Executive Assistant Interview Questions

Executive Assistant Interview Questions

After submitting job application after job application for an executive assistant position, you’ve finally landed an interview! But while you may be ecstatic about your accomplishment, now is the time to prepare for executive assistant interview questions. In order to secure a position, it’s vital to prepare yourself by understanding some of the questions the interviewer may ask you so that you can approach the conversation with poise and confidence. On the reverse, you also have to think through the questions YOU should ask the interviewer!

Now that you understand how important preparation is when approaching interviews, it’s time to dive into some of the common questions you may be asked when applying for an executive assistant position. We’ll go in-depth about some of these questions, discuss topics that may come up, provide information on how to prepare for interview tests for administrative assistants, and more.

Interview Questions and Topics

While you might have thought building your resume was hard, preparing for an interview is even a steeper mountain to climb. You feel so close to your goal, but you realize that one simple mistake can send the opportunity down the drain. So while you may be nervous about this do-or-die scenario, it’s important to have confidence as you move throughout the interview. Having confidence works hand-in-hand with knowing what to expect. Take a look at some sample interview questions administrative assistant below:

• What is your biggest accomplishment as a professional?
• What are your biggest weaknesses?
• What excites you about this position?
• Why should we hire you over the other candidates?
• What are some of your professional goals?
• How do you work under pressure?
• What interests you about this job administrative assistant?

While these are just examples, the type of job you’re applying for will dictate the type of personal assistant competency based interview questions and answers. One interview question that is almost always used when referencing administrative assistant interview questions and answers? “Tell me about yourself.” Don’t let this simple question fool you. The interview might be packed full of difficult EA interview questions. Be sure to do your research and look at executive assistant interview questions and answers PDF documents to make sure you’re prepared.

Behavioral Executive Assistant Questions

While interviews are primarily focused on work-specific questions that pertain to the executive assistant role, it’s important to note that you may be asked many behavioral questions. It’s a growing trend within many HR departments. Take a look at some executive assistant interview questions, behavioral:

• Have you ever had a challenging moment at work? If so, how did you handle the situation?
• Explain to me a time where you and a team member didn’t agree on something. What did you do to resolve the situation?
• Tell me about a time where you made a mistake on the job? What was it and what did you do about the mistake?
• Have you ever had a moment with a customer/partner where they raised their voice? If so, how did you handle the situation?
• Tell me about a time where you were under a lot of pressure. How did you move throughout the process and how was it handled?

The questions above help the employer understand more about how the job candidate (aka you) handles difficult situations. It also helps them determine the type of employee you are and how you are to work with. The employer may ask you more similar questions so be prepared with situational examples. Given that these questions vary based on the scenario, interview questions for administrative assistants are never easy to prepare for. 

Questions for You to Ask

While you can spend hours preparing for executive assistant interview questions, you should also think about the questions you should ask the employer. It may seem surprising, but some employers put a lot of emphasis on what questions they are asked during the interview. It shows that the employee did some research about the company and is fully engaged with the position and what the job entails. While these questions vary based on the position and other factors, take a look at some common executive assistant questions to ask new boss:

• Is there growth opportunity with this position?
• What is the starting wage?
• What will my day-to-day activities look like?
• Will I be working in my own office?
• What does the benefits package look like?
• Will I be asked to work over 40 hours a week?
• What will my job duties include?

While these are basic questions to ask the employer, they may ask you a question, which can spark questions that you may have for them. In order to prove your worth and understand everything about the job, understanding administrative assistant interview questions to ask employer is vital. Knowing what executive assistant interview questions to ask may be difficult, but doing your homework beforehand can really help you understand what information you still need about the position. We recommend preparing with at least five different personal assistant interview questions to ask, then adjusting them during the interview in case they’ve answered those questions already. Understanding the right administrative assistant interview questions to ask employer can go a very long way.

Interview Tests

While it may be a challenge preparing for interview questions—both questions for you and questions for the employer—preparing for an interview test can be extremely difficult. However, we live in a time where these tests are common, especially since some job openings might have thousands of applicants. Employers are looking for ways to narrow down their search, so a test helps companies screen these candidates to that they only pursue the ones with certain abilities and skillsets. Here are some common executive assistant interview test types that you may experience:

• Executive assistant email test
• Personality test
• Competency test
• Technology test
• Situational judgment test
• Cognitive ability test
• Verbal reasoning test

While these are very popular tests conducted by employers, the types of tests given will most likely depend on the responsibilities of the job.

Test Questions and Answers

While some of support professional tests are universal, many of them change based on the type of executive assistant job you’re applying for. That being said, finding administrative assistant assessment test answers might be hard to come by, so it’s best to do your research and practice as much as possible.

Free Administrative Assistant Skills Tests

While test answers aren’t always available online, the best way to prepare is to participate in a free executive assistant pre-employment test on the internet. Many websites offer these tests for free, and many of them have very similar, if not identical questions that you’ll see on the real test. You might also want to consider practicing with a free written test for executive assistant position.   

Role Specific Questions

While many executive assistant positions have similar job duties and responsibilities, those applying for jobs in a specific industry or those applying for jobs that work for a high-level executive might have slightly different responsibilities. These differences impact the questions asked during the interview process. For example, interview questions for administrative officer in government might be extremely different than interview questions for executive assistant to the CEO at a large corporation. It’s important to understand what the job entails before heading to your interview, because it will have a huge impact on the type of questions they will ask you.

In the event that you get an interview for a specific industry or a specific role, then the employer will most likely focus on your work experience and how it pertains to the job. And especially if you’ve been working in the industry for years, you should expect more in-depth questions that pertain to your experience in the field. For example, senior administrative assistant interview questions will be far different from those for an entry-level assistant admin position. In order to be prepared for these types of interviews, it’s recommended to think about the questions you were asked in your last interview at your previous job, and to also do research on common tests that relate to the position you’re applying for.

Company Specific Questions

Whether you’re preparing for tests, role-specific questions, or common interview questions, it’s vital to do thorough research on the company beforehand. Most employers love to see that you’ve done your homework in preparation for the interview and that you’re excited about the opportunity. It should come as no surprise that many of the questions and topics you will discuss in the executive assistant interview will pertain to the company and specific position you’ve applied for.

As an example, we will use an executive assistant position at Facebook. Facebook executive assistant interview questions will be focused all about Facebook, so it’s highly recommended to do in-depth research about the company, including what the company does, what they value, and their mission statement. The Facebook executive assistant interview process will most likely consist of various questions about what the job candidate brings to the table and how this individual can help the company solve a problem. This interview also might be an opportunity to discuss the executive assistant Facebook salary and any other specific info that pertains to the company and job. It’s also important to take some time to try to understand the company’s culture. Facebook cares a lot about social interaction and community which means they would likely ask questions related to those topics.

To be as prepared as possible for these interviews, try your best to do research involving the questions you may be asked. And if you have an interview for a large corporation, such as Facebook, then you might even try researching questions to that specific job. Given its large size and the many candidates it interviews, you might find some valuable resources.

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