Office administrator Interview Questions
Office administrators ensure the efficiency of daily operations through their multi-tasking, communication and bookkeeping skills. As the office is a fast-paced environment, employers will ask about whether you can work under pressure, your ability to work with a diverse variety of people and your previous knowledge in accounting. In addition, be prepared to talk about how you would deal with irate customers. Employers are ultimately looking to hire candidates who fit in with the company culture and will contribute to the team.
Top Office Administrator Interview Questions & How to Answer
Here are three office administrator interview questions and tips on how to answer them:
Question No. 1: If you had to report to more than one person, how would you prioritise your work?
How to answer: Your answer to this question demonstrates your organisational, time-management and communication skills. Discuss tools that you use to stay organised and the process you use to prioritise tasks.
Question No. 2: What are some examples of spreadsheets you have produced in Excel?
How to answer: Employers use this question to understand your organisational skills and experience with Excel. Discuss spreadsheets you have created, emphasising data storage, analysis and visualisation. Make sure you focus on the benefits your spreadsheet provided to your employer.
Question No. 3: How do you deal with challenging colleagues?
How to answer: Office administrators interact with colleagues from a variety of disciplines. This question allows the interviewer to assess your communication and problem-solving skills. Describe how you maintain positive workplace relationships and what approach you would take if a situation could not be resolved.
If Atlantic equals 50, what does Pacific equal?
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You're right about the Atlantic part, but Pacific=47, not 110. Check that math.
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no clue.
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Time to look for another job
Are you still interested?
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with a couple of questions, until the lady hang the phone on me.
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Typical. Their office environment is terrible and most work in fear that it’s their last day. Glad you didn’t accept to work at SLS Less
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Pretty sure that was the ice queen herself. Good thing you followed your gut and stayed away! Less
Do you mind shopping for party items and alcohol weekly?
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I asked if I get to plan the parties and apparently the planning privilege is that of another person and the office administrator is their shopper. Which tells me other posts about favoritism are true. It's nice to be treated to a happy hour, but for that to be the norm in their world, it just reeks of ALCOHOLISM and it was a bit telling of the environment of Booking.com. Less
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They give a big title but you're more of a slave than anything else. "Wash the dishes, lift the boxes, why is this box there, why is the milk frozen, why is there so much milk..." This list goes on an on. Think of this job as the monitor to clean up after filthy college kids. Believe me I know I was the last one to have this job. Sure they will lie and say it's perm and then once you are there, you will find out you have to interview for the job and compete against people who are not working there. Save yourself! It's NOT WORTH IT. The pay, the people, the atmosphere is a joke. Not to mention the worthless admin calls every other week. You would have more fun picking your nose then having to listen to clueless admins that still don't know their job. Less
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While we do have the occasional party and the Office Admin may be involved with planning or shopping from time to time, we do not offer alcohol in the office nor do we ever ask an employee to purchase alcohol. Less
In your past work have you found and error you had made and how did you fix it?
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I was the purchasing manager at a furniture store. I bought accessories for 11 stores. I filled it a purchase order innocent and ordered 1 truck load of side tables when I meant to order 1 pallet of side tables. I had purchased 11 containers or truck loads of side tables. We had over 2000 side tables to sale. First I took responsibility for my mistake. I quickly created a special in store promotion by creating a large display in the front of the stores. We price tables with a 20% discount and advertised a 2 day promotion. We had sold 70% of the tables by the end of the week. I then made notes in our computer purchasing program to inform other buyers , 1 quantity meat 1 container, Less
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I made a perchasing mistake and ordered 1 container of side tables when I meant to the order 1 pallet. I made notes in computer to alert other buyers. I created a in store side table sales promotion, by grouping together a sizable display. We marked tables 20% less. Sold all extra tables and still turned a profit. I took full responsibility for my mistake and worked out a solution for management to approve. Less
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Took responsibility for mistake. Corrected mistake. Created program to not allow mistake again. Sold extra merchandise as a promotional product. Company earned income from mistake. Less
What do you know about the company?
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I personally think it doesn't matter.. they did the same to me ,,, i think they want people that are not too bright and/or are extremely desperate so they can control them . if you read the company reviews on here you will realise that most people say its a terrible place to work and we both dodged a bullet with this one Less
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sorry if you read the real reviews because it looks like most of the positive ones have been written by the owners lol Less
First question, after a rather unusual introduction: "Please tell us your full name, location and age."
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I advised this person that the question was inappropriate in the United States. You are never to be asked your AGE! Made me realize, this is probably a hacker... so I jumped off. And began to scan my system and blocked the IM. Less
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lol they asked me the same and I responded.