Fresh Administrative Officer Interview Questions & Answers:

1. How did you handle multitasking?

I have always worked on my time management skills. Actually, I can organize my work pretty well, so it rarely happens that I need to take care of two different tasks at a same time. In the morning I always prioritize my work, consult it with the manager and work according to the plan we set. Doing so, I waste no time in work and am just rarely forced to deal with multitasking.

2. Can you work with MS Office?

I have been working with MS Word and MS Excel for the past five years. I have used it at school too. While I do not consider myself an expert, and can not use all the functionality it offers, I was always able to find what I needed to accomplish any task. All in all, I would give myself eight from Word and six from Excel.

3. Tell me about your education?

► Your real level of experience. You know, it is pretty easy to compose a perfect resume. One can think up anything… But once you asked about details (they will most likely give you additional questions on your experience), it is pretty clear if the things on your resume are true or not.
► To see what matters for you and if you think positively about your past and future.

4. Do you have any experience with multitasking?

Administrative Officer are typically pretty busy people. A big pile of papers on a table of an Officer is a common picture we see, not only in the films. And obviously, there's "a mess" in their computer too :) …
Interviewers are aware of it and try to find out if you are able to prioritize your tasks, or to work on different tasks simultaneously. Your goal is to convince them about your time management skills, an ability to organize work and recognize the most important tasks to take care of immediately.

5. What are duties on a job of Administrative Officer?

You can find a list of duties on a job description. This should help you to understand if they want to hire a secretary, on office manager, or something between these two. It should be easier for you to identify their goal and talk about right duties in your answer.
After all, your attitude matters the most. Show them that you are ready to work hard and do more than expected of you.
Sample answer:
"I believe that the main responsibility of an administrative Officer is to take care of all administrative and other assigned duties, so the managers can focus on the important tasks and carry out their job well. I believe that a good Officer should try to create a motivating and positive atmosphere in an office too."

6. What would motivate you to do your job well every day?

Motivation is a crucial factor for every employer. If a recruiter has to choose between inexperienced, but motivated, job seeker and a bored professional Officer with ten years of experience, in most of the cases, he will hire the motivated fresher.
Repetition makes job boring for many of us. Therefor there is this question, to see if you can find motivation in a routine job. You should do one of the following things:
► Stress that you prefer routine jobs. Some of us do not like challenges and prefer to have routine roles and carry out the same tasks every day.
► Stress that good relationships on the workplace, or other factors, matter for you more than the variability of tasks in job.
► Alternatively, you can try to convince the employer that from your point of view, this job is not repetitive.

7. What way to tell about your strengths and weaknesses?

This question belongs to the most common in an interview. They use it everywhere. Inexperienced HR managers use it to learn something about your weaknesses. And sometimes they use it simply because it can be found on the majority of interview templates. They follow no special intentions with it…
However, the experienced recruiters have another reason to use it. Of course, they are able to assess your strengths and weaknesses without inquiring about it. That's their specialty, the skill they get their salary for. But they use this question to check your trustworthiness and humility, to see if you can assess and admit your own weaknesses.

8. Can I tell about my weaknesses?

Humble employee is a good employee. You should feel free to talk about your weaknesses in an interview. After all, interviewer is aware of it, doesn't matter if you talk about it or not… Therefore, try to be honest. But do not stop there. Elaborate on your answer, explaining what you do to improve on your weakness. That is an attitude of a responsible assistant, an attitude all interviewers seek in the applicants.
We all have weaknesses… But just some of us are able to admit it and do something to improve on it.

9. What is your strength related to the Administrative job?

"People say that I am very responsible. I am always on time. My level of motivation is high all the time, doesn't matter if we speak about work or any other activity I do in my free time. On the other hand, I know I should work on my management skills a little bit, because I sometimes find myself in a situation when I do not manage everything in time."

10. What is the main responsibility of an administrative Officer in a company?

Some people think that a typical day of an administrative Officer consists in making coffee and typing data to the computer. Some job seekers have the same opinion.
However, if you want to succeed in an interview, you need to show that you are ready to do much more than cooking good coffee and answering phone calls. You need to convince them that you see your vital role in a team and believe to influence the productivity of the office. Actually, the main duty of an administrative Officer is to carry out every task assigned by the boss, but on the top of that, to come up with his own ideas of what to do.
Sample answer:
"Good administrative Officer should listen to the boss and work on the assigned tasks constantly."