文秘或助理工作是公司运作中必不可少的环节，其工作范围往往涉及诸多细微且重要的方面。一般而言，招聘方会从两个方面来设置面试问题：①关于应聘者的性格特征和工作态度；②关于应聘者的工作技能和经验。在本文中笔者将针对以上两方面来探讨文秘或助理面试中的常见问题，并提供应答思路和参考回答。
关于应聘者的性格特征和工作态度
1. What is your greatest strength and how will it help your performance in this position? (考察应聘者的优势)
应答思路：在回答这一问题前，应聘者应首先了解文秘或助理工作人员必备的常见技能，例如安排策划能力、信息处理能力、时间管理能力、人际沟通能力以及电脑技能等。然后，应聘者可根据自身的情况从中选择一两个方面作为自己的优势，并进行举例说明。
参考回答：My organizational skills are one of my greatest strengths. In my previous assistant position, I restructured the filing system to make it easier to pull client charts and access information in a more timely and efficient manner. This will help my performance in this position because I’m able to keep things organized and neat, so I can get more tasks completed in a shorter amount of time.
2. What do you feel is your greatest weakness? (考察应聘者的弱点)
应答思路：对于这一问题，常见的回答误区是提供一些“并非缺点的缺点”或“不相关的缺点”，诸如“I’m too young.”一类的答案。这样的回答方式不仅容易误导主考官，也让提问失去了应有的意义。正确的应答思路是如实地说明自己以往的一个缺点，并告诉主考官你是如何克服这一缺点的。最关键的是，应聘者应强调自己在弥补这一缺点的同时，努力把劣势转变成了优势。如果这个优势正好是应聘职位所要求具备的素质之一，则会给应聘者的面试加很多分。
参考回答：I once had a problem with time management. I used to take on too much work and promise very early turnaround time (周转时间), and occasionally I failed to finish work before deadlines. So I resolved this problem by purchasing a day planner. Now I record all my projects and tasks in there and prioritize them, which gives me a better overview of how much work I am doing, which project or task I should finish first, and when I can turn it around.
3. Describe what you do to control mistakes in your work. (考察应聘者的细心程度)
应答思路：细心是文秘或助理必备的素养。应聘者在回答这类问题时，切忌笼统地强调自己有多么细心，这样的回答缺乏说服力。应聘者应借助自己以往工作中的实例加以说明，以达到令人信服的效果。
参考回答：I currently work as a sales assistant for HDE (Hauptverband des Deutschen Einzelhandels, 德国零售商联合会). Everyday I give quotes to my clients. Because I don’t like mistakes and I don’t rely on spell-check or any other tools, I take the time to proofread (校对) the quotations thoroughly and repeatedly before they are sent out. Through doing so, my clients have not found any mistakes in my quotations for years.
4. What are you passionate about? (考察应聘者的工作激情)
应答思路：针对这一问题，应聘者不宜随意谈论自己生活中对之怀有激情的某一事物，而应围绕应聘岗位的要求来回答这一问题。应聘者可以从以下几方面组织答案：乐于助人、喜爱团队工作、积极迎接挑战、善于学习新事物等，这些都是文秘或助理必备的素质。
参考回答：One of my greatest passions is helping others. When I was younger, I enjoyed helping my mom with household repairs. As I grew older, that habit grew and I desired to help others as well. I like helping people find solutions that meet their specific needs.
5. Do you take work home with you? (考察应聘者对加班的态度)
应答思路：这是一个颇为棘手的问题。应聘者倘若长篇大论地说明自己如何愿意加班，明显不合常理，也显得很虚伪；但应聘者又不能赘述自己不愿加班的理由，否则同样得不到主考官的认同。总之，应聘者针对这一问题说得越多，就越尴尬，言简意赅为妙。
参考回答：When I need to, no problem. I realize the importance of meeting deadlines and getting work done on time.
6. What motivates you to do a good job? (考察应聘者的工作动力)
应答思路：应聘者在回答这一问题时要避免走两个极端：一是自己的工作动力来源过于现实，譬如为了挣钱、谋生、养家等；二是自己的工作动力来源过于高尚，例如说自己非常热爱工作等。比较妥当的回答是介于二者之间，应聘者可着重强调自己的敬业精神等。
参考回答：I’ve always been motivated by the desire to do a good job at whatever position I’m in. I want to excel and to be successful in my job, both for my own personal satisfaction and for my employer.
7. What did you like most about your last secretary/assistant job and what did you enjoy least? (考察应聘者对文秘或助理工作的喜恶)
应答思路：关于对以往文秘或助理工作的喜爱之处，应聘者可以选择谈论与这一岗位的特征相一致的方面，例如可以学到新东西、锻炼团队合作能力等。关于对其的厌恶之处，应聘者不宜抱怨诸如加班过多、工作环境不佳、薪水低等与工作条件或待遇相关的因素。
参考回答：What I enjoyed most about my last assistant job included dealing with diverse people, learning new skills, and meeting daily and weekly goals. All these gave me greatest satisfaction in my last job. About the disadvantages of this job, I would say the job wasn’t challenging enough, and sometimes there was not enough work to keep me busy. That’s why I wanted to leave this job.
关于应聘者的工作技能和经验
1. Are you comfortable using a phone with multiple lines and handling a high volume of telephone calls? (考察应聘者的电话接听能力)
应答思路：应聘者应强调自己擅于电话沟通，并适当描述自己在接听电话时会注意哪些方面，例如说话的语气要让对方感到你很友好、耐心、乐于助人等。
参考回答：Yes, I’m comfortable using multiple phone lines and have done so in the past. I believe that it’s very important to be friendly and hospitable. No matter how busy I am with other work, I always strive to be outgoing, patient, and pleasant. After all, I understand that phone conversations are often the first form of interaction that people have with the company, and these first impressions are very important.
2. What computer skills do you have, and what programs are you comfortable using? (考察应聘者的电脑技能)
应答思路：在回答这一问题时，应聘者可以列举一些常见的应用软件，并说明自己能熟练使用这些软件。如果应聘者还会使用其他软件，尤其是应聘公司使用的专业软件，应着重强调一下。如果应聘者不会使用该专业软件，可以告诉主考官自己善于并勤于学习新事物。
参考回答：I’m familiar with Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. I’m comfortable using all these programs and have had a lot of experience doing so. Also, I’m willing to learn how to use any other types of programs as well. I’m very comfortable with computers, and I’m confident that I would learn any programs very quickly.
3. Tell me about a time that you worked with data, interpreting data and presenting data. (考察应聘者的信息处理能力)
应答思路：信息处理是文秘或助理的主要工作内容，但应聘者如果只说明自己每天都处理哪些信息或资料，就会因回答得不够深入而无法显示出自己的优势。应聘者可以着重谈论自己曾参与过的一个重要项目或任务，并说明自己为此整理过的具体信息或资料，同时强调自己从中获益匪浅。
参考回答：While at the HDC corporation, one of my job assignments was to work with the IT department to prepare the annual meeting pamphlet complete with financial data, graphs and related SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission, 证券交易委员会) requirements. I became proficient at designing graphs that gave an accurate picture of the financial data, as well as editing the legal information into a more readable format.
4. What sort of paperwork were you responsible for generating? (考察应聘者的文书能力)
应答思路：关于这一问题，应聘者首先可以如实说明或列举自己以往所从事过的文书工作，然后再强调自己在撰写任何文书时都会仔细检查，避免因文书出现错误而导致沟通出现障碍。
参考回答：In my last job, I had to write emails everyday and write reports every month. I also wrote up the minutes (记录) which I took at the weekly meeting and sent them to meeting participants. Moreover, I frequently helped to put together proposals for my line manager. When I was doing this writing, I would try to make sure the spelling, grammar and information were all correct, because I knew any mistakes might cause misunderstandings in communication.
5. Describe how you handled your manager’s work schedule. (考察应聘者的日程安排能力)
应答思路：秘书或助理时常需要为上司安排日程。回答这一问题时，应聘者可以强调自己熟知上司的工作日程，会为其做好相应的安排工作；也可以提及自己会使用某种工具或系统来管理上司的日程安排。
参考回答：First, I tried to keep myself informed of my manager’s commitments and activities. Then, I noted them down and prioritized them according to their urgency and importance. After that, I worked with my manager to input them into a planner with a reminder function. Finally, I just needed to remind my manager to do things when they should be done.
6. What experience do you have with planning meetings? (考察应聘者的会议策划能力)
应答思路：应聘者可以参考以下框架并举例来回答这一问题：①开会前，确定会议的目的、议题、与会人员、时间和地点；②会议中，做好会议记录；③会议后，整理会议记录并发送给每位与会者。此外，应聘者还可以强调自己在完成以上环节中的高效性。
参考回答：I once planned a very important sales meeting for HDC. First, I informed all the salespeople at this company that there would be a sales meeting on improving sales performance, and then I found out how many of them would attend the meeting. After that, I sent all the participants an agenda with detailed information such as the venue, times, and agenda items. During this meeting, I took minutes, and I also typed them up and distributed them to the participants after the meeting.
7. Give an example of a time-management skill you’ve learned and applied at work. (考察应聘者的时间管理能力)
应答思路：时间管理是工作高效的重要因素。在回答这一问题时，应聘者可以提及自己所使用的一个具体的时间管理工具，并说明自己如何通过使用这一工具节省了时间和资源。此外，应聘者还可以强调自己工作目标明确、自律性高，不会受到其他事物的干扰。
参考回答：I regularly use a scheduling software, which helps me effectively plan for the day, week, month, or year. It also has a to-do-list feature and an alarm option, which is helpful for meeting deadlines. In general, though, I’m very goal-oriented and self-disciplined. I like to focus clearly on one task at a time, and I won’t be easily interrupted by other things.
8. How do you prioritize your routine tasks and finish them? (考察应聘者分清问题轻重的能力)
应答思路：应聘者在回答这一问题时，可以首先根据工作任务的重要性和紧急性来对其进行排序；排完序后，应制定一个完成这些任务的日程安排；最后，应按时完成这些任务。此外，应聘者还应说明，任务的轻重并非一成不变，有时会因工作情况的变化而重新排序。
参考回答：At the start of each working day, the first thing I will do is make a list of all the tasks to be completed on the day. Then I will prioritize the tasks according to their importance and urgency. After that, I will work out how long the tasks will take to be completed and set realistic targets for myself by determining their deadlines. Sometimes I will have to reshuffle (重新安排) my priorities as situations change.
9. If you know your boss is 100% wrong about something, how will you handle this? (考察应聘者的沟通能力以及与老板相处的能力)
应答思路：文秘或助理工作的特殊性要求他们要善于沟通，能与同事和老板建立良好的人际关系。在回答这个问题时，应聘者可以采取摆事实、讲道理的方法。
参考回答：It depends on the personality of the boss. If he or she is easygoing and likes open communication, I will point out the mistake directly. If he or she is inapproachable or even bad-tempered, I will try other ways to deal with this matter. For example, my present boss does not like to have his authority questioned. He’s fairly new on the job and almost all of the people he supervises have been on the job longer than he has. He’s never bothered to learn the procedures, how things are done or how the computer system works. But if any of us tell him that how he wants something done won’t work, he gets extremely angry. So, I never tell him he’s wrong. Whatever he tells me to do, I smile and say “okay”. Then if I know a way to get it done that will work, I do it that way, give him the results he wants and never tell him I didn’t do it the way he told me to. He gets the results and is happy. I save myself the stress of being yelled at and give him what he wanted, so I’m happy too.
10. How do you handle your work pressure? (考察应聘者的抗压能力)
应答思路：对于这一问题，应聘者应强调自己善于安排计划、管理时间，同时也可以提及自己经常通过参加体育或社交活动等来缓解压力、放松心情，避免自己处于紧张状态中。
参考回答：I handle working under pressure by being super organized, and I prioritize what I need to accomplish. After I finish one task, I cross it off my list. I maintain a to-do list for my work. This has helped me effectively manage pressure on the job. From a personal perspective, I manage stress by visiting the gym once every three days. It’s a great stress reducer.