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Management 👔 Interview Questions - Planning Admin

luckless pedestrian

luckless pedestrian

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Here is a different take on the interview - for those of you that interview for your planning admin, what kinds of questions do you ask?

Here's some I am thinking about...

  • What do you enjoy about being an administrative assistant?
  • What role do you feel the administrative assistant serves in the office?
  • Why do you think you’re well-suited for a position as an administrative assistant, and for this job in particular?
  • What special skills do you possess that will help you do well here?
  • Describe your attention to detail. How have you had to use it in previous jobs?
  • What is your experience with record keeping and management?
  • Describe your experience coordinating and managing multiple projects/tasks that have similar deadlines.
  • In which type of office environment do you excel most?
  • Can you describe the most challenging colleague you’ve had to work with? How did you handle that relationship?
  • Can you describe a challenging project you were assigned in the past and how you approached it?
 
We have a "tech" position that I have recast over the years as more of an entry-level planner position, although it is admin-heavy. I don't think a straight admin would do well because if you're not into planning it's just going to be drudgery. Anyway, here's my "round 1" questions and a scoring rubric (we look at how many of the five elements the candidate puts into their answer). The whole decision is in no way based on the score but it has let me take a pile of 6-7 first-round interviewees and pick 2-3 for follow-ups.

Round 1:
Planning Tech Recruitment- Round 1, target is for a 30-minute interview but we have about 50 minutes budgeted if we need it. Introductions- Staff, Candidate etc. Staff Introduces themselves to candidate and candidate does the same (5 minutes) Structured questions to be asked of each candidate

Questions and suggested scores for answers (0-5 points, 1 point for a solid answer to each of the answer elements below for a max of 5) (4 minutes per question, 20 minutes total)

The planning technician position in XXXXX is an entry-level planning job that involves a chance to work on some interesting projects- in balance with a steady load of more administrative tasks and evening meetings. Based on what you know about the town and the position, please describe your motivation to work in this position.
1. Interest in a planning technician position
2. Specific interest in working in XXXX
3. Willingness to do administrative tasks
4. Willingness to work as a team member on other projects
5. Understanding of time and night meeting schedule commitment.


Based on your prior work, class and/or internship experiences, what skills do you anticipate using in the planning technician position? What might be a challenge? What skills would you want to develop to meet that challenge?
1. Discusses prior work, internship, or class experiences
2. Identifies skills developed in other environments (work, internship, class)
3. Connects those skills and experiences to planning technician position
4. Identifies what might be personally or professionally challenging about the position
5. Identifies skills the candidate would like to add or develop


Describe a situation where you experienced the failure of a project or effort you were involved in- how did you handle it? What did you learn from it? How would you handle a similar situation as a planning technician in XXXXXX?

1. Identifies a “failure.”
2. Explains consequences or potential consequences of failure
3. Explains what they did to “fix” it
4. Identifies what they learned from the “failure.”
5. Applies “failure” experience to planning tech position.


How does this position fit in your expected career path? What about being a planning technician makes this position a good element of that path? Is there anything about XXXXXXXXX specifically that makes this a good fit?


1. Connects education/ work background and this position
2. Identifies experiences candidate wants out of the position
3. Shows understanding of where the position could lead
4. Is realistic about the limitations for advancement in this position (i.e. we are not looking for someone who wants to be the tech the rest of their career, and we want our candidates to be honest rather than saying this!)
5. Identifies specific areas where looking for more experience


Bonus question (1-5 points): You’re talking with the XXXXXX Planning Director- Is there anything you’ve observed about XXXXX that you want to know more about?

1. Is curious about/has observed something in XXXXXX
2. That something is at least tangentially planning-related
3. Has thought about potential answers to their question
4. Response from the candidate: (“that’s interesting, in other places I’ve seen that happen this way, or “I studied something like that in college,” etc.)
5. Other intangibles?
 
Here's the list/script I've used for my admin assistant interviews over the years...

  • Overview of Department and responsibilities of the position.
  • Please tell us a little about yourself.
  • Much of the work done in this office is time sensitive and carries statutory deadlines. Describe your views on time management, and how you envision handling the duties of this position.
  • What would you do if you did not have the tools you need or think you need to do your job?
  • What do you find most attractive about the job? What do you find least attractive?
  • What do you consider to be your strengths and your weaknesses? Do you have any specific examples from your past you have learned from?
  • Do you have customer service experience? If so, can you describe a time where you had to deal with an unhappy customer and how you handled it?
  • Do you prefer to work independently or as part of a team? What level of direction do you work best in? Please provide some examples of how you would consider yourself to be a team player.
  • In this position, you will interact with a variety of individuals inside and outside of the Town on a daily basis. As a result, it is essential that you interact effectively with people. Tell us about two or three key strengths you have in dealing with people. Can you provide a recent example of an incident in which your strengths proved to be valuable?
  • How would past co-workers describe your work personality?
  • What experience do you have with preparing and posting agendas for meetings?
  • Can you describe your ability to handle distractions and interruptions?
  • Please describe the types of correspondence you were responsible for generating in your previous positions.
  • Describe types of record keeping for which you were responsible.
  • Do you consider yourself a brisk worker or one who is slower paced yet persistent and consistent?
  • Can you talk about any cash-handling work experience you have? What is your comfort level using computers, especially Microsoft Suite?
  • What are your overall career goals?
 
Bumping this because I had to prep questions, as I have an opening for this position. The good news is that the person who has held this position and done well in it is moving up and over to Code to become an inspector! The good news about this city is that we encourage, train, and promote from within!
 
Just had a CDD interview today. My dream job in a smaller town (20K) 23 minutes from home, no traffic when on the interstate. Been way too optimistic with past interviews so not being that way this time. Thankfully, I did not get the strength/weakness questions.
 
We do a lot of customer service questions like tell me about a time you had a bad experience with a customer and how did you handle it.
 
I stopped asking for their weaknesses - it's such a set up question with no real helpful answers
 
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