How to prepare for an administrative assistant interview

New Zealand's careers service says administration officers oversee admin work in offices. It lists administrative assistant as another name for the job. The UK's National Careers Service admin profile lists tasks such as:

• handling enquiries by phone, email and social media
• typing letters, reports and other documents
• updating and keeping computer records
• following data protection rules when handling information
• ordering supplies and sending out invoices
• setting up meetings and taking notes
• making travel arrangements for staff

The US profile for secretaries and administrative assistants adds greeting visitors, booking appointments and keeping calendars.

The National Careers Service lists skills that an interview can test:

• admin skills
• being thorough and paying attention to detail
• organising your time and workload
• working well with others, and on your own
• customer service skills
• using a computer and the main software competently

New Zealand's profile says you need to be accurate and methodical, and to communicate well. O*NET lists cooperation, attention to detail and dependability as the work styles.

Each employer runs its own process. You may face some of these:

• A phone call about your experience. See our phone screen guide.
• A work sample test. US federal guidance says admin applicants may be asked to type up a memo or file a stack of papers.
• A software test in the word processing, spreadsheet or email tools the job uses.
• An in-tray task, where you sort a pile of requests by how urgent they are.
• A behavioural interview about busy days and working with people. Read our guide to behavioural answers.

Our guide to work tests and assessment centres explains how these tasks run.

These are themes, with sample wording. Real questions vary by employer.

• Priorities: "Three people need something urgently. How do you decide what comes first?"
• Accuracy: "How do you check your work before it goes out?"
• Discretion: "What would you do if a colleague asked to see a private file?"
• People: "Tell me about a time you dealt with a difficult caller or visitor."
• Organisation: "How do you keep track of deadlines and meetings?"
• Initiative: "Tell me about a process you made simpler."

Answer "tell me about a time" questions with STAR: the situation, your task, the actions you took and the result. Our free STAR answer planner helps you shape each one.

1. List the software the ad names, and practise any you haven't used lately.
2. Check your typing speed and accuracy with a free online test.
3. Prepare STAR stories about juggling tasks, catching a mistake, a hard caller and keeping something private.
4. Bring an example of your work if you can, such as a template you made, with private details removed.
5. Prepare questions about the people you'll support and the busiest times of year.

Here is a made-up answer for a made-up person. Use it to see the shape of a strong answer, then tell your own true story.

Tomás sorts by urgency, asks for help and keeps people informed. The result has numbers.

Written by Seal the Offer from these pages, last checked on 1 November 2026. Rules change, so check the employer's own page and the job ad before you apply.

• Administration officer · Tahatū, Tertiary Education Commission (NZ)
• Admin assistant · National Careers Service (England)
• Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive · O*NET OnLine, US Department of Labor
• Work Samples and Simulations · US Office of Personnel Management