA talent is competitive. Underpaying a strong EA creates retention risk that is more costly than the salary savings.

Set compensation at or above market for the experience level and market you are in. The cost of turnover (recruiting, onboarding, context loss, productivity gap) typically exceeds six months of the EA’s salary. Paying competitively is a retention investment with measurable return.

Conclusion

Hiring a full-time executive assistant for a consulting company is a significant investment that delivers significant returns when done right. The process requires honest assessment of whether full-time is warranted, a thorough sourcing effort to access consulting-experienced talent, rigorous evaluation, and a genuine onboarding investment.

The consulting CEOs who hire full-time EAs successfully treat the process as seriously as any senior hire, invest in the onboarding relationship, and commit to genuine delegation from day one. The result is an operational partnership that transforms how they lead and enables the kind of sustained performance that distinguishes the most effective consulting executives.

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