Administrative Manager Interview Questions & Answers


Administrative Managers, also known as Administration Managers, supervise administrative team members and ensure that daily office operations are performed in a seamless and efficient manner.

Whether you're a job seeker preparing to be interviewed for the role of Administrative Manager or an employer preparing to interview candidates for Administrative Manager position, these Administrative Manager interview questions will help you prepare yourself for the job interview session.

Administrative Manager Interview Questions

Below are a list of some skill-based Administrative Manager interview questions.

  1. How would you inform employees about a change in a regular administrative process? (e.g. how to submit a request for office supplies)
  2. What are some of the challenges you have faced in your previous roles as an administrative manager?
  3. How many administrative employees were you responsible for managing at your last job?
  4. How do you handle confidential files and information about the company’s clients and employees?
  5. How do you keep yourself organized during a busy workday with requests and tasks from various sources?
  6. Your company currently needs a new industrial copier, but it also needs an updated phone system. Your budget is dwindling and you only have enough left to pay for one item. What do you do?
  7. In what ways have you improved efficiency at work? (e.g. finding a cheaper vendor for office supplies that reduced costs)
  8. What software programs do you use on a daily basis?
  9. What kinds of spreadsheets do you regularly build in Excel?
  10. What office management software do you enjoy working with most?
  11. Do you have any experience working with administrative technologies, such as cloud computing or enterprise resource planning systems?
  12. What’s your experience with calendar administration? What specific applications do you use?
  13. How do you keep track of office resources? (e.g. documents and supplies)
  14. How do you handle employee requests for confidential information?
  15. Do you have experience training employees? What’s your approach?
  16. What previous administrative roles have you held that make you eligible for an administrative manager position? What specific examples do you have?
  17. If you had to prepare a report with annual expenses by department, what information would you need from each manager?
  18. What would you do if you notice that one of your employees is not performing well?
  19. What do you think is the most important trait for an administrative manager to have?
  20. Do you have experience handling a budget? If so, how did you spread your budget over a specific time frame?
  21. As an administrative manager, you’d be responsible for speaking with branch department heads on a daily basis. How would you describe your interpersonal communication skills in relation to this?
  22. How do you evaluate administrative job candidates before and during a job interview? What examples can you provide from your previous job?
  23. If you could change one thing about the way administrative work is currently done in your organization, what would it be?
  24. Based on what you’ve seen so far, what types of administrative policies and procedures would you change or keep in our company?
  25. Have you ever written administrative or operational reports for your employer? What components did you include?
  26. Which administrative management models are you familiar with?
  27. What motivates you to stay productive during repetitive work?
  28. Recall a time you had to resolve a dispute between colleagues. How did you handle it?
  29. Have you ever lost a physical or digital file at work? What did or would you do, in that case?
  30. How do you manage to remain calm and productive when dealing with multiple tasks at once?
  31. What do you believe are your key strengths as an administrative manager?
  32. How do you handle and motivate different personalities on your team as an administrative manager?
  33. Your employer wants you and your team to transfer all paper files onto a digital filing system. How do you approach the situation?

Administrative Manager Interview Questions and Answers

Every interview is different and the questions may vary. However, there are lots of general questions that get asked at every interview.

Below are some common questions you'd expect during Administrative Manager interviews. Click on each question to see how to answer them.

  1. Why Do You Want To Leave Your Current Job?
  2. What is Your Greatest Strength?
  3. Tell Me About Yourself
  4. Why Do You Want This Job?
  5. Are You a Leader or a Follower?
  6. What Is Your Greatest Accomplishment?
  7. What is Your Salary Expectation?
  8. Do You Have Any Questions for Us?
  9. Why Should We Hire You?
  10. What is Your Greatest Weakness?