Job interview - a few questions

katie89

I have a job interview on Monday :j as an admin assistant in a legal firm. However, I have never worked in either admin or law (which the company know, I highlighted this in my cover letter and they have my CV). I currently work in a customer service role, and have been searching for graduate type work for a year, and this is my first interview in about five months, so I'm really nervous!

I was hoping someone with a bit more experience in this area could tell me what sort of questions to expect, what the interviewer wants to see/hear, and basically calm my nerves a little!

DCFC79

Cant answer your question but good luck

McKneff

Its difficult, Ive not had an interview for donkeys years, so I have no idea what kind of questions they will ask.

I just wanted to wish you good luck.

1 tip, eye contact and smile, be pleasant and try to think of some questions you would like to ask them.

Fingers crossed for you. Let us know how you get on.
annei

lr1277

I can't say what the job specific questions will be, but here are some general questions you should be prepared to answer:
1) Why do you want this job?
2) (words to the effect of) What makes you the right person for this job?
3) What are your strengths/weaknesses?
4) Why do you want to leave your current job?

HTH

Lokolo

"You have never worked in law or admin, so why have you chosen to apply for this job?"

Could come up, it did in my grad interview! (I do Games Programming and the job was in the finance industry )

soupdragon10

They will probably ask about your use of things like IT packages, and how you used these during your degree (sorry you don't say what degree you did so difficult to know how much depth they will want).

Probably ask how you prioritise things e.g. serving customers, answering phone, replenishing stock etc. As admin can need you to multitask on a regular basis.

Might ask what skills you think you can bring to the job and how your qualifications equip you for the role.

Sambucus_Nigra

They are likely to be related to the job spec. So make sure you are 100% sure that the answers tell them that you are or will be fabulous at everything they have listed.

livermum

I agree with the others there will probably be generic questions such as why did you apply for this role? and what are your strengths and weaknesses? But there will also be questions that are specific to the job so make sure you have looked at the job description and can give examples of how you have done the things they are looking for either in your job or in your degree.

Good Luck

sagalout1954

I've sent you a PM.

Should add that you obviously won't be asked ALL of the questions I've sent you to think about (& maybe even none of them), but quite often the questions you get asked for admin roles may be phrased differently, but are asking you the same things I've sent.

Half a dozen 'pre thought out' scenario's you've dealt with previously can probably be used to fit their questions. I've usually found that admin interviews can quite often be competency based......"give me an example of ***" type of thing. I was once asked what I'd do if so and so rang, and said such and such. What should have occurred to me (& I'd have looked less of a prat if it had) was that this was an environment where PROCEDURES were paramount, so I should have said I would check what the correct procedure was before dealing with the situation.

I usually have something in mind for organising, initiative, team spirit, prioritising, dealing with repetitive tasks etc Keep your 'examples' relatively short, they don't need chapter and verse (but not too short obviously). I have tripped over the "tell me about yourself" question once. Though not asked that very often I keep it to about 1 1/2 - 2 mins, bit of interesting personal, then on to career/training/experience stuff.

After interviews I write down all the questions I've been asked as best as I can recall - very helpful it's been too. A lot of questions come up again and again. I think being interviewed can be a learned skill, preparation is the key and you seem to be doing that.

Good luck

katie89

I'd just like to say thank you all for your advice, and especially your PM sagalout, I've just had the interview. I'm not sure how it went, but I felt a little more prepared for the questions, and just have to keep my fingers crossed! I was so nervous though, but the interviewers were nice about it.

katie89

Update - I have been asked back for a second interview today! Cheers for all your help, I'm sure its what got me through the first one.