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Your interview is an opportunity for hiring managers to see what you’re like and how you’ll put the skills you listed on your resume to work for the company. To give yourself the best shot at making a good impression, take some time to prepare for the meeting.
While you can’t (and shouldn’t) memorize an answer for every question you might be asked, you can get a good handle on what you want to communicate in your answers.
In this article, you’ll find a list of common interview questions and sample answers specific to a position as a personal assistant. You can use these to help you prepare your responses.
Key Takeaways:
Personal assistant candidates should highlight their soft skills such as organizational, decision making, and writing skills because those are essential for the position.
Interviewers should review the candidates resume before the start of the interview to be familiar with their skills and qualifications.
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Tell me about yourself
This is a common question often asked as an icebreaker question at the start of an interview. Your answer should highlight your relevant skills and qualifications.
Example Answer:
Throughout my five years as a personal assistant, I have worked closely with busy executives, assisting them in managing their calendars, prioritizing tasks, and handling administrative responsibilities. I work best in a fast paced environment and I an great with multitasking to ensure all assignments are completed efficiently and on time.
I have excellent organizational and administrative skills that allow me to excel in handling travel arrangements and learning new technologies. I am passionate about providing high-quality assistance to executives to allow them to focus on their core responsibilities.
Why should we hire you as a personal assistant?
The interviewer will ask this to see how you sell yourself as the top candidate. be sure your answer highlights your skills and experiences that align with the needs of the organization.
Example Answer:
I believe you should hire me because I have exceptional organization and time management skills that enable me to effectively handle multiple tasks, prioritize assignments, and meet deadlines. I have a proven track records of successfully managing busy schedules, coordinating schedules, and ensuring all commitments and appoints are handled.
I also bring a wealth of experience in providing executive-level support and I have worked closely with high-level executives in my previous roles. I believe with my skills, experience, and dedication make me an ideal candidate for this position and the success of your company.
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
When discussing your weaknesses, be sure that your answer reflects your self-awareness and your willingness for improvement. You should also discuss the steps you are taking to turn your weakness into a strength. Your strengths should be relevant to the position.
Example Answer:
My key strength would be m expectational organizational skills. I am able to multitask with managing calendars and prioritizing tasks effectively. I am highly skilled at learning new technologies and setting up systems, maintaining detailed records, and ensuring nothing falls through the cracks.
I am always striving for improvement which is why I am trying to improve on my delegation abilities. As a personal assistant, it's important to effectively delegate tasks and empower colleagues to contribute to their expertise. I am actively taking the steps to seek out opportunities to delegate tasks and trust in the abilities of my colleagues.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
This question is often asked to get an understanding of what your long-term goals are and how their company falls into those goals. Be sure to highlight your aspirations for professional development, continuous learning, and growth within the role. You also want to demonstrate your ambition and commitment to long-term success at the company you are interviewing for.
Example Answer:
My ultimate goal for the next five years is to become a trusted and valuable asset to the executives I support and the organization as a whole. To do this, I hope to further hone my skills and expanding my role as a personal assistant. My primary focus will be on providing exceptional support to the executives and ensuring their success.
I also plan on investing in on my professional development and growth to help enhance my communication and organizational skills. I also want to stay up-do-date with the latest technological advancements and expand my knowledge in areas relevant to the role of personal assistant.
What do you do to anticipate your employers needs?
Anticipating the needs of your employer is a crucial part of being a personal assistant. Your answer should demonstrate how you approach the situation and your ability to think ahead.
Example Answer:
When anticipating my employers needs, I have open and clear communication. I make it a priority to establish a strong working relationship with my employer and gaining a deep understanding of their preferences. By actively listening and engaging to their regular conversations, I will be able to anticipate their needs based on patterns and preferences.
Why would you make a good personal assistant?
Your answer should highlight your top skills and qualities and the reasons why you are good at your job. Be sure that you sell yourself as the top candidate.
Example Answer:
My attention to detail, passion for excellence, and love for helping others be their best would make me a great personal assistant. My two years of experience as an administrative assistant will also serve me well going into this position.
What are the top skills that you believe good personal assistants should have?
When answering this question, be sure you align with the top skill that are needed and mentioned in the job description. You should then align how your skills are the skills needed for the position.
Example Answer:
I believe a good personal assistant has strong time management skills, is flexible, and is conscientious. With their ever-changing responsibilities, good personal assistants need to be able to manage their to-do lists without missing deadlines or letting tasks slip through the cracks.
They also often handle sensitive information, so they need to be trustworthy and conscientious.
How would you organize your day to be sure you don’t miss any tasks or deadlines?
The interviewer is looking to see how you are with your organizational skills. Be sure to use an example from your past to help you answer this question.
Example Answer:
An organized day starts with an organized week, so each Friday I like to prioritize my next week’s tasks by importance and deadline. I use a paper planner so that I can color-code lists, make notes, and see each day and week at a glance.
Next, I would set smaller checkpoints or deadlines to keep myself on track throughout the week and make my daily to-do lists according to that schedule, leaving plenty of space for anything unexpected that may come up.
How do you manage multiple urgent tasks?
There may come a time when you have to manage multiple urgent tasks. Be sure to share your process with the interviewer to assure them that you are able to multitask and prioritize the most important tasks.
Example Answer:
When I find I have multiple urgent tasks, I break them down into smaller chunks and then set deadlines for them. I then block out time in my schedule to work on each of those smaller tasks.
To make this possible, though, I get into the habit of prioritizing my to-do lists each day. This ensures that I don’t get behind on important things so that I have some leeway to take on unexpected urgent tasks.
What experience do you have taking minutes for meetings?
As a personal assistant, you will be taking minutes for meetings. The interviewer is trying to understand your process and see if your process is what they are needing for the position.
Example Answer:
As an administrative assistant, I took minutes for our office’s weekly staff meetings. I prepared the conference room, printed agendas, and set them out before the meeting. During the meeting, I took notes on who was present, the main discussion topics and points, any decisions or action steps that resulted from the meeting, and any due dates.
After the meeting, I organized and typed up my notes for my manager to look over. Once he approved them, I sent them out to the whole office.
Tell me about a time you’ve had to be flexible at work.
When you are a personal assistant, flexibility is a crucial part. Your employer may have something come up at the last minute, and the interviewer is looking to see that you are able to meet the flexibility demands. Use an example from your past to help you answer this question.
Example Answer:
One day I was ready to come in and have a quiet day where I could catch up on tasks that had been pushed to the back burner. As soon as I got in, though, I found out that my boss was out sick and couldn’t give a tour to an important prospective client. I was the only other person in the office qualified to give tours, so the job fell to me.
I was a little stressed about it when I first found out about it, so I took a few minutes to prepare my materials for the tour and to collect myself. I asked one of my colleagues to cover another task for me while I was gone, and I gave the tour without a hitch and still had time to knock out a few things from my to-do list.
How would you respond if a frustrated client is trying to reach your boss, but your boss isn’t available?
This is a behavioral interview question that is asked to get an understanding of how you respond in this type of situation. There may come a time when this will happen to you as a personal assistant so it's important that the interviewer knows you are able to handle the situation.
Example Answer:
As the gatekeeper to my boss, it’s my job to represent him well, and I can do that by providing excellent customer service.
In this case, I would apologize to the client and show them that I understood their frustration. I would then either try to find someone else who could help the client or set a meeting for my boss and the client.
I would explain everything I was doing to the client very politely and professionally, and then once we had landed on a solution, I would let my boss know what had happened and that the client was frustrated so that he could try to make it up to them. If possible, I would also offer some kind of compensation to the client.
What would you do if your manager asked you to handle a situation in a way that you didn’t agree with?
There may come a time when this happens. The interviewer is looking to see how you would react in this type of situation. Be sure you answer in a clear and concise way.
Example Answer:
If the decision was simply not my style but wouldn’t do any real harm, I’d just keep my disagreement to myself and do it my manager’s way.
If I thought the method would be damaging to the company or our department, however, I would politely ask for a private meeting about it. There, I’d calmly and respectfully share my concerns so that we could work to come to a different solution.
How would you describe your computer skills?
Working a computer is important when you are a personal assistant. Almost everything is done on the computer so the interviewer wants to be sure you are able to work on a computer daily.
Example Answer:
I’m very comfortable with the basics like Microsoft Office, and I’m taking a class in HTML so that I can update and fix website issues more easily. I’ve also taught myself several new programs throughout the past few years, and I’m the one in my current office that people come to with computer-related questions.
I can’t always answer those questions off the top of my head, but I typically know where to look to find the answer.
Describe a time you had to handle a lot of pressure at work.
Your answer should highlight your ability to work under pressure. Be sure to use an example from your past to help you answer.
Example Answer:
When I was working at my university library, there was one day when I was unexpectedly the only employee working the writing help desk. That wouldn’t normally be a problem, but this was the Friday before finals week, and it was only my third time working that particular desk. Plus, I walked up to start my shift to see that a line was already forming.
I knew I had to help students efficiently and accurately since this was the one time a semester that many of them needed my services. I quickly took a deep breath, made sure my workstation was in order and began to work through their requests.
It was an exhausting day, but thankfully I was able to successfully keep up and help everyone. Later, my supervisor complimented me on my good work, and one student even came back to thank me for my help.
How would you handle a demanding boss?
As a personal assistant, there may come a time when you have to deal with a demanding boss. Be sure to use an example from your past to help you answer, or answer how you would handle a demanding boss if you haven't dealt with one before.
Example Answer:
If my boss was being unreasonably demanding, I would work to understand why she was being demanding. If it’s because she was overwhelmed, I’d work with her to find out what I could do to help take some responsibilities off of her plate.
If it was just her personality, I would politely look for opportunities to talk about new communication strategies to help us work together more effectively.
I’ve had quite a bit of practice with this with my sister who is one of my best friends but can also be demanding. I’ve learned how to communicate with her about this, and our relationship has improved significantly over the past few years.
How would you handle being a personal assistant to more than one executive at a time?
Depending on how many executives are at the company, you may have to juggle more than one. Be sure you highlight your ability to multitask and work under pressure in your answer.
Example Answer:
When I was in college, I worked as an administrative assistant to two different professors at the same time, so I have some experience with this.
To manage it, I made sure I had good organizational methods in place and that I was in constant communication with each of them. Every day I would knock out my high-priority jobs first so that I had room for their changing needs.
If I had to switch gears and deal with something urgent for one of them, I’d let the other one know so that they knew that I’d get back to their request as soon as I could. While working for both of them was a challenge sometimes, I enjoyed the busyness and the variety of tasks I got to perform.
What steps do you take to further your professional skills?
The interviewer wants to see what your plans on to stay up-to-date with current trends and what your plans are for professional development.
Example Answer:
I’m always looking for ways to strengthen my skill set, so I make it a goal to complete three professional conferences, classes, or pieces of training each year. For example, I just finished a business writing workshop at my local community college, and I attend a professional development luncheon at our organization once a month.
Why do you want to work for this organization?
This is often a common question asked to get an understanding of how much you know about the company. Your answer should reflect your genuine interest and passion for wanting to work there.
Example Answer:
When I first moved to town two months ago, I quickly saw how this organization is a pillar in the community. Not only do you employ a large number of people, but you also give back to the businesses, families, and individuals around you. I’d love to be a part of that.
Why do you want to be a personal assistant?
This is another common question that is asked during interviews. The purpose of this is to get an understanding of how you ended up there. Be sure to reflect on your past and what has brought you to this job interview.
Example Answer:
While looking at the job description for this role, I noticed that it comes with both administrative and event planning responsibilities. I’ve been able to plan events a few times as a part of my jobs in the past, and I’ve realized that that is something I love to do.
This passion, combined with my five years’ experience as a personal assistant, seemed like a perfect match for this position.
How do you prioritize and manage multiple tasks and deadlines efficiently while supporting multiple executives?
Tell me about a time when you had to coordinate a complex meeting involving multiple stakeholders, both internally and externally? How did you ensure a smooth and productive meeting?
How do you handle sensitive and confidential information, such as executive communications, financial data, or HR matters?
What strategies do you employ to stay organized and ensure efficient time management for yourself and the executives you support?
Have you ever faced a challenging situation where you had to anticipate and proactively address an executive's needs or preferences? If so, please explain.
Can you describe your experience in coordinating and managing travel arrangements, including booking flights, hotels, ground transportation, and creating detailed itineraries?
How do you handle last-minute changes or unexpected events that require immediate attention or adjustments to schedules or plans?
Can you provide an example of a time when you effectively handled calendar management for a busy executive, including scheduling meetings, resolving conflicts, and managing meeting invitations and reminders?
How do you ensure effective communication and coordination between executives, team members, and external stakeholders to facilitate smooth workflow and achieve goals?
Can you explain your approach to managing expenses, including reimbursement processes, tracking receipts, and ensuring accurate documentation for financial reporting purposes?
As a Candidate:
Highlight your soft skills. The top soft skills that you should highlight in your interview questions are decision making, organizational, and writing skills. These skills are essential to your success as a personal assistant.
Research the company. Before your interview, be sure that you research the company and get information on their values, their mission statement, and what their company culture is like. This information will help align your own personal values and goals with the company.
Practice interview questions. Review common and behavioral interview questions. A great way to do this is to conduct a mock interview. Your mock interviewer will also be able to provide feedback on anything you may need to improve for the interview.
As an Interviewer:
Create interview questions. As an interviewer, it's your responsibility to create common interview questions, along with personal assistant behavioral interview questions. These questions will help you evaluate the candidate and how they handle specific situations.
Review the candidates resume. Before each candidate's interview, review their resume and get familiar with their skills and qualifications. This will also help you create questions specific to their resume to help you get to know them better.
Take notes. Take notes on what the candidate says in their answers. Be sure to take notice to the skills and experiences they highlight as well. This will help you later on when it comes time to evaluate and rank your candidates.