Your cover letter and resume are great avenues for getting your point across.
However, it is the interview stage that matters the most.
Once you have reached the Senior Administrative Assistant Interview stage, it is all the more important to make a positive impression on the person who may be your next manager.
It must be remembered that interviews are never designed to be easy. In fact, they confuse you immensely, aiming to bring out your best.
Be careful when preparing for an interview. Make sure that you do not get confused. Keep preparing until you appear in the interview.
Have a look at the following set of interview questions and answers for reference:
Senior Administrative Assistant Interview Questions and Answers
1. What special skills do you possess that make you an excellent contender to work as a senior administrative assistant?
The fact that I have worked in an administrative role for over 6 years is perhaps what has made me skilled enough to work in this role. I am an organized individual with a great ability to handle correspondence, plan conferences and meetings, manage follow-up duties, and ensure that all department functions are properly coordinated.
2. What is the one thing that you would like to change in your present place of work, where administrative work is concerned?
At this point in time, I believe that the company inventory systems are not as effective as they should be. And I am presently working on redoing them so that they can effectively meet set standards.
3. Have you ever been in a situation where you were stumped about what to do?
There was a time when a man walked into the office and demanded to see an employee – in a very threatening manner. Fortunately, I was standing at the reception and managed to calm him down enough to gauge what the issue was. The situation got worse and there were a lot of hullabaloos before we found out that he was an irate client who had not received an order. The situation could have gone really bad if I had not intervened, even though initially, the whole scenario did leave me a bit unnerved.
4. While working as a senior administrative assistant, what were your duties?
While working in this capacity, I have been responsible for everything from scheduling work to coordinating departmental tasks. Specifically, I have been involved in planning conferences and meetings, handling correspondence, managing and maintaining filing and record systems, arranging travel schedules and reservations, and ensuring that all systems within the company conform to specified protocols.
5. What do you want to be doing in the next 5 years?
Ideally, I would like to be working in a managerial position where I have more scope to show my expertise.
6. And what are you doing right now to make sure that this transpires?
I am in the learning phase as far as managerial work is concerned. Since I am a keen observer, I keep my eyes and ears open and absorb as much as I can. I go the extra mile in every task so that I can understand how to manage it at a higher level as well.