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​​The Chief of Staff role is trending. The role first started getting attention in Tech when high-profile execs like Elon Musk, Peter Thiel and Mark Zuckerberg hired chiefs of staff. They were CoS hiring influencers because it feels like everybody is now hiring a Chief of Staff. A LinkedIn search shows 5000+ Chief of Staff jobs posted in the U.S in the last week.

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​​Welcome to the State of the Chief of Staff in Tech report, a survey we kicked off this year (2021) where Chiefs of Staff speak frankly about what it’s like to be a Chief of Staff in Tech.

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​​We surveyed (“Typeform-ed” to be exact) previous and current 25* chiefs of staff to get their take on:

• ​​How they got into the role
• ​​What their backgrounds are
• ​​What their main responsibilities are
• ​​What skills and experience they think they need to succeed as a CoS
• ​​Which life experiences prepared them best for their role
• ​​What’s hardest about their role
• ​​What they wish about their CoS role going in

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​​*25 may not be a statistically-significant sample size, but given how new the chief of staff role is in technology, this may be our industry’s most comprehensive dataset on The Chief of Staff experience yet. I also included some publicly available data sources like 10,000 Hours with Reid Hoffman by Ben Casnocha and The Chief of Staff role in Silicon Valley by Julia DeWahl.

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​​This post may be useful if you’re:

• ​​Considering a CoS role and want to get a balanced take from others actually in the role