What is an administrative assistant aptitude test?
Traditional aptitude tests are often used to probe deeper into a candidate’s skills, and discover where their strengths and weaknesses lie.
In the case of administrative assistants, psychometric tests are used to measure specific skills. For example, verbal reasoning tests for comprehension and communication skills; error checking tests for accuracy skills; or Microsoft Excel tests for software skills.
Potential administrative assistants might also be tested via touch-typing tests, note-taking exercises or proofreading tasks.
What skills do administrative assistants typically need?
Administrative assistants are required to support the smooth running of an office or a senior individual or team’s diaries.
It’s essential, therefore, that you’re naturally organised if you want to become an administrative assistant. You’ll be in charge of sorting everything from travel and reports, to taking meeting notes and ensuring the office is equipped so everyone can do their jobs without issue.
Other requirements of the role include:
Strong communication skills
Administrative assistants usually have to liaise with a range of people of varying seniority levels. Dealing with other people’s requests, problems and questions can be tough, so it’s essential you’re able to remain friendly and professional at all times.
Effective time management
Prioritising tasks, booking meetings and ensuring things run on time are key requirements of the job, so good time management is necessary if you want to succeed.
Confident with a range of software
Whether it’s preparing documents in Microsoft Office, scheduling important events or mastering project management software, successful administrative assistants are able to work quickly and confidently, switching between a range of different office management tools.
Aptitude tests used to assess key skills
Aptitude tests are designed to assess a range of skills depending on the test taken, and to help employers determine who might be the best fit for a job out of a pool of candidates.
Because administrative assistants need various skills, a variety of aptitude tests may be used in the recruitment process These are all covered in the skills sections below.
Accuracy skills
An eye for detail and a proven ability to produce accurate work are important things to showcase if you want to impress an employer looking for an administrative assistant.
To help prepare for the office administration tests, we recommend trying out some error checking tests to see how comfortable you are at spotting mistakes under pressure.
Accuracy skills are also linked to how comfortable you are with numbers and data. It’s likely you’ll be required to do some finance and data interpretation as part of your role as an administrative assistant, so practising numerical reasoning tests is a great way to improve your skills.
Communication skills
To ensure you have the communication skills needed to work effectively with staff of all levels, an employer may assess your reading, writing and general communication as part of the recruitment process.
To get prepared, try out a few verbal reasoning tests to brush up on your reading and comprehension skills.
Or give a writing task a go to ensure you feel comfortable with basic grammar, spelling and punctuation. It’s always worth brushing up on these skills, even if you do feel confident in this area, as you want to excel on the day.
Organisational skills
Organising everything from data to people and office supplies is all part of a day’s work for an administrative assistant.
This part of the test will look at how good you are at juggling multiple priorities and filing information neatly and effectively.
Whether you believe this to be one of your strengths or not, it’s important to practice putting your skills to the test by trying out some data interpretation questions.
These questions are similar to problems that may appear on the office administration tests. They require you to interpret mathematical data and show evidence of strategic decision making.
Software skills
Employers will want to see proof that candidates applying for an administrative assistant role are confident using a variety of different office software programmes. So it’s important to brush up on your skills before the recruitment process gets underway.
First, try out a few Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word tests. Designed to assess your proficiency with the tools available in each programme, these tests are challenging but manageable if you have a good grasp of the Microsoft Office Suite.
The test will help you to see where your strengths and weaknesses lie, and what you need to practice doing in Excel and Word before the big day.
Interpersonal skills
Administrative assistants are often the glue that holds an office together, and as a result it’s important that whoever takes on the role feels comfortable and confident talking to people of all ages and levels of seniority.
Your interpersonal skills will certainly be under scrutiny in both the test and the interview, so it’s important to refresh your memory as to the best and moist professional way to behave in an office. As well as researching the company’s ethos and values, try some situational judgment tests.
These tests ask questions to find out how you’d react to common workplace challenges. And while there may not be a definitive ‘right or wrong’ answer, you’ll be scored according to how well your answers match with the company and employer’s beliefs and values.
