Executives rely on administrative assistants to keep busy schedules and company activities as clear and easy to navigate as possible. Expect questions about your organisational, time-management and communication skills. Many of these questions will be story based, so come ready to explain a time when you successfully juggled multiple deadlines or were able to handle difficult customers at the front desk. Although these interviews focus primarily on soft skills, you may be asked to answer a question about your ability to use basic administrative software.
Here are three top administrative assistant interview questions and tips on how to answer them:
How to answer: Everyone makes mistakes at work, even the most experienced administrative professionals. When answering a question about an error, briefly describe the situation and how the mistake happened. Emphasise what you did to resolve the error and how you will avoid that mistake in the future. Use the STAR method to describe the situation, task, action and result.
How to answer: Administrative assistants often serve as the face of an office, so they need to hold specific skills, including the skills required of receptionists. When answering a question about your preferred office environment, consider the atmosphere of the position for which you are interviewing. Discuss your ability to work as part of a team and interact with others.
How to answer: An administrative assistant might support multiple individuals who provide projects that hold a high priority level. This question helps a hiring manager determine how applicants use their judgment when managing projects and assignments and how they manage their time.
↳
Positively, though positivity doesn't matter here