Behavioral interview questions administrative assistant

Administration support and administrative assistance are core to the efficient operation of a department or company. Office administrative jobs are one of the most commonly listed job opportunities on the job market.

Jobs in the administration sector require a wide range of skills and abilities. These interview questions for administrative assistant jobs explore the key skills and competencies required for success in the role.

The answer guidelines will help you to prepare for success in your administrative job interview.

General Administrative Experience

Briefly describe your administrative experience.

What do you consider your administrative strengths?

How does your previous experience make you a suitable candidate for this job?

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.

Communication Skills

Describe the different types of business communications you were responsible for.

How do you make sure you have clearly and accurately understood an inquiry or request made of you?

Communication is key to any job that provides support and assistance in an organization. Your answers should clearly demonstrate your ability to express yourself effectively both verbally and in writing as well as your ability to listen actively and understand the communication taking place.

Planning and Organizing

How do you organize your daily schedule and prioritize your activities?

Tell me about a meeting you recently arranged. How did you coordinate and schedule it?

Tell me about a situation where you had to reprioritize quickly to meet changing demands.

Give me an example of how you had to multitask to meet your deadlines.

Focus on scheduling and prioritizing activities. How do you decide which are the most important activities? Include criteria such as urgency of the tasks, deadlines to be met, available resources and setting realistic targets. Outline the tools you use to plan your day including the computer applications you have found helpful.

Problem Solving

Describe a complicated problem you recently had to deal with in your job. How did you go about sorting it out?

How do you go about getting the relevant information necessary to understand a problem in order to be able to decide on a possible solution?

Information Management

What different systems have you used to store information and documents?

What record keeping were you responsible for?

what sort of data were you responsible for processing?

Administrative assistant interview questions will explore your ability to gather and manage information. Detail the types and volume of data you had to manage and how you ensured your information management was up to date and accurate.

Teamwork

Tell me about a specific contribution you made to improve team performance

Describe a situation where you were able to help out a colleague or team member.

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.

Customer Service Skills

Tell me about a time you had to deal with a very demanding customer. How did you handle it?

Describe a situation where you went out of your way to provide customer satisfaction.

Remember when answering administrative assistant interview questions about customer service that your colleagues, supervisors and managers are your internal customers in addition to any external customers that you have to deal with.