Auction Assistant

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.

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.

☛ Why do you think you’re well-suited for a position as an administrative assistant? For this job in particular?

☛ What special skills do you possess that will help you excel at our company?

☛ How would you describe your comfort level when it comes to [particular software program]? What is the latest version of this software that you have used?

☛ Give me examples of how you’ve used [particular software program] on the job? What advanced functionality are you familiar with?

☛ What would you consider your biggest professional accomplishment to date? Your biggest professional failure?

This might feel like a trick questions, but it is not. The hiring manager’s job isn’t simply to hire the most qualified professional. He or she must find someone who will fit into the existing company environment. Understanding what kind of superior you work best with helps him or her decide if you will work well in the enterprise.

Keep it brief and focus on your attributes that are most relevant to the role in question and the employing organisation.

Be ambitious but realistic and make sure your answer is about your career, not your life in general.

It is important to have at least one example to hand that allows you to present how you applied your skills to achieve something that is particularly relevant to an Accounts Assistant role. Improvements that led to a tangible success for your employing organisation are going to be of particular interest.

Typical interview question and answer structures often open with a question like this. Avoid sounding arrogant or conceited by keeping your answer concise, but be sure to cover at least a couple of major strengths that are especially relevant to the role in question. Illustrate each of them with an example of how you were able to apply the strength in a way that made a tangible contribution to the success of the organisation.

☛ How would you handle a boss who gave you assignment without complete instructions?

☛ How do you handle a situation where you found mistakes on an assignment someone else gave to you to type and/or process?

☛ How do you minimize interruptions on the job?

Besides time management and cleanliness, an office assistant has excellent verbal and written communication skills to effectively coordinate activities between the office manager and his business colleagues, present reports, send and answer emails, etc.

As a starting point, it is important for someone looking for an accounts assistant job to mention MS Excel and Project, as well as PeopleSoft and Team Design software, and how you have applied these in a practical sense.

☛ How do you deal with tight deadlines?

☛ How do you deal with people who have angered or frustrated you?

☛ How would you handle a situation where someone is pressuring you for his or her work to be completed?

☛ What type of supervisor helps bring out your best performance?

☛ Can you share a piece of constructive feedback a manager has given you? What adjustments, if any, did you make because of that feedback?

☛ Have you ever reported to multiple supervisors at once? If so, how did you juggle each person’s priorities?

☛ Can you tell me about a workplace conflict you were involved in as an administrative assistant and how you handled it?

☛ Can you describe the most challenging colleague you’ve had to work with? How did you handle that relationship?

Avoid the temptation to say “this one”, but adopt the interview tactic of tailoring your answer so that it reflects, to some extent, the role in question. In general terms, you can talk about the need to be challenged, to make a tangible contribution, to try new things, to have the opportunity to fully exploit your skills, and grow yourself professionally.

☛ Can you walk me through a typical day in your most recent position? How do you prioritize what’s on your plate?

☛ How do you prioritize projects when you are juggling multiples tasks, all with similar deadlines?

☛ What is your first step when given a large project to manage? How would you organize it?

☛ Can you describe a challenging project you were assigned in the past and how you approached it?

☛ Are there any tools, equipment or procedures you would replace or change at your most recent/current job? If so, what changes would you make and why?

☛ How much rewriting do you usually do when working on someone’s proposal/report?

☛ When typing, what sorts of mistakes can you catch quickly and correct for the original writer?

☛ When typing a document, which things do you feel comfortable changing without needing to check with the one who has assigned you the work? What do you feel is necessary to ask about before changing or rewriting?

☛ What type of letters, memos, etc., can you set-up and write “from scratch”?

☛ How much writing have you done from incomplete instructions or notes? Explain.

☛ What formats or form letters have you had experience working with?

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.”