Secretarial

Look at this from the employer's point of view. Focus on the aspects of your experience and any formal or on-the-job training that apply to the tasks and responsibilities of this secretary job and the needs of the company. Analyze the job posting/ad to determine the key skills required for the job and detail your experience in each of these areas - examples include writing and editing correspondence, scheduling, dealing with inquiries and information management.

List the packages you are familiar with. Discuss how much experience you have with each package, describe the functions you regularly used and the type of work you have generated. You can support your interview answer by taking along some work samples.

Detail your knowledge of Excel. Relate your data management skills to the job requirements. Use examples of the functions you are familiar with such as creating, modifying, formatting spreadsheets, to support your proficiency level.

Be detailed and demonstrate your familiarity with the functions. "I performed tasks such as creating and editing tables, columns and charts as well as sorting table data and performing calculations in tables. I created and formatted forms ......."

Detail the actions you have taken to set up and coordinate meetings like organizing the venue and times, informing participants, preparing agendas and organizing documentation. Go on to describe your experience in taking minutes, typing them up and distributing them (this is another opportunity to provide a work sample. Focus on your efficiency and planning skills - essential secretarial skills

Detail how you kept yourself informed and up to date with your manager's commitments and co-ordinated his or her appointments and meetings. What systems did you use to manage schedules and calendars? How did you follow up?

One of the key secretarial interview questions. Explain how you schedule and prioritize your tasks and activities appropriately. How do you decide which are the most important tasks? Focus on key aspects like finding out the urgency of the task, determining deadlines, working out how long the task will take and setting realistic targets for yourself. When do you develop your list of activities to be completed- at the start of the day or before you go home ready for the next day? How do you reshuffle your priorities as situations arise that demand a change in your priorities?

Secretaries and Administrative Professionals are expected to have good communication and interpersonal skills. Describe the type of interactions you had with colleagues, management and clients. Highlight how you used your knowledge of the department, organization and business to respond efficiently to these queries.

Secretaries or administrative professionals serve as information managers for the company. They are responsible for objective and detailed record keeping. Explain which record keeping you were entrusted and how you made sure these records were updated and accurate. What methods did you use - electronic or manual? Highlight your attention to detail and accuracy.

Confidentiality and discretion are key skills for a secretary. Detail the sort of sensitive information you had access to. Explain how you made sure the information was kept confidential. - for example, how was the information stored and destroyed?

Explain what types of transactions you handled - check, cash, bankcard - and what procedures you used to process and document these. How much money was involved? Focus on accuracy in terms of collection, receipting, reconciliations and banking.

Detail the types of correspondence you were responsible for and focus on your written communication skills, accuracy, spelling and grammar ability. Highlight the level of responsibility you were given - reports, letters, memos etc. Refer to the methods you used to send and distribute correspondence.

When answering secretarial interview questions about previous managers avoid saying anything that can be seen as negative. It sends up a red flag about your attitude to authority and supervision. Find positive aspects to highlight. Focus on the areas in which you worked well together.