Practice 30 Office Clerk interview questions covering organization, software proficiency, and office procedures.
Question 19 of 30
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
Focus Your Answer On
Stay Away From
Increase Revenue
Reduce Costs
Save Time
Community Answers

Emily McMannes is an organizational leader with 20 years' experience interviewing and hiring a variety of candidates in both a global organization (AstraZeneca) and a university environment (Texas A&M University).
This question may not be typical for an Office Clerk, but they want to know you have an answer ready. There is certainly something that you did in the past to address at least one of these scenarios.

Emily McMannes is an organizational leader with 20 years' experience interviewing and hiring a variety of candidates in both a global organization (AstraZeneca) and a university environment (Texas A&M University).
One or two of those things. You do not need to give detail on all three, specifically if you do not have a great deal of experience.

Emily McMannes is an organizational leader with 20 years' experience interviewing and hiring a variety of candidates in both a global organization (AstraZeneca) and a university environment (Texas A&M University).
Looking like a deer in the headlights. This question can be a little scary, especially if you're thinking, "But geez, all I did was answer the phone!" You've done something, so make sure you know what that is and don't freeze.

Emily McMannes is an organizational leader with 20 years' experience interviewing and hiring a variety of candidates in both a global organization (AstraZeneca) and a university environment (Texas A&M University).
"As a receptionist, I may not have been in a position to increase revenue company wide, but I did suggest a program to contribute a quarter for a cup of coffee. We had great coffee, and it was expensive to provide to the whole office. I suggested that to mitigate complaints, we phrase it in such a way that if we couldn't make up the cost somehow, we would have to downgrade the coffee. Nobody complained at all - a quarter is a lot better than the three or more bucks they would spend at Starbucks next door! We ended up making about 53/week for fifty employees!"

Emily McMannes is an organizational leader with 20 years' experience interviewing and hiring a variety of candidates in both a global organization (AstraZeneca) and a university environment (Texas A&M University).
"At my last job, I recognized that we were using a lot of paper and printer ink. I realized that for drafts, most people were automatically printing "one-sided/color," just for those documents to be edited and thrown away. I suggested to my boss that we ask people to please be diligent and if they were just going to print out a draft to select double-sided and black and white settings. I cannot remember exactly the cost savings, but I know that we ended up ordering about half our usual amount of paper and colored ink!"

Emily McMannes is an organizational leader with 20 years' experience interviewing and hiring a variety of candidates in both a global organization (AstraZeneca) and a university environment (Texas A&M University).
"My company was using an archaic process of file sharing when I started working there. They used flash drives that they handed back and forth to each other to share information. Not only was it time consuming because one person would have to go up two floors to hand a flash drive to someone else, but errors happened frequently. The company already had OneDrive and MS 365, but we weren't using it. I talked to my boss and suggested we started using programs we already had. It was slow-going at first, but ultimately everyone got on board. "
Write Your Answer
0 - Character Count
Unlock expert responses that demonstrate your administrative capabilities and attention to detail.
Get StartedJump to Question

Written by Emily McMannes
30 Questions & Answers • Office Clerk

By Emily

By Emily