Admin Assistant Mock Interview
Master 40 Admin Assistant interview questions covering organization, communication, and office technology.
Question 16 of 40
Have you ever been overloaded with work? If so, how did you react, and how did you meet your deadlines?
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Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"While attending college, I also worked part-time at a lawyers' office, helping with phone calls and emails. There were many instances where I needed to fulfill multiple school projects while also juggling my commitment to the law office. I reacted very well under this pressure and found myself concentrating better, and being extra diligent with my time. I believe this experience helped prepare me for success as an Admin Assistant, ensuring that I can handle a large work volume and a variety of expectations."
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
Admin Assistants often have a wide range of responsibilities, making it easy for workloads to multiply. The interviewer would like to know that you react with professionalism even when expectations are higher than usual. The hiring authority also wants to hear about the plans you have in place to keep yourself organized and prepared to handle varying workloads. Discuss your time management skills and how you prioritize tasks. If you recently had an overload of work and were able to come out on top, be sure to give a quick story-based example, as it will bring your answer to life.
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"In my current position, I support a team of over 50 leaders and employees in a variety of functions. So, without proper organization, my workload can get out of hand quite quickly. I was recently involved with a project that required 30 hours of my time across two weeks while I was performing my usual admin tasks. I remained on track by time-blocking my day, ensuring that I remained focused on one task at a time for the bulk of my morning. I also set up reminders in Slack, which is a project management application that I have on my laptop. I ended up working some overtime hours as well to ensure that I met my deadlines. Rest assured, I am not afraid of hard work."
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Anonymous Answer
Updated Answer-Oh yes, there have been times in the past when I’ve been overloaded with work. In one of my roles, it was very common for our department to have multiple campaigns going on at the same time. There was a particular time I can recall when we had a Youth vs. Hunger and Lent campaign going on at the same time. It was a lot and I did feel a little overwhelmed. First, I would take a deep breath and type out everything that needed to be done in order of priority. Next, I broke down each campaign into steps to see which pieces were more urgent and required more time. The Lent campaign which was 4,000 pieces of mailing, was the larger of the 2 projects and would take more time. First, I had to do a mail merge and then print all the labels. Next, I had to collect the brochures and inserts that needed to go into the envelopes. Luckily, we had 2 volunteers who were able to come in and help get the pieces in the envelopes so we could mail them within the next 2 days. I spent the first half of the day on the Lent Campaign and the second half of the day doing The Youth vs. Hunger campaign. This YVH campaign was a huge packing of several thousand meals that would take place at school the next day. It was my responsibility to collect all the materials needed for the packing. It took me several hours in the supply room to gather everything. I enjoyed working on both of these campaigns and our team's hard work and diligence made a difference in the lives of many.
Marcie's Feedback
Great! It sounds like you have a good process in place to help you manage your workload. Can you provide a specific example of a time when you were overwhelmed with work and talk about how you dealt with this situation? Show the interviewer that you are capable of handling this type of scenario. Also, don't forget to talk about how you react emotionally in situations like this. Do you have methods in place that help you manage stress like listening to music, taking quick breaks to socialize, taking walks, or working out? Since this question is essentially three questions in one, make sure not to skip any. Great job!
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