Office Assistant Interview Questions

“No job is too small” – that’s basically the motto of the office assistants’ community. These specialists can be met in every business and industry. Office assistants are diligent, savvy, and curious entry-level toilers, who assume the incredible variety of support duties. Because of this bitty set of job responsibilities, make sure the interview queries you implement touch upon the spheres of your interest.

Stage 1. Assessing the tech-side

Some aspects of the office assistants’ performance (e.g. calendar management, report preparation, data entry, etc.) require expertise in workplace software such as MS Office. When conducting an interview, you should remember to ask the prospects to rate their level of proficiency with such software programs:

• Please describe your knowledge of computer software.
• In a few words, share your calendar management experience.
• How can Microsoft Office assist you in document preparation?
• Are you familiar with data entry procedures?

If you want to squeeze the maximum out of an interview, feel free to insert a short skills evaluation test. Consequently, you will be able to explore the certain skills of a job seeker and make up your mind whether to hire them or not.

Don’t forget to ask the interviewee about their educational background, previous work experience and, most important, the reasons to swap the current post for yours. Such interview questions will come in handy to define the professional aptitude of an applicant. Besides, you will have a better representation if they are knowledgeable enough to embrace the scope of work.

• The post you apply to implies repetitive tasks. What is your way to ensure accuracy and stay motivated at a time?
• What administrative activities are you delighted with?
• What administrative projects do you find less engaging? Share your technique to come over your disinterest and still do a great job.
• Why do you fancy working as an office assistant for our company?

Stage 2. Scenario-based queries

By making use of the following open-ended interview questions, you will push your office seekers to reveal their soft skills and abilities. In addition to that, it’s a nice opportunity to find out more about the things that motivate the employee to work harder.

• Explain how you understand the notion of “managing up.” In what aspects have you dealt with it?
• Tell about an occurrence when you had to work with a difficult colleague. How did you fix that up?
• Imagine you work with multiple departments within one corporation. What is your method of prioritizing?
• Have you ever had a team working experience? Describe your contribution to the team effort.
• Speak about your initiatives. Have you ever implemented a way to reduce costs, ensure profit, or save time?