Executive Assistant Interview Questions and Answers

today I'm going to go through the ten most common questions I've been asked when interviewing for ei roles and how you can ask these questions to make the best possible impression in your ei interview of course no two interviews are the same but with experience you will find that all interviews are quite similar and your responses will become second nature these questions are in no particular order and by the way I'm not saying these are necessarily the best questions but they are the most common questions I've been asked number one tell me about yourself and your background this question is usually asked as a gentle way to ease into the interview it's your opportunity to address anything that might look a little unusual on your CV or highlight interesting career milestones maybe you had a gap year or took time off to volunteer this is a good time to explain any of these kinds of experiences the most important thing to remember is every answer you provide is an opportunity to sell yourself so be sure to highlight the most interesting aspects of your CV number two why are you leaving your current job the golden rule when answering this question is never ever speak negatively about your current or former employers you might be leaving because the executive you're working with is difficult prone to vicious outbursts takes advantage of your time doesn't appreciate you and isn't paying you enough but this isn't your moment to vent instead focus on your career growth perhaps you feel you've progressed as far as you can go within the company and you're looking for a new challenge maybe you're particularly passionate about the industry that this new executive is involved in or the scope of the role is much broader and will give you a chance to make use of skills you're not currently using whatever your reasons your answer here is all about diplomacy speak graciously about your current and former employers while being enthusiastic about the new role number three what are your strengths as an EI this question is incredibly common there are two keys to getting it right one sell yourself you need to give your answer with confidence and be prepared with examples to back up your claims to have a strength that will be useful to the specific role that you are applying for and nothing too generic no one is interested in hiring someone whose greatest strength is being nice to colleagues or turning up on time number four what are your weaknesses or areas you can improve we all hate this question let's face it no one is going to share their absolute worst qualities and say something like I'm not great with people I tend to be aggressive rude and prone to violent outbursts rage your weakness also shouldn't be something that is absolutely crucial to the job the real key here is accommodation of honesty and action your answer should be something you're working to improve and how you're doing that for example at the moment I'm working on Excel because while I do use it I feel I'm not currently using it to its full capability so I'm in the middle of an advanced Excel course and I'm learning a lot number five describe a time when it could be described a time when you have had to adjust to schedule due to unforeseen circumstances what happened and what did you do or describe a time when you've had to manage multiple tasks and projects how did you handle the situation what they're looking for in your answer is your ability to think on your feet prioritize communicate and problem-solve these questions are very very common so it's good to have a think about examples you can use from any previous employment talk about the initiative you took the creative solutions you came up with and why the outcome was successful number six what software programs have you used in the past and how would you describe your computer skills your answer needs to be honest list the programs you are familiar with including programs you use in your spare time you can also include technical courses you have completed maybe your current role doesn't require any Excel knowledge but you've taken it upon yourself to learn generally speaking it's acceptable to lack experience with the specific programs you'll need to use in your new role as long as you can demonstrate your ability to learn new technologies number seven what are your strategies for managing your time when dealing with multiple urgent tasks simultaneously to answer this question you'll want to be specific about the strategies you use in precisely these circumstances how do you prioritize how do you decide what is most urgent how do you keep track of all of your tasks what is your leadership style show them how fabulously capable you are under pressure number eight how do you work with an executive this question usually comes when you're meeting with the executive which is often though not always the second or third stage of the interview process the executive wants to get a sense about what it would be like working with you on a day to day basis are you all about email or do you like to have a daily one-to-one in person are you a morning person or do you perform at your best later in the afternoon do you have any requirements the executive should be aware of remember an interview is as much about you seeing if this role is right for you as it is about the employers deciding if you're right for the role so ask questions and be honest about what you're looking for number 9 why do you want to be an executive assistant it seems obvious right why would I be applying to be an EI if I didn't want to be in a a it's not that simple you need to be convincing be enthusiastic and talk about why you want the role this isn't the time to say you want the role for the money or because it's close to home tell them what you love about being an EI and why you want the opportunity to be there EA one of the biggest concerns an employer has when choosing a new employee is longevity can they see you being happy and staying in the role the last thing your employer wants to go through is the costly arduous task of recruiting your replacement in six months time number ten what do you know about the organization there is no excuse for arriving editing interview with no knowledge of the company google them find out what they're all about and have a concise answer to this question you won't be expected to memorize the company mission statement or organization chart but you should have a basic understanding of what the business does show them you are interested enough to take the time to learn about them and what they do I wish you all the best with your next EA interview I'm sure you're going to do an amazing job my question to you today is what is the strangest question you've been asked in an interview leave your answer in the comments below I would love to hear from you and find out what odd questions you've been asked the strangest question I've been asked in an interview is if you were an animal what would you be and why yep if you would like to see more content related to EA work then be sure to subscribe and give this video a thumbs up I'll see you again in the next video soon bye

Channel: EA How To

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Keywords: alicia fairclough, executive assistant, executive assistant questions, executive assistant questions and answers, ea, ea interview, london executive assistant, alicia fairclough executive assistant, interview questions and answers, how to answer job interview questions

Id: XG5W6FqhwbU

Length: 8min 39sec (519 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 13 2019