Essential Office Administrator Interview Preparation Guide

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Attending to and completing all the details results in accuracy. Give examples of when you have addressed mistakes in your or other people's work. Focus on following the correct procedures to complete a task and check your work.

Say that they are very good and that you can communicate well face-to-face, on the telephone and via the Internet on email. Tell us about a time in your professional career when you went out of your way to complete a task for someone else

Hopefully, you have some real experiences - but you may have forgotten them by now. Think back and try to recall a time that you may have helped somebody when they were under pressure or off sick.

Meeting people and speaking to customers is often a vital part of being an administrator. Say that you enjoy talking to people and that interaction with other people is often what makes the work most interesting.

Time management is crucial for any office assistant, who successfully coordinates and carries out many tasks simultaneously. Office assistants are often actively involved in managing the time of other office staff and managers. To be able to do that one must be able to manage his/her own time.

Chances are you will be asked this question, especially if you are switching careers and haven’t had a job like this before. Think about the benefits of the actual position. You can go into why you want to work for the specific company in other questions.

“I am one of those people who really enjoys being super organized and finding ways to balance my time, which is why I started looking into become an administrative assistant. Actually, you can find me in my free time reorganizing my house and trying to discover the most efficient ways to maximize my time. Also,I truly enjoy making others happy and helping them succeed and I feel like this type of role would fit in with my personality.”

If pushed too far you would consider speaking to your manager about workloads and expectations and try to resolve the situation.

I used to receive fax, mail and couriers with signing the receipts and maintaining an organized record of each respectively. I used to sort and distribute all incoming or outgoing mail to the relevant departments and executives. It also included maintaining printers and fax machines for retrievals as well as routing incoming fax and also guiding others on how to use the specialized machines for sending fax.

When describing your past experience focus on the aspects that directly apply to the job you are interviewing for. Consider the needs of the organization and relate your skills and abilities to these. Carefully study the job description or posting to determine what the employer is looking for and outline how your previous work experience has equipped you for this job.

Say that you deal with authority as you deal with customers - with integrity, professionalism and politeness.

I gradually want to reach at a managerial level where I would be able to utilize my experiences and talents for the growth of company.

An office assistant is able to use various standard communication software, such as – emailing tools, Messenger, and Skype. Moreover, he/she is able to type and be proficient in Word, Office, PowerPoint, Excel, etc.

Multitasking is a necessary part of an administration job, so say that you enjoy multitasking and the challenge of ensuring that multiple functions and jobs are completed accurately and on time is part of what motivates you in your work.

Your relationship with your boss will be very important as an administrative assistant. Think of any specific times you went above and beyond to help your previous employer.

“In addition to being told that I’m super organized, I’m confident that my former boss would tell you that I am one of the hardest workers they have had as an administrative assistant. You could always find me staying late to make sure everything has been completed and I would sometimes come in on the weekends if necessary. Also, I was often praised for my ability to handle multiple presentations at once and was recognized by the corporate office for my reporting skills.”

An office manager helps to keep the office running. This could include managing schedules, making phone calls, ordering supplies, getting coffee, assisting with meetings, etc. Office managers generally embody a variety of roles in your organization—so use this question to see how the candidate juggles all these responsibilities.

I have a track record of meeting deadlines. If I find that I cannot manage a deadline in advance, I work extra unpaid hours to work towards it. In fact, I have not missed a single deadline yet!

There were several tasks which I performed including taking phone calls, directing visitors to the right departments, taking minutes of meetings, assisting in procurement of supplies and equipment and, managing correspondence and mail.

An administrative assistant has to provide support to a number of different people under a number of different circumstances. Your ability to adjust successfully to different individuals and task requirements is very important. Provide specific examples of when you had to adjust your approach and behavior in different situations.

If you have experience, mention the packages you have used. If not, get some training in the most important packages before your interview. Ask your recruitment consultant what are the best packages to learn.

“The why is typically much more important than the whom,” Sarikas says. “So identify someone who has qualities you admire or has done something you aspire to do, and clearly articulate the specific reasons you admire that person. Avoid someone who could be controversial, if at all possible.”

With more businesses focusing on culture and fit, this question allows interviewers to see if your values mesh with the company’s.

Administrative assistants have to work effectively as part of a team or group. Your answers should highlight your ability to build relationships with other group members and show how you contribute to team success.

At times work can be quite demanding and 8 working hours seems too little. However, I have learned that if you prioritize your work, you can manage even the busiest day with a lot of ease.

It depends on the duration of the call. If it is a 5 minute call each, 9 to 11. If it is a route/transfer call, 30 to 40. A mixture goes well, repetition of the same kind of telephone calls for example applicants interview scheduling calls can become notorious at times

Ideally, you will be able to touch type well, so say yes to this. Shorthand is a dying art and fewer people are learning how to do this well. If you have the opportunity to learn it, then do so, because some managers like their administrators to be able to take down shorthand.

Here is your chance to run through all of your experience. Be concise and if you have done multiple roles, mention something specific for each one. Show that you have a lot of experience and are flexible.

Aside from prior experience in the field, an office manager should also research your company and come into the interview with an idea of how things work there. As one of the top office manager interview questions, this should paint a picture of how the candidate operated in a previous role.