Administrative assistant interview questions
Administrative assistants are present in every organization and they are responsible for the successful handling of almost every administrative work in the organization. They work with maintaining databases, filing systems, generating records, data management, and so much more.
The work of an administrative assistant is very competitive and often involves minute details that need to be maintained. If you have received a call from one such organization and are tense about the interview process, we have curated a few questions that can help you through the entire process.
Stay tuned and answer the question along with us.
- Why do you want to work for this organization?
This is the most common question any candidate can encounter in an interview. An interviewer often wants to know why a candidate would love to work for their organization, what motivates them to work, and how long they plan to work in a certain position. All the answers to the above question help them to find a suitable candidate that can serve the company loyally. The process, in turn, avoids the waste of time and money for the organization.
Try to convince the interviewer of your goals, motivation, and interest in the position. Give them a clear idea about the period you would like to work for.
Sample answer:
” I have been interested in administrative work pretty much all of my life. I engaged in an educational background that could strengthen my position in this field. Counting on my previous experiences and projects, I feel this role suits me the best. It allows me to further spread my knowledge and aptly use the technical skills. I can handle any problems in minutes and look forward to doing it for pretty much all my life. Your organization will serve as the first pioneer in my success as a great administrator. “.
- Give us a glimpse of your experience as an administrative assistant in previous positions?
As an administrative assistant, you might have undertaken several jobs and projects in your previous position. List the projects you completed. This helps the interviewer to understand what you are capable of doing and what work you already have a hand on.
Sample answer:
” In my previous position, I worked with handling organizational data and entering it into the system daily. I worked closely with two executives and helped them to handle their presentations and other necessary details. I have also worked on handling client data and assisting them with their problems. Handling customer queries has also been my position requirement, and I have quite an experience in the same.”.
- Can you walk us through the experience you had in your previous workspace?
The question is often asked by the interviewer to understand your knowledge about the administrative assistant position you are applying for. A relevant experience in the past with all the required skills and management processes will automatically boost the chances of you getting hired. An organization wants a trained candidate, this saves them time and money. Research your work, if you don’t have work experience, understand the position requirements of the organization.
If you have work experience, club all your responsibilities as an administrative assistant and tell them to your interviewer.
Sample answer:
” At my previous workspace, I was trained to handle all the day-to-day administrative work of the organization. This also included having communication skills, technical knowledge, multi-tasking, and other things that help me to boost the overall process of being an administrative assistant. Apart from this, I think the role of an administrative officer requires skills like professionalism, time management, soft skills, a keen eye for detail, ability to triage things, competence, and much more to handle the position efficiently”.
- Are you a team manager, give us an instance where you proved yourself to be one?
The interviewer wants to understand how you handle difficult situations and make up for the organization without harm to the reputation of the organization. Any instance where you proved yourself under the pressure of the team, handled a team, managed to take care of people around you, and other things will help them understand how you handle situations in peak moments.
A great way to answer this question would be to state your experience with the past workspace, a real-life experience will help the person understand how you went through the entire process. If you are a fresher, dig for a scenario and answer how you would solve a problem if it arises.
Sample answer:
” I once handled a situation wherein the company had lost a few essential details that were protected in the hard drive. It was a technical fault and due to an emergency administrative meeting, the entire team was extremely anxious about the lost data. The department was in panic mode. In this situation, I suggested that my manager should get the raw data and curate the file into information. The entire team can analyze the parts and it could be ready at the end of the lunch hour for further presentation.
This task was carried about by the team and helped us to always back up our data. The problem was solved and the team had efficiently worked on making new analyses on time. The presentation went perfectly and was appreciated for my efforts “.
- How will you handle the positions of an administrative assistant? What will be your strategies and main concerns?
The administrative assistant for any organization works as the key person to handle responsibilities and to look after the executive work of the organization. As a candidate, an interviewer will accept you to understand your position and know the main strategies you would be using to handle every situation or daily issue inside the organization. A neatly drafted answer to this question could help you bring out the work you carry out and how you strategize your work to bring the best for any situation.
Sample answer:
” Administrative assistance is my suit, and I believe that as an office assistant my first mindset would be to prioritize my day and schedule it in a manner that helps me bifurcate my time and energy to important tasks that require maximum attention. I would love to start the entire process of the day with scheduling and responding to emails that ask for my attention. The strategies I would use to make the job a better place and to handle every situation with finesse would be, I would polish my skills.
Raw skills can sometimes give incomplete work. I would work on polishing my skills in communication, IT, integrity, data handling, and others. This will help me add value to my position. My main concern would be to shine in the position I work for. So, I will give my best in every instance.
- What are the biggest challenges you expect to face in the job?
The question tests you on everything. You heard me right about everything. When an interviewer states this question they essentially want to check the flaws you possess, how you can solve a situation, your approach to the problem, the result you received, how you handle yourself, how quick of a response you can generate and so much more.
The questions allow the interviewer to understand how you know your flaws and can work upon them to solve a situation. The question is like a problem statement, use the STAR analysis method to answer the question.
Sample answer:
” Managing all my day-to-day schedule was the most difficult challenge I faced during my prior work. The organization was extremely new and always involved multiple tasks assigned to a small number of people. This created strong work pressure. But I managed my time by learning how to schedule things, I started prioritizing my work and giving deadlines to myself. This helped me boost my speed of work and also complete it within the given period.
I have grown a lot as an individual after applying this method. Today I use this event in my daily life to manage my work and other schedules”.
- The position can be tiring as it includes attention to minute details. How do you think you will stay motivated throughout the job period?
A regular job often gets frustrating to a person when committed daily. Whether you follow your passion or not, it is easy to lose motivation for the work you do almost every day. In such a situation staying motivated can be difficult. Different individuals and positions can have different strategies to stay motivated. Even though you can sometimes slack off at work and not give your best, you do not need to inform the interviewer of this. Even the interviews sometimes can feel like a lack of motivation in their work. In such a situation, approach the questions like one of your best day answers, wherein you look forward to work.
Sample answer:
” Handling different responsibilities, communicating with people, solving problems, and other such things at the job make me happy. My body has a mechanism to relate happiness with motivation to do more, so I would stay motivated throughout the day as I keep helping people and completing my responsibility to check my mental checklist.
On my worst days though, I would love to sit back and take a deep breath and remind myself of the position I work for and what good it brings to others. This will automatically boost my energy to work and I can contribute a lot more to the organization by staying motivated “.
- Give us an instance in your life where you failed, how did you solve the problems? What did you learn from them?
Take a moment to ponder upon the question before you come up with a response. The question can make or break questions in your interview. An interviewer often digs deeper into the matter of the candidate failing a task, this allows them to understand how the candidate works on their problems and if failure stops them.
Another major point you need to understand is choosing the appropriate situation. You do not need to have a situation where you shine in the end, it could be the complete opposite, rather choose a situation where you gave your 100%. This tells the interviewer how you handle failure and how it makes you learn things.
Sample answer:
” I once tackled a huge client with the wrong information and data. I made a silly mistake of swapping the client files, this made the organization face criticism as several confidential details were revealed which needed to be kept from others. This incident shattered me wherein, I was accused of selling private information.
I handled the situation by talking calmly to my boss and telling him how it was a silly mistake from my side and no attempt to harm the privacy of any client. I apologized to both the clients and made sure I do not repeat the mistake ever. The mistake taught me to verify my work a hundred times before I submit it. This also helped me to learn the importance of security for a client, and I make sure I do not hamper it in any possible way”.
- What qualities do you possess that are perfect for the role?
The position of administrative assistant comes with a huge responsibility and the duties and responsibilities are often spread over a spectrum of departments and administrative tasks. As a candidate, you need to be aware of the qualities that could take you forward in this position and help you with making the entire process of learning the work better.
Tell the interviewer how you would like to contribute to the team, and what difference you can bring to add value to the organization. Convince them how you will work towards the betterment of the company and handle every situation effectively.
Sample answer:
” I am an enthusiastic individual who loves assisting people and adding value to their projects with my contributions. Small or big, a contribution does matter to me and I get motivated by the concept of helping others in their work. As an administrative assistant, I prioritize the qualities of being organized, assisting clients and engaging them, handling data entry chores, and other work details. I think these qualities in me make me fit for the position. I assure you I will handle the work effectively and work toward the development of the organization”.
- Walk us through one of your greatest achievements?
The interviewer here is trying to checklist your credibility of work and compare the qualities you have mentioned on your resume. Many candidates write one of their qualities as punctual and are late to their very first meeting, and this brings contrast in the qualities. Any organization does not want to hire a candidate that challenges their own beliefs, and this is perfectly put to test by the question.
Knowing about your greatest achievement will help the interviewer to understand what qualities you possess and how you apply the concepts you believe in your work. Choose an appropriate situation and avoid bluffing.
Sample answer:
” At my previous workspace, I was given the task to handle the work of two executive leaders within the first year of joining the company. The two executive-level officers had appreciated my organizational skills and told me how things went a lot easier after I started helping them with their schedules. Apart from that I also handle different requirements of assisting the president on travels, presentations, and other details of the organization”.
- Why this organization?
The cliche! This question can never leave your back in any organization. It is a must question and often included in the interview to understand how serious a candidate is for the position. This also helps the interviewer to understand how much the organization matters to you and how you would contribute to the organization and add value to it.
Sample answer:
” This organization is on an entirely different spectrum of work and deals with several clients. I think this will help add value to my position and help me to understand the work on a more advanced level. Apart from that, the organization will also help me with relevant experience as it is filled with exceptional and high professional employees as well as clients. I have looked forward to working with the organization and adding a start to my batch”.
- What are your strengths? Do you think you can positively apply your strengths to the position in the organization?
Embrace this question and give an honest reply. If this question is asked at the end of the interview they probably have an idea about what type of candidate you are and the basic technical qualities you possess for the job role. Offer them the strengths that you feel best depict your professionalism and how you can positively contribute to the expectations of the organization.
Sample answer:
” The strengths I possess are communication, organization, and punctuality. These are my greatest strengths and I believe I can handle any of my weaknesses with this strength. I am a self-motivated person and love to assist people with different aspects of their problems. Being a great communicator I can express my ideas and beliefs most efficiently. Administrative skills require a great amount of organizational detail, whether it be for data accumulation or handling day-to-day responsibility. My organizational skills help me to meet this job requirement and handle my work without interruption. Also being punctual helps me to meet deadlines effectively. Being self-motivated helps me to add value to my work, I take pleasure in understanding and polishing my work, and this motivates me to work better each day”.
- Rate yourself on the range of 1 to 10 on computer skills?
This question is pretty self-explanatory and helps the interviewer to understand what computer skills you have. As a candidate starts by listing the skills you have.
Sample answer:
“I rate myself a solid 8 on computer skills when it comes to administrative work. I am proficient in handling word, excel sheets, style sheets, and other management software. I am also familiar with managing websites and have basic training in managing WordPress, office, and many others”.
- How do you think you can contribute to our administrative team?
Administrative work is the basis for every organization to work efficiently. To answer this question you need to tell the interviewer how your administrative skills can help the organization. Tell them how you would work to contribute a successful chapter for the organization and create a difference for the organization. This could help the person understand what ethics you follow in working and the major contributions you could make in the organization.
Sample answer:
” I can contribute to all the administrative work under me and work to my best potential. I am confident with my organizational and communication skills I can contribute significantly to the organization and help everyone to complete the assigned work effectively. I assure to boost the work and complete within the deadlines and would also come up with creative ideas to boost the overall structure of the project”.
- What Management style is preferred by you to complete the task?
The question helps the interviewer to determine the level of management skills you are proficient in working with. This allows them to understand the overall structure of the work you have and also to understand how compatible you will be with the management style followed by the organization. List out your preferred style, it’s ok to differ from the management style as organizations sometimes look for a different perspective.
Sample answer:
” I would love to work with a boss who understands my knowledge and assigns me work. I also prefer to receive occasional feedback, which is quite important to me so that I can effectively function and meet the demands of the organization. Apart from that I am also used to working in a management system that allows every member of the team to contribute along with the seniors”.
Conclusion:
The administrative assistant job is extremely competitive and needs the candidate to thoroughly understand the roles and responsibilities assigned to them. The article provides you with top questions that can help you get a step closer to your success story. Practice them, polish your skills and give your best as an individual.
