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Personal Assistant Interview Questions

Edited by Indeed Employer Content Team
Last updated 1 April 2025
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Indeed’s Employer Resource Library helps businesses grow and manage their workforce. With over 15,000 articles in 6 languages, we offer tactical advice, how-tos and best practices to help businesses hire and retain great employees.

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Whether you are preparing to interview a candidate or applying for a job, review our list of top Personal Assistant interview questions and answers.

  1. Why do you believe a personal assistant should keep requests by their employer private? See answer
  2. What was your process for planning and coordinating events for your previous employer? See answer
  3. What was it like working as a personal assistant to the head of a major corporation? See answer
  4. Elabourate on your written communication experience. See answer
  5. Explain your process for organisation and record keeping. See answer
  6. What is your ideal work environment? See answer
  7. Describe a time where you had to manage different tasks and how you prioritised them. See answer
  8. How would you handle an aggressive phone call from a client or vendor? See answer
  9. What was a time you felt most successful as a personal assistant? See answer
  10. How would you handle a double-booked appointment? See answer
  11. Explain a situation where you could anticipate your employer’s needs and adapt quickly.
  12. What types of scheduling software are you familiar with?
  13. What is the best experience you’ve had with a supervisor and what is the worst?
  14. What is a situation where you had poor judgement and were you able to make it into a positive solution?
  15. Do you have previous experience managing office inventory?
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Indeed’s Employer Resource Library helps businesses grow and manage their workforce. With over 15,000 articles in 6 languages, we offer tactical advice, how-tos and best practices to help businesses hire and retain great employees.

Read our editorial guidelines

15 Personal Assistant Interview Questions and Answers

Why do you believe a personal assistant should keep requests by their employer private?

A personal assistant works closely with their employer, so they need to be discreet. The tasks that a personal assistant works on can require private knowledge of their employer, like making doctor's appointments or handling financial information. To maintain trust, the personal assistant needs to keep sensitive information from becoming public knowledge. What to look for in an answer:

  • emphasises trust and privacy
  • Puts the needs of the employer as the highest priority
  • Showcases loyalty to the employer
Example:

"I believe it's integral to a personal assistant's position to respect and protect the privacy of their employer. I've handled doctor's appointments and financial information and never had a security issue. Without that trust, I wouldn't be able to do my job, so it's equally important to me that private information remains protected."

What was your process for planning and coordinating events for your previous employer?

As a personal assistant, the applicant may need experience planning an event from conception to day-of planning, including booking venues and vendors and making guest lists. What to look for in an answer:

  • Experience planning a major business event
  • organised and detail-oriented, even on a short notice
  • Confident when dealing with vendors and service providers
Example:

"I organised a fundraiser in three weeks' time after a previous venue fell through. I coordinated a new venue and kept the caterers and vendors updated with all the changes and sent out invitations on time with correct venue information. Even with the changes, we met our fundraising goal and stayed under budget for the event."

What was it like working as a personal assistant to the head of a major corporation?

Personal assistants can work for all management levels using organisational skills and people skills to complete a variety of tasks and work with other staff. Working for management as a personal assistant showcases these skills to their highest ability. What to look for in an answer:

  • Experience in a fast-paced environment
  • Examples of collabourating with or leading a team to complete a task
  • Remaining focused during high-pressure situations
Example:

"While working in my last role, I learned to manage my supervisor's busy schedule in a fast-paced environment. I coordinated his meetings at the beginning of each day and monitored any changes to his schedule to keep him updated. I managed an office staff to ensure we handled all daily tasks with care and in a timely fashion."

Explain a situation where you could anticipate your employer's needs and adapt quickly.

Personal assistants help their employers manage tasks to improve their productivity and organisation. To help their employers, they must learn about their schedules and adapt to changes quickly. They may also anticipate their employer's needs regarding scheduling changes to save time and streamline productivity. What to look for in an answer:

  • Familiar with daily requirements to be proactive about changes
  • Offers support to their employer during unexpected changes
  • Adaptable while staying on task
Example:

"I familiarised myself with my employer's schedule and saw the shareholders had requested a meeting. I gathered paperwork for him to review and cleared 15 minutes of time before the meeting to give him enough time to prepare. I knew this meeting was important and provided the resources my employer needed to succeed. I used my judgement to re-prioritise his schedule and informed him of the updates as soon as he was available."

Elabourate on your written communication experience.

A personal assistant writes emails, press releases, memos, and a variety of other written communication representing their employer's office. They use communication skills to disseminate information, create plans, and establish networks for their employers. They need to communicate effectively and professionally. What to look for in an answer:

  • Professionalism
  • Experience with written communication
  • An emphasis on clear and concise communication
Example:

"I handled all correspondence for my employer and built lasting relationships with vendors and made important business connections. I frequently used email to clarify scheduling questions and update others on changes. I also handled writing memos that were distributed throughout the company about updated policies."

What types of scheduling and office management software are you familiar with?

As a personal assistant they may use scheduling, emailing, or record-keeping software. They may also need to know how to use basic accounting software and spreadsheets. Use this question to determine their technology skills. What to look for in an answer:

  • Experience with the type of software that your business uses
  • Knowledge of technology related to the field
  • organised and detail-oriented with data entry
Example:

"I have experience managing a schedule on various online platforms and integrating emails and messaging notifications to add new events automatically to my supervisor's schedule. I also researched and implemented the leading project management software for my previous company to help keep track of my supervisor's upcoming projects and deadlines."

Explain your process for organisation and record keeping.

You can hire a personal assistant to manage a supervisor's hectic schedule and make sense of priorities that may overwhelm just one person. To trust them with these tasks, they need strong organisational skills and a dedicated attention to detail. What to look for in an answer:

  • Emphasis on double-checking details
  • Experience in creating organisational structures
  • Fastidious record keeping
Example:

"I'm a very organised person and always keep a record of messages that I receive on behalf of my employer because they can be important for future reference. For example, I instituted a system of recording contact information from each message and then confirming contact information during follow-up calls in order to ensure my employer always had updated contact information while building their network." 

What is your ideal work environment?

A personal assistant can work in all kinds of work environments, whether they work for an individual or for a larger corporation. It's important to make sure that your company culture matches the culture where they work best. What to look for in an answer:

  • Proof that they have researched your company
  • Aligned values for work ethic and collabouration
  • Availability for the hours and workdays that align with your company schedule
Example:

"I work best in a fast-paced environment because I prefer to stay busy when trying to stay on task. I also prefer to work in an office as opposed to working remotely. I looked over your company website and saw that your company values teamwork and collabouration, which inspired me because that's a quality I'm looking for in my next employer."

What is the worst experience you have had with a supervisor and how did you handle it?

With this question, you want to find out how the applicant would handle a difficult situation, and how easy they are to get along with at work. You can also find out about how they reacted to their previous supervisors. What to look for in an answer:

  • Did they use deescalation methods
  • How they used communication
  • Were they able to resolve the issue
Example:

"A previous supervisor of mine wasn't very good at giving feedback or communicating their needs. It caused some issues with scheduling. I suggested we schedule a time to talk about their goals and what they needed from my position to align our expectations. I researched some suggestions to ease our communication and decided what processes to implement. We worked out a system that allowed us to work well together."

What is a situation where you had poor judgement and were you able to make it into a positive solution?

Any personal assistant can make a mistake or get into an unfortunate circumstance. This question is to discover how they handle those situations and how well they work under pressure to get the best result from a negative situation. What to look for in an answer:

  • A solution-oriented attitude
  • Ability to take responsibility for situations
  • Quick thinking under pressure
Example:

"During my previous job, I chose a food vendor that wasn't up to standard. To fix my mistake, I immediately reached out to other caterers and used a previous connection to get a backup caterer in time for the event. I also reached out to the original caterer and got a refund for the original catering."

Describe a time where you had to manage different tasks and how you prioritised them.

Personal assistants multitask frequently, and they use their judgement to decide with tasks have the highest priority. This question is to determine whether they can handle a variety of tasks and if they have the confidence to priorities for themselves. What to look for in an answer:

  • Ability to handle a variety of responsibilities that require different skills
  • Skill with multitasking
  • Confidence in their ability to prioritise tasks
Example:

"I have a lot of experience multitasking. A typical morning for me includes printing out any important memos I've received for review while taking messages from the night before and printing off the schedule for the day. Some tasks have to be completed before my supervisor comes in the morning, so while I multitask, I have to prioritise to make sure I complete the important tasks first."

How would you handle an aggressive phone call from a client or vendor?

Personal assistants often screen messages and make phone calls on behalf of their employer. This question is to determine how professional their phone demeanour is and their client-facing attitude. What to look for in an answer:

  • Ability to maintain a professional demeanour regardless of the caller's attitude
  • Understanding of appropriate client relations
  • Experience communicating while under pressure
Example:

"I have experience handling very agitated customers because of my experience working in customer service. If I were dealing with an aggressive customer, I would remain professional and focus on what their concern was and provide workable solutions that satisfy the client. I would focus on what I could do to help the situation going forward and connect the client with someone who could help if I couldn't assist them."

What was a time you felt most successful as a personal assistant?

A good personal assistant will feel motivated by the job and want to succeed. This question can determine what they view as the responsibilities of a personal assistant and if those responsibilities are fulfiling to them. What to look for in an answer:

  • A sense of responsibility for their role as a personal assistant
  • Pride in their performance
  • Ability to execute tasks successfully 
Example:

"My proudest moment as a personal assistant is when I assisted my employer in obtaining a large client that they had been pursuing. My employer was grateful for my help with providing them with the resources they needed to research the client and helping them prep for the meeting."

How would you handle a double-booked appointment?

Personal assistants manage schedules, so it's important to understand how they may handle difficult situations that can arise from this responsibility. This question is to determine how they would prioritise appointments and handle disgruntled clients. What to look for in an answer:

  • Quick thinking when facing an issue
  • Dedication to prioritizing the employer's goals
  • Ability to rise to any challenge 
Example:

"If I was dealing with a double-booked appointment, I'd do a little research to determine which client was less of a priority. I would then reach out to that client and inform them that, unfortunately, there was a change in the schedule and their original meeting time wasn't available. I would offer that client two additional meeting times within 48 hours."

Do you have previous experience managing office inventory? 

Personal assistants are often in charge of purchasing office supplies for the office. This can require an understanding of accounting, inventory, and negotiating with vendors. What to look for in an answer: 

  • Previous experience negotiating with vendors
  • Understanding of how to count and track inventory usage
  • Willingness to take on repetitive tasks
Example:

"I have experience managing office inventory from my previous position, where I was the representative for my office in dealings with the office supply store. I monitored inventory for things like notepads, pens, post-it notes, and printer paper. I also negotiated lower rates on bulk shipping of paper products."

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