Best interview questions for an Office Manager

Office Manager Interview Questions

A good Office Manager can make the world of difference to a team in terms of productivity and office culture. This role assists the office with various tasks such as the maintenance of office equipment and the restocking of various supplies, arrangement of on-site visits from external stakeholders and communication between teams. So, to find the right person you need to be

The perfect Office Manager will possess these qualities:

Impeccable written and verbal communication skills.
Scheduling and time-management skills.
Computer literate.
Excellent people skills.
Ability to organise and file data.

In some cases, the Office Manager will also work closely with the HR or payroll department, so some knowledge of these procedures is preferable.

Interviewing an Office Manager

Bringing an Office Manager into your business can have a huge impact on everything from productivity to team culture, as a big part of their role will be to improve and introduce office procedures. These interview questions for an Office Manager will help you to select someone who will fit the role perfectly.

When reading through these draft questions, it’s important to keep in mind that they are designed to be used early in the interview process to help establish a candidate’s skills early on.

How to open the job interview

In most cases, a candidate will experience nerves when interviewing for your role. A good way to combat this and ensure you’re getting a clear understanding of their personality and skills is to open the interview with a few questions that will put them at ease.

These opening questions should ideally be quite positive in theme and should be open-ended, to encourage a natural conversation flow. One or two of these openers shouldn’t take long, but are sure to make a difference!

Job Description available

See our Office Manager Job Description here

For the interview

A positive opener to start

What do you enjoy most about Office Management?

What is your proudest accomplishment as an Office Manager?

Behavioral Questions

What does a typical day at work look like for you?
This will give you an idea of the skills the candidate uses on a day to day basis, as well as what tasks they are used to performing.
Describe a challenge you faced in your previous role and how you overcame it?
The candidate will have a chance to describe an area of the role they find challenging, as well as walk you through their process for overcoming challenges.
How do you cope with managing multiple stressful projects at once?
This question will allow the candidate to describe their prioritisation and organisation methods.
How do you keep a team motivated through difficult or stressful periods?
An Office Manager has a huge impact on the motivation of a team, this answer will give insight if the candidate is a good fit for your team’s culture.

Soft Skills

What skills do you think you possess that make you a good Office Manager?
This answer will demonstrate a candidate’s confidence while giving them a chance to list their biggest skills
Describe a time when you’ve had to deal with a demanding or difficult supervisor.
Here, a candidate will give you an insight into their people skills, collaborative attitude and ability to perform under pressure.
How would you handle communication between multiple departments on a time-sensitive task?
This will offer another insight into the candidate’s communication and time management skills.
What changes have you implemented to streamline a team’s processes in the past?
Having an insight into a candidate’s past performance will help you picture how they will be able to contribute to your team.

Hard Skills

Which computer programmes do you use most frequently on a day-to-day basis?
This will allow you to compare the systems the candidate has experience with to the ones that your company uses and gives an insight into what they will need to be trained on.
Which KPIs do you usually use to measure a team’s productivity and what steps can you take to improve this?
A candidate should be able to name a few ways that they could contribute to a team’s productivity, which will give you insight into whether their way of working fits with your company.
What actions, informal or formal, would you take if a conflict were to arise between members of the team?
Here you can gauge a candidate’s people skills, as well as their understanding of HR processes.
Describe a time when you’ve developed a short term plan to help support a team through a project.
This answer will give you another insight into a candidate’s past experience, as well as their organisation skills.
Have you dealt with confidential information in the past, and if so what extra steps did you take to ensure the data remained private?
In some cases an Office Manager will have to deal with sensitive information, this question will allow you to find out whether a candidate has experience with this or if they would need training.

Operational / Situational Questions

How would you deal with a situation where a supervisor required time-sensitive information from you, which you didn’t have access to?
This situational question will give you an idea of how a candidate performs under stress, as well as an example of their problem-solving skills.
If an employee requested confidential information for a project, how would you deal with this request?
Here, you will gain another insight into a candidate’s understanding of confidentiality.
Describe a time when you have provided training or a workshop to a team.
In some situations an Office Manager will attend workshops or training events in order to pass this information on to their team, this question will give an idea into the candidate’s experience with this.
How would you handle a situation where a team member is reluctant to adopt a new process or procedure that you are implementing?
This situational question will again give insight into a candidate’s problem solving and people skills.