Interviewing Tips for Admins

You’ve snagged a job interview—congratulations! Along with basic interview questions—Tell me about yourself? Why do you want this job? Why should we hire you?—as an administrative professional, you can expect to be asked questions specific to APs and EAs. Here are tips on fielding the most common of them with aplomb so you nail your next interview and land the job.

Tell me what software programs and business apps you’re proficient in.
Explain which Microsoft Office programs you use—Word, Publisher, PowerPoint, Excel, and so forth. Bring up company-specific software and business apps that help you succeed at work. If you’ve taken a class in a new program, mention that. Don’t forget to say how much you enjoy using technology.

How do you handle stress and high-pressure situations?
Discuss how making lists, using apps and prioritizing allows you to stay calm, collected and in control. Be ready to talk about how your organizational skills have allowed you organize calendars and travel, coordinate meetings, and handle multiple projects for multiple bosses.

What happens when an urgent, unexpected task lands on your desk?
Tell the interviewer about specific times emergencies upended your plans and how you smoothly and successfully dealt with them.

Tell me about a huge setback and how you handled it?

Have a story ready about how you overcome an unusually challenging situation and what you learned from it. Make this an opportunity to show how well you bounce back from seemingly impossible snafus.

Tell me how you’ve gone above and beyond in as an administrative professional.

Highlight ways in which you’ve expanded your job description. Perhaps you’ve taken another admin under your wing, updated your company’s website or used accounting skills to correct errors you caught in a budget document. Discuss everything you’ve done to add value to your job and organization.

Finally, prepare on-point questions to ask the interviewer.

For example: Why did the last assistant leave and where did they land? What skills do you value most in an admin? Does the company support continuing professional development? And last, but not least: What are the biggest challenges a person in this job can expect to face?