Administrative assistants handle various professional tasks, and the specifics will always be dependent on the job itself. So how can you determine if someone is a great candidate in the interview process? A few questions you may not have thought to ask can help get to the core of their potential and experience. Let’s look at just a few questions to ask in your next administrative interview.
What Do You Enjoy About Being an Administrative Assistant?
You want to hire an administrative assistant who loves what they do. When they are excited to come to work every day, they’ll be more motivated and productive. Finding out why they like administrative roles and if their passion matches your company will help you make a great hiring decision.
How Would You Approach a Task where You Haven’t Been Given Thorough Instructions?
Any administrative assistant has dealt with this issue. Managers aren’t always clear in their directions, even if they think they are. An administrative assistant has to either anticipate their needs or know how to ask for clarification constructively.
What Kind of Management Style do You Look for in a Manager?
It’s also helpful to know what kind of manager they like to work with. For example, some managers have a conservative and professional management style while others are looser and more creative. You want to match the right administrative assistant to the right personality.
How Do You Handle Personality Conflicts in the Workplace?
Of course, even the most careful planning can’t prevent all personality conflicts. Whether it’s with management or coworkers, an administrative assistant will likely come across people who are challenging to work with. You want to know how they handle these kinds of situations.
How do you Manage Other Employees in your Department?
It’s also crucial that an excellent administrative assistant can manage others in the department. There are likely to be other support roles that report to your admin, and they need to have strong leadership and communication skills to get the best work out of other employees.
Are you ready to find a great administrative assistant for your company? Contact the team at NRI today.
