What Are Your Strengths
While this question is an invitation to do some chest pounding, remember to illustrate strengths that will benefit the employer and arerelative to the position. For example:
- being a problem solver
- the ability to perform under pressure
- a positive attitude
Are typically all solid strengths, but again, consider the position. For example, mentioning you are an excellent team player in a job where you largely work alone suddenly becomes irrelevant to the employer and demonstrates a genuine lack of self awareness.
Beyond this, present your strengths with confidence this is not the time to be modest.
How Do You Imagine A Typical Day In A Work Of An Office Manager In Our Company
Good answer to this question can move you much closer to a coveted job contract, and a bad one can send you home empty handed in a flash.
Because this is exactly the point when you explain your expectations. Read the job description carefully. Are they really looking for a manager, or is it only a fancy job title for a secretary, or for an office clerk?
If you misinterpreted the job at this point, they would not hire you. For example, if you said you expected to assign tasks to office workers and supervise them during the day, but in fact youd not supervise any other people in the job, they would not hire you. Let me stress it again: read the job description carefully, and show realistic expectations.
One more thing matters at this point: there should be some logic, some system in your description of a typical day. You should not simply repeat the working duties from the job description.
Start by saying that you imagine arriving early, checking the schedule for the day, making a to-do list , and just then talk about individual tasks, such as answering emails, greeting visitors, coordinating appointments and meetings, etc.
What Would Your First Few Months Look Like In This Role
Your potential future boss wants to know that youve done your research, given some thought to how youd get started, and would be able to take initiative if hired. So think about what information and aspects of the company and team youd need to familiarize yourself with and which colleagues youd want to sit down and talk to. You can also suggest one possible starter project to show youd be ready to hit the ground running and contribute early on. This wont necessarily be the thing you do first if you do get the job, but a good answer shows that youre thoughtful and that you care.
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Can You Explain Why You Changed Career Paths
Dont be thrown off by this questionjust take a deep breath and explain to the hiring manager why youve made the career decisions you have. More importantly, give a few examples of how your past experience is transferable to the new role. This doesnt have to be a direct connection in fact, its often more impressive when a candidate can show how seemingly irrelevant experience is very relevant to the role.
Tell Me About Yourself
In polling hundreds of different companies & HR departments, this is by far one of the most frequently asked questions in any job interview. Your interviewer will use this as an icebreaker, ideally to put you at ease and get you speaking openly and honestly.
While you definitely want to be prepared for this question, you certainly dont want to make your answer sound memorized. Keep in mind, while this question may sound like an invitation to share your life story, you can be assured your interviewer has very little interest in hearing about everything youve ever done.
The person giving the interview has a job to do as well respect their time. Unless you are asked about something specific, focus on your education, your work history, relatable hobbies and outside interests, as well as your current situation.
Be sure to start chronologically and tell a linear story. Start where you feel is sensical, then work your way up to the present.
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Why Do You Want To Work As An Office Manager
Talk about your skills and experience , and how they match the job description.
You feel like a fish in a water when running daily operations of the office, including answering calls and emails, preparing correspondence, doing simple accounting tasks, helping your superiors with their schedule, typewriting, making great coffee, simply doing everything that belongs to a typical day in the office.
You should always talk more about managing the office than about managing people, unless they explicitly write on the job description that youd be responsible for managing work of few other employees .
What Do You Think Is Your Biggest Weakness In Management
Tip 1: You must come across as knowledgeable and sensible in this question.
Tip 2: Show the interviewer that you have the right amount of experience to answer this question.
Answer: My biggest weakness in management is my unwillingness to change. A change that would disrupt my working style is something I wouldnt want to go through. I consider it a room to grow situation and am learning to adapt to change more proactively.
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What Are Your Weakest Workplace Skills
When answering what your weakest skills are it is helpful to focus on a weakness that won’t negatively impact the main duties of the role you’re applying for. You can show ways that you’re currently training to become more capable in these areas. A good strategy is to be honest and show that you’re working to overcome these shortcomings.
Example:âI would consider my weakest skills to be my IT proficiency and my research skills. I am currently taking several online IT certification courses to overcome this limitation. I have also begun a personal research project in my free time to build up my knowledge of online research resources.â
Can You Handle Multiple Tasks At Once
Tip 1: Talk about your ability to deliver your best services even when you are dealing with many things at once.
Tip 2: Give an example of your multitasking abilities and how you handled it.
Answer: I am great at managing multiple tasks as an office manager. My role is to be on the upper hand of the work processes. I have to keep an eye on everything that is going on and stay aware of where I must pay for my services. This is why I am great at multitasking.
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What Was Most And Least Rewarding About Your Last Position
What They Want to Know: This is another situation where its how you answer that is most important. Align your answers to what you know the employer is seeking in their next manager your most rewarding scenario should reflect a quality they want, and your least rewarding example should describe a skill or situation that isnt relevant to your ability to succeed in your new management role.
When A Management Position Opens Up
Before you start polishing your resume and applying to management roles, lets take a step back. The leadership ranks are different from what youve done so far, so its wise to make sure youre really ready. That means its time for some serious self-evaluation.
To make that easier, weve compiled some questions into a quick self-assessment quiz:
- Do you consistently achieve positive results?
- Are you completing tasks quickly and efficiently?
- Do you have a history of positive interactions with your fellow employees?
- Are you effective at handling conflict professionally?
- Are you a problem solver?
- Do you take on leadership roles?
- Are you considered a mentor?
- Do others see you as a leader?
Now lets pretend that each of these questions is a checkboxes, and every yes gets you a green check, and every no gets you a red x.
Do you have more green checks than red xs?
If the answer is no, Stick with where you are and continue honing your skills, working your way toward more green checks.
If you answered yes, congratulations! Its time to move on to the next step
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Have You Applied To Any Other Job Opportunities
Your interviewer likely expects that youve applied to other jobs. The key to answering this question is to be honest, but make the interviewer feel like their company is your number one choice. Be as specific as you can to show that youve done your research.
Yes, Im actively pursuing a few different opportunities. However, working for your company is my first choice, based on the office culture and your professional development opportunities. Additionally, Ive heard great things about the company from a friend who works in marketing here.
Tell Me About A Time You Encountered An Unhappy Client Or Customer In Your Past Role As An Office Assistant How Did You Handle The Situation
An interviewer may ask this question to assess how you handle difficult or stressful situations. Be honest in your answer and describe how you felt in the situation and how you handled it.
Example:”In one role as an office assistant, I dealt with a frustrated customer on the phone. The customer was angry because their credit card was incorrectly charged. I didn’t interrupt the customer even though they were yelling at me, and I reminded myself of how worried and anxious they were. After acknowledging the customer’s feelings, I asked them for their membership information and continued to explore the problem. It turned out that the customer forgot they had renewed their membership. Once we had solved the problem, the customer was calm and apologized to me.”
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Why Do You Want To Be An Office Manager
Interviewers want to understand your motivations for applying to the job. Good answers to this question involve explaining why you’re seeking greater responsibility or why you think your skills make you a great candidate. This allows you to showcase positive personality traits and reemphasize your skill set.
Example:âI want to become an office manager at this company because I have spent five years as an administrative assistant and am looking to move up to the next level. During that time, I acquired the skills and technical training necessary to fulfill a management role and I’m looking to utilize those abilities.â
Whats One Essential Skill You Learned In Your Most Recent Job
When you hear the candidates answer, ask yourself, Will that skill bring value to my company? If youre unsure about their answer, ask follow-up questions about their other skills to see if they can fill a void in your business.
It should also raise a red flag if the candidate cant think of anything they learned in their most recent job.
We should never stop learning. And even something as seemingly mundane as learning how to stay better organized shows that the candidate is always looking for ways to improve.
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What Drew You To A Career In Dental Office Management
Be honest, be yourself, and share your story! If you have a specific story about what made you want to become a dental office manager, share it here: hiring managers want to get to know you as a person, and this is a great way to share more about yourself.
Example answer: My mom was an office manager at a small medical practice, and her colleagues were like family growing up. I liked the fast-paced setting, mixed with the friendly team and interacting with the patients. When I was graduating high school and deciding what to do next, it was a natural choice. I am just like my mom in that I love talking, but I am also a multitasker. I love being able to connect with people all day while getting things done!
Possible Answer To What Are Your Career Aspirations
After growing up in a food desert, my biggest professional aspiration is to help make healthy food more widely available and accessible regardless of where you live. I also love solving complex problems. Currently, as a project manager, I specialize in strategic planning and combine it with a natural ability to engage critical stakeholdersresulting in on-time and under-budget delivery. This role would help me use those skills to work on a mission Im passionate about. I am determined to use these skills to help your organization guarantee our community has access to affordable, nutritious food and information to make healthy decisions. In the next five or so years, I would love to take on additional responsibility and be in a decision-making role to drive the mission beyond our community and support even more families in gaining access to nutritious food options.
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Tell Me About A Situation Where You Had To Handle A Difficult Client
You wont be able to please everyone, and your interviewer is looking for confirmation that youll be able to handle yourself in an uncomfortable situation. Your answer should provide a real-life example of a conflict that you successfully resolved. Learn how to use the to answer difficult interview questions.
Help them visualize your calm under pressure with a story:
In my last position, a client came into the office and said he had an appointment with one of the managers. I politely asked him if he had the right date and time as his appointment wasnt on the calendar. He became very frustrated, and I was worried it would impact our business with him. I calmly asked him to have a seat, and I went to see if the manager was available. Fortunately, the manager was available, so we were able to see him right away, and the clients attitude improved.
Possible Answer To What Do You Like To Do Outside Of Work
Im a huge foodie. My friends and I love trying new restaurants in town as soon as they openthe more unusual the better! I love discovering new foods and cuisines, and its also a great activity to share with friends. I try to go out with the same group at least once a week and its a fun way to make sure we keep in touch and share experiences even when were busy with other things. We even took a trip to New York City and spent each day in a different neighborhood, buying something to share from a few restaurants.
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If Hired What Would You Do In The First 30
This is a good question to ask to get a sense of how well the candidate understands the responsibilities of a manager.
The successful candidate will explain what they need to get started and what parts of the company they would need to get familiar with. They might even give a specific example of where they would start .
In the end, you, the interviewer, might do things differently and the candidate, if hired, might as well but being prepared to answer this question reveals that the prospective manager knows your business, knows their job, is able to get to work on day one, and is excited to start.
Describe A Time You Developed And Implemented An Administrative Plan In Your Previous Position
What you want to hear: This answer should be a detailed explanation of the issue the candidate was called upon to address, the objectives of a plan to address the issue, the training sessions required to implement the solution, and the outcome of the initiative. The candidate should demonstrate good analytical and critical thinking skills. The more unique or large scale the challenge to be resolved, the better. Listen as well for how they sold their plan to management and staff, and the metrics they used to measure success.
Red flag: A candidate who is unable to walk your through at least one plan most likely lacks the qualifications to run your office. Look for a candidate who will arrive ready to develop and implement new plans for your office, not learn how to do so on the job.
Every interview question can help get you closer to the right fit for your Office Manager position.
Be sure to keep an eye out for candidates who:
- Bring extensive experience from a similar position
- Have superior interpersonal and administrative skills
- Understand how challenge existing systems and make improvements
Need help writing an Office Manager job description? Check out our Office Manager job description template.
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Are You Willing To Relocate
While this may sound like a simple yes-or-no question, its often a little bit more complicated than that. The simplest scenario is one where youre totally open to moving and would be willing to do so for this opportunity. But if the answer is no, or at least not right now, you can reiterate your enthusiasm for the role, briefly explain why you cant move at this time, and offer an alternative, like working remotely or out of a local office. Sometimes its not as clear-cut, and thats OK. You can say you prefer to stay put for xyz reasons, but would be willing to consider relocating for the right opportunity.
How Can You Contribute To The Company As An Office Assistant
Interviewers tend to ask this question toward the end of the interview, and it’s your opportunity to summarize your skills and qualifications. Keep your answer focused on how you can benefit the company rather than what you’re hoping to get out of the job.
Example:”I believe I can contribute to the company by using my exceptional organizational skills to streamline office operations. I learn new software and systems quickly, which keeps an office running smoothly. Additionally, my strong communication and interpersonal skills would be an asset when dealing with customers.”
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