PA and Secretary Community - Deskdemon.com

Can anyone please give me some short prompts that will jog my memory on possible answers to the following questions that I am sure I will be asked at future interviews? 

I feel my current answers need some polishing and don't sound weighty enough.

 ??? What do you like about your job most / least?

 ??? Examples of where you used your initiative

 ??? Examples of where you handled a difficult situation

 ??? Tell me about yourself (on this one I either say too much and possibly ramble due to nerves or not enough).

I have looked on various sites and read quite a lot on interview question and answers but they don't relate to specific jobs such as PA/secretary.  I know I have dealt with lots of situations that come under the above questions but when you just deal with them, they just become second nature and you don't always think of them as difficult etc - does that make sense?  :-\

Any suggestions would be appreciated  :)

Cathy,

You don't have to be a PA to answer these questions, you just relate your experiences...

What do you like about your job most / least?
eg. Likes - new challenge or the opportunity to bring fresh experience to the company; Dislikes - implies there is nothing to dislike about the job, which is why you are so interested

Examples of where you used your initiative
eg.  making decisions on behalf of your boss or taking action in his absence

Examples of where you handled a difficult situation
eg.  prepare an example, the interview panel are looking for a situation, how you approached it and the resolution

Tell me about yourself
eg.  this about you as a person, the panel want to know how you spend your free time, your hobbies, what motivates you, your interests etc

Well some of these you really do have to answer for yourself of course, since we don't know what you like or dislike or what your skills are. You might find it more helpful to write YOUR answers and let us critique them and offer some suggestions for phrasing.

but... here's what I would say in that situation (or recommend another admin say):

What do you like about your job most / least? I'm not really a spotlight kind of person. I love that I can be behind the scenes attending to details and pulling off the perfect event without having to be on stage giving the performance. What I like least are some of the tedious aspects that every job comes with. In the case of administrative work, it's the filing. It's just not my favorite. But my solution to that is to file everything immediately so it never builds up into an imposing pile.

Examples of where you used your initiative - (I have lots of these, in fact, I created an addendum page for my resume for my eyes only that lists out several examples of when I have shown initiative, which I review prior to interviews so they are fresh in my mind - look for times when have you looked around and saw a need and volunteered to fill it? Examples would be if you created a desk manual for your position, when you reorganized the filing room to make it more efficient, when you changed a paper form to an electronic process, etc.) In my case, I usually say that when I started at my present company, they were getting ready to launch a new web based suggestion box and asked me to distribute powerpoint presentations to management and the employees to teach them about it. I reviewed those presentations myself first, and followed the instructions used in the presentations, then wrote a list of questions I had (from the perspective of my boss wanting an overview of all suggestions, from the perspective of the manager reviewing and responding to the suggestions, and from the perspective of the employee submitting a suggestion).The kinds of questions I asked included things like - how do we run a list of all suggestions submitted to date or all open suggestions? How can we evaluate how long it takes for a suggestion to be resolved? What happens if no one responds? As a direct result of my questions, they realized that there were numerous areas that hadn't been considered in the process. They had me meet with the IT group that had designed the suggestion box to review my questions, adding things like date fields and automatically generated email follow up reminders for every stage of the process. The project was delayed while they addressed my questions, but it rolled out seamlessly and now really meets their needs.

Examples of where you handled a difficult situation -  I once had a number of tasks assigned to me that were beyond the scope of the amount of time I had allocated. I calculated the number of hours I anticipated the projects taking and met with my boss to discuss options - which included asking for assistance from my fellow administrative assistants, hiring a temporary employee to help, changing the scope of the projects, changing the deadlines, etc. Following our discussion, we were able to come up with a solution that worked well for all parties involved. By being proactive, I was able to get the help I needed and get the jobs done on time.

Tell me about yourself (on this one I either say too much and possibly ramble due to nerves or not enough). (You're on your own for this one...  but I would say... ) I'd love to! I've been an administrative professional for over 20 years. I've been very fortunate to work in a variety of work environments which have exposed me to a lot of different ways of doing business. Thus, my experience allows me to go into almost any office situation and hit the ground running. I'm a big believer in technology and lifelong learning, so I recently completed my Master Level Certification of the Microsoft Office 2007 programs. In addition. I pride myself on building teams at work, so in the past I have volunteered to help coordinate administrative cross training teams, develop educational programs for the office staff, and conducted morale and team building efforts when requested by my boss. It's not uncommon for me to do a needs analysis of the workplace and provide my boss with a list of suggestions of areas where I could help to improve efficiency or save money. (and then I am prepared with examples of when this has happened in the past).

Gee - thanks.  

Likes/dislikes - when asked this, they usually are referring to current job not the one I am applying for - likes are quite simple to recall but dislikes - not to sure.  Don't want to bring up anything I don't like in current job that I will also be required to do in new job otherwise why would they offer it to me?  To say there is nothing in my current job I don't like sounds, well, untrue - surely everybody must have something they dislike but I suppose the trick is to turn it around to make it sound positive.

Difficult situation - yes, I know what they want to hear but cannot bring to mind anything that sounds quite 'right'.  

Using Initiative - similar to above - just having trouble recalling anything substancial and impressive - will continue to think hard about these two  :-\  

About me - having thought about it, maybe not quite a problem.

I think being PA, to a certain extent, does come into this as examples other PAs have given at interviews would jog my memory rather than, say, someone from a different job, giving me advice.

Off now to think back to situations I have dealt with but as I say, what was difficult at the time, has been dealt with and then filed in the back of my memory and no longer thought of as difficult.  I just deal with and move on and not keep recalling hard times.  Perhaps I just have a bad memory  :(

Thanks Marie - am printing off so I can read at my leisure tonight.
Much appreciated.  :)

Rather than a bad memory, I would say you have a positive outlook. ;)

You'll note that on the job dislike, with filing, I was able to turn it into a positive (or least neutral). That's the kind of thing you do. Everyone has something they hate. The trick is to either pick something that everyone can identify with, and then advise what you do to overcome that dislike or deal with it.

Cathy it is worth remembering that they are not necessarily looking for how big something that you addressed was - if there is something that seems less significant but it presented a challenge and you addressed it appropriately that is a fine example.

As Gee and Marie indicate the panel are looking to find out how you react to things and they appreciate that not everyone has opportunities to avert a major crisis ... often because we have handled the matter at an early enough stage to avoid escalation!

Cathy

One thing I always do before an interview is prep, but for me it's an ongoing exercise because this kind of thing can also be used at a review or appraisal.

I regularly maintain and update a list of scenarios and questions I might be asked which relate to my current role.  That way I am always prepared and can review my notes at any time.

Take some time  Cathy and think of past scenarios, even minor ones, which you can use as examples.  Type the main aspects in bullet point form so you can discuss easily at interview.  Review this regularly.

It is important to note strengths and weaknesses and know the difference between each.  For example one of my weaknesses is that I have high standards and demand the same of others, so while some see that as a flaw, it can also be turned into a positive.

Many thanks everyone  :)

Marie's posting got me thinking hard and I have actually remembered several situations that I could adapt and use as examples.  Feeling more confident now and I am sure Marie's prompts will be of use to many others.  Thanks Marie  ;)

Thanks also Cathy and Gee.

Busy preparing now for when the interviews roll in.

Thanks again everyone  :-*

Cathy,

If you get this down on paper or typed up in a Word doc, you can easily review and update your notes at any stage.  I just couldn't be without this.  When new scenarios present themselves, it's a great opportunity to add them to your list so they are more recent in your mind.

I need to update my list with all the situations I have been presented with in the past few months.  This will help greatly when it comes to my review/appraisal.

Here's the BEST advice I ever got to answering these (or ANY) interview questions: practice, practice, practice!

This means, practice INTERVIEWING, not practice answering interview questions. Go to as many interviews as you can, even if you are not interested in the job (ESPECIALLY if you aren't interested in the job). The more practice you get with meeting new people and being interviewed; the better (relaxed, confident, and spontaneous) you'll be.

There are no right or wrong answers.... ok, there are some answers that are better than others. But the point of the interview is more about HOW you answer the questions, not the answers themselves.