, and he would invite many executives from those cities and spend a lot of time on the phone. I would also make copies of things, and do some filing. He didn't have a good filing system when he started so I fixed that.

Great Answer:

In my last position, my title was Executive Administrative Assistant, and I worked directly for the Executive Director of PlanetCo Inc. The company had about $150 million in sales, and 500 employees around the country.

These days many jobs are pretty compartmentalized. The bigger companies get, the more jobs that involve handling minute details of the business. Unfortunately in some cases it can be difficult to explain those daily duties in an interview and help the interviewer understand what skills you use every day.

The best approach is to be as direct and simple as possible. When they ask you about your current position, start by telling them about your basic responsibilities. Then tell them who your “clients” are. Who do you service in the company? Whose questions do you answer? Are all of your clients external customers, or are you responsible for working with other departments in the company?

Then branch out into describing what a typical request would be. And BE SPECIFIC. Remember, the interviewer is coming from a completely different company where things are done completely differently. They're trying to figure out what you get paid to do on a daily basis, and if it in any way relates to the stuff that they're going to ask you to do. If you can't use the actual names of clients or companies or products, then tell them names like Company X, or a project involving researching/finding/buying/selling widgets. Paint a detailed picture of what you do, almost to the point where you're describing to them how to do it.

Here's an example of an OK answer, and then a Great answer.

In my last position, I was responsible for assisting the executive director. He was only in the office a few days a week, so I spent a lot of time on the phone with him. I would make plane reservations, handle the catering for some in-house meetings, and schedule appointments. He was busy, so I had a lot of things to do all the time. I like being busy. Sometimes the meetings were in different cities around the country, and he would invite many executives from those cities and spend a lot of time on the phone. I would also make copies of things, and do some filing. He didn't have a good filing system when he started so I fixed that.

Great Answer:

In my last position, my title was Executive Administrative Assistant, and I worked directly for the Executive Director of PlanetCo Inc. The company had about $150 million in sales, and 500 employees around the country.

onsibilities. Then tell them who your “clients” are. Who do you service in the company? Whose questions do you answer? Are all of your clients external customers, or are you responsible for working with other departments in the company?

Then branch out into describing what a typical request would be. And BE SPECIFIC. Remember, the interviewer is coming from a completely different company where things are done completely differently. They're trying to figure out what you get paid to do on a daily basis, and if it in any way relates to the stuff that they're going to ask you to do. If you can't use the actual names of clients or companies or products, then tell them names like Company X, or a project involving researching/finding/buying/selling widgets. Paint a detailed picture of what you do, almost to the point where you're describing to them how to do it.

Here's an example of an OK answer, and then a Great answer.

In my last position, I was responsible for assisting the executive director. He was only in the office a few days a week, so I spent a lot of time on the phone with him. I would make plane reservations, handle the catering for some in-house meetings, and schedule appointments. He was busy, so I had a lot of things to do all the time. I like being busy. Sometimes the meetings were in different cities around the country, and he would invite many executives from those cities and spend a lot of time on the phone. I would also make copies of things, and do some filing. He didn't have a good filing system when he started so I fixed that.

Great Answer:

In my last position, my title was Executive Administrative Assistant, and I worked directly for the Executive Director of PlanetCo Inc. The company had about $150 million in sales, and 500 employees around the country.

They're trying to figure out what you get paid to do on a daily basis, and if it in any way relates to the stuff that they're going to ask you to do. If you can't use the actual names of clients or companies or products, then tell them names like Company X, or a project involving researching/finding/buying/selling widgets. Paint a detailed picture of what you do, almost to the point where you're describing to them how to do it.

Here's an example of an OK answer, and then a Great answer.

In my last position, I was responsible for assisting the executive director. He was only in the office a few days a week, so I spent a lot of time on the phone with him. I would make plane reservations, handle the catering for some in-house meetings, and schedule appointments. He was busy, so I had a lot of things to do all the time. I like being busy. Sometimes the meetings were in different cities around the country, and he would invite many executives from those cities and spend a lot of time on the phone. I would also make copies of things, and do some filing. He didn't have a good filing system when he started so I fixed that.

Great Answer:

In my last position, my title was Executive Administrative Assistant, and I worked directly for the Executive Director of PlanetCo Inc. The company had about $150 million in sales, and 500 employees around the country.

answer, and then a Great answer.

In my last position, I was responsible for assisting the executive director. He was only in the office a few days a week, so I spent a lot of time on the phone with him. I would make plane reservations, handle the catering for some in-house meetings, and schedule appointments. He was busy, so I had a lot of things to do all the time. I like being busy. Sometimes the meetings were in different cities around the country, and he would invite many executives from those cities and spend a lot of time on the phone. I would also make copies of things, and do some filing. He didn't have a good filing system when he started so I fixed that.

Great Answer:

In my last position, my title was Executive Administrative Assistant, and I worked directly for the Executive Director of PlanetCo Inc. The company had about $150 million in sales, and 500 employees around the country.

, and he would invite many executives from those cities and spend a lot of time on the phone. I would also make copies of things, and do some filing. He didn't have a good filing system when he started so I fixed that.

Great Answer:

In my last position, my title was Executive Administrative Assistant, and I worked directly for the Executive Director of PlanetCo Inc. The company had about $150 million in sales, and 500 employees around the country. As I'm sure you can imagine with a company that size, the executive director is very busy with meetings and travel to the various sites. I would book all of his travel arrangements, many times I stayed late to make sure to book him on the correct flight in the morning. I was also responsible for booking the meeting space in each city, handling the catering, and if they were planning to meet with any clients in the evening, it was up to me to make dinner reservations at a great restaurant, as well as secure tickets to the hottest act in town for them and their wives. It was stressful at times, but I learned to chat up the receptionist and other admins in the other locations for help in knowing who to call, and where to send them for dinner. I liked being resourceful and the challenge of keeping up with the executive director's requests. I was also responsible for getting the Annual Meeting report produced—everything from sending his edits to the designer, to taking the file to the copy center and answering their questions about how it should be bound. I knew nothing about doing that when I started, but luckily the company we use for our printing was very friendly and taught me a lot. Their filing system was pretty inefficient when I started. All projects were filed alphabetically, so I suggested we change the system to file it by department first, then alphabetically, and that worked better for everyone.

Notice how much detail is in the second example. I quickly talk about the size of the company, to give the interviewer some perspective about the scope of the job. Leaving out that detail could leave the interviewer thinking that the company only had a few people, vs. their company where there's hundreds. They may not think that you can handle the responsibility. I then go on to de