This Administration and Business Support interview guide will help you to quickly identify which candidates should be on your shortlist. By asking these Administration and Business Support interview questions and assessing the answers against the indicators provided, which will help you determine better which are the high performing candidates.
To be effective, however, these Administration and Business Support interview questions need to be utilised early in the recruitment process to ensure only high performing candidates make it onto your shortlist and attend the final face to face interviews.
One way of utilising them is to assess candidates earlier in the process by Video Interview. It allows you to make sure all candidates are asked the same key interview questions. Video Interviews allow you to identify high performing candidates earlier in the recruitment process. This means you can be confident that all the candidates you meet face to face have the skills required to be successful in the role.
This guide was prepared by our Head of Assessment Design, Claire Crisp (BSc, MSc, C.Psychol).
Responsibilities
- Organise and maintain all resources
- Process invoices and purchase order requests
- Produce typed documents and presentations
- Answer the telephone
- Maintain files and databases
- Undertake general administrative duties
Key competencies required
Primary
- Planning and Organising
- Attention to Detail
Secondary
- Initiative
- Adaptability
- Building Relationships
- Collaboration
Interview Questions
Below are two Administration and Business Support interview questions which will help you identify and eliminate those candidates who do not possess the planning and organising skills and attention to detail required to be successful in an Administration and Business support role. To support these Administration and Business Support interview questions, we’ve prepared a rating system to help you evaluate a candidates’ answer.
- To assess Planning and Organising– “Give me an example of a time when you have had lots of work to do and some tight deadlines to meet. How did you plan your time and prioritise your work?”
- To assess Attention to Detail– “Tell me about a time when the accuracy and detail of a piece of work you were doing were particularly important. How did you ensure you delivered work to the required high standard?”
How to assess: Planning and Organising
A suitable candidate will plan and organise their own time and workload effectively. They will complete multiple tasks, meet deadlines and prioritise based on both importance and urgency.
| Positive Behaviours | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | Negative Behaviours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plans work task in advance | Starts work without a plan. |
|||||
| Identifies clear priorities based on both importance and urgency | Prioritisation is haphazard or absent. | |||||
| Completes work in time or before the deadline | Misses deadlines | |||||
| Adjusts plans and priorities when necessary | Works to fixed plans; cannot adjust when priorities change |
How to assess: Attention to Detail
A suitable candidate will attend to the detail of their work and ensure it contains minimal errors. They will maintain a focus on accuracy and put checks in place to ensure they deliver high-quality work.
| Positive Behaviours | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | Negative Behaviours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recognises the importance of ensuring quality outputs | Places a low importance on ensuring quality outputs | |||||
| Checks work carefully for errors before it is delivered | Submits work without checking errors | |||||
| Identifies and corrects errors in own work | Delivers work that is full of errors | |||||
| Puts processes in place to ensure accuracy in own work | Takes a haphazard approach to accuracy; puts no formal process in place |
