I am the Personal Assistant to the Deputy Private Secretary to The Queen, in the Private Secretary’s Office, based at Buckingham Palace.

How did you get your job with the Royal Household?
I saw an advertisement on a recruitment web site for a role in the Personnel Office and I applied directly to the Royal Household. Although I was not successful in obtaining the position I applied for, I was offered an alternative job working as the Assistant Administrator in the Privy Purse and Treasurer’s Office. This I did for three years before being promoted to my current role.

What did you do before joining the Royal Household?
After graduating from university, I undertook a variety of temporary jobs at different organisations, varying from arranging student work experience placements for the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, to reception work for a local county council.

What experience and qualifications do you need to work within the Private Secretary’s Office?
For my current role, administration and secretarial skills such as diary management and a high level of typing accuracy are essential. A pleasant telephone manner, plus the ability to deal with a range of people with diverse demands in a calm and professional way, are also vital. It is also imperative to have good IT skills and the ability to keep going under pressure.

What training and support are available to you? 
The Royal Household offers an excellent range of training programmes, from short IT courses on a one-to-one basis, to courses on communication skills and workshops on ‘presenting with impact’. The Household is also very committed to supporting their employees in a pastoral context and as a result has teamed up with an external organisation who provide counselling and information on request.

What’s it like working for the Royal Household?
Working for The Queen as part of the Royal Household is a very rewarding job. A high level of commitment is expected from all of us and it is important to get things right as everything we do is subject to the scrutiny of the public. The work and occasional long hours are worthwhile when a successful engagement is carried out by Her Majesty and enjoyed by so many people both here in the United Kingdom and abroad. I feel lucky to be part of it.

Describe a typical day.
On a typical day, I would arrange meetings, take telephone calls, open and sort the Deputy Private Secretary’s post and deal with the resulting correspondence. Part of my job requires me to help arrange The Queen’s engagements both here and abroad, so I would liaise with the relevant Lord-Lieutenant’s Office, or the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, or the associated High Commission with regard to her programme.

When the Deputy Private Secretary is on duty, I collate paperwork, such as Parliamentary Bills or requests for appointments and check that everything is in order to send to The Queen for her information or approval.

What is the best thing about your job?
I consider the Household a very ‘close-knit’ community, where everybody works together in an incredibly interesting environment, but the best bit about my job would have to be arranging the engagements that The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh carry out, particularly the foreign trips.

What opportunities do you get that you would not get elsewhere?
There are many opportunities for an employee in my position, such as foreign travel with The Queen, and working at Balmoral and Sandringham. The Royal Household provides an excellent pension scheme and car lease schemes once you have completed your probationary period. As a Royal Household employee you can benefit from discounts at a range of suppliers, including the Windsor Farm Shop. The fabulous staff meals are also especially enticing.