Free skills assessment test for administrative assistant

Overview

Clerical staff and administrative assistants perform a wide range of basic administrative duties. As such, they are employed in many different settings, including hospitals, law offices, school districts, and manufacturing facilities. The Department of Labor indicates the wide variance in clerical duties; less experienced administrative staff often answer phone calls and handle day-to-day tasks while more experienced clerks are tasked with maintaining spreadsheets, taking inventories, and supervising other staff. This, as you might expect, leads to differing pay rates with less experienced administrative assistants earning minimum wage and more experienced hires commanding a higher hourly rate.

Assessments for Clerical (Office)

Regardless of the level of the position, there are some qualities that are universally important for all successful administrative assistants. Flexibility, reliability and cooperativeness are some of the most common personality traits employers seek when looking to hire office staff. Basic skills such as communication, reading comprehension, spelling, grammar, and attention to detail are crucial as well. Depending on the responsibilities, customer service skills, basic computer skills, and comfort with math may also be considered. Employers that use Criteria's tests to evaluate applicants for clerical positions typically use the Criteria Basic Skills Test (CBST), sometimes pairing it with a personality test such as the Employee Personality Profile (EPP).

The minimum educational requirement for clerical positions is typically a high school diploma or GED. Depending on the company's needs, proficiency in computer work or another specialization may be needed. In this case, it may be in the best interests of employers to administer specific computer skills tests that measure proficiencies related to their job responsibilities.

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Source: U.S. Department of Labor

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In the quiz you will be asked the following questions; Good luck!

Administrative Assistant quiz multiple choice questions 

Question 1
A shredder is there to;

A.     Destroy paper documents by cutting them into small pieces.
B.     Staple pieces of paper together.
C.     Fax documents.
D.     Open envelopes.

Question 2
A photocopier is used to;

A.     Take photos the way a camera does.
B.     Screen unwanted phone-calls.
C.     Make paper copies of documents.
D.     Correct spelling and grammar mistakes in documents.

Question 3
In an office, for safety reasons it is important to:

A.     Make sure that the windows are kept open throughout the day.
B.     Say good morning to your colleagues in the morning.
C.     Keep the office temperature at a low level, no matter what the weather.
D.     Keep all emergency exits, stairs and walkways clear of any obstruction.

Question 4
A devise that is connected to a laptop and which prints out information onto paper is called a;

A.     Printer
B.     Scanner
C.     Diary
D.     Switchboard

Question 5
To run an effective filing system you should;

A.     Avoid saving unnecessary documents.
B.     Keep all filing cabinet doors closed at all times.
C.     Drink lots of coffee when filing away paperwork.
D.     Make sure that all cables in the office are hidden and not exposed.

Question 6
Excel is used to create;
A.     Drawings
B.     Presentations
C.     Spreadsheets
D.     Infographics

Question 7
What does faxing a document mean?

A.     Transmitting or receiving a document by a fax machine.
B.     Proofreading a document.
C.     Printing multiple copies of a document.
D.     Throwing a document away.

Question 8
To properly receive, process, file and report all official documents, you should;

A.     Keep a copy of every document the company has ever produced, no matter how trivial it is.
B.     Have an effective Document Management system.
C.     Photocopy all documents and then take one copy home for safekeeping.
D.     Run an effective Diary Management system.

Question 9
What is Microsoft Outlook used for?

A.     To keep a track of office expenses.
B.     It’s part of the diary management system.
C.     Used to assist with company audits.
D.     The management of emails and personal information.

Question 10
One practical way to bring down office expenditure is to;

A.     Keep the office windows open throughout the day.
B.     Send everyone home one hour early from work.
C.     Get staff to send out letters rather than emails.
D.     Turn off unused lights and computers or laptops at the end of the day.

Question 11
To create effective presentations and correspondence you should;

A.     Have good knowledge of Microsoft Office packages like Word & Excel.
B.     Be able to file away paperwork properly.
C.     Be prepared to plagiarise and copy other people’s writing.
D.     Know how to add and subtract.

Question 12
Screening calls is a way of;

A.     Finding out the number of the person calling you.
B.     Identifying unwanted sales or nuisance phone calls.
C.     Getting vital information and statistics from callers.
D.     Giving callers the information they are looking for.

Question 13
Diary management helps you to:

A.     Book hotels for the company.
B.     Complying with all legal, regulatory and best practice guidelines.
C.     Participate in meetings.
D.     Keep track of appointments and events.

Question 14
What does touch-typing mean?

A.     Typing using all of your fingers and without looking at the keys.
B.     Using your typing skills to quickly find and obtain information.
C.     Communicating clearly with work colleagues using emails.
D.     Being able to handle large amounts of paperwork and data.

Question 15
Good online password protection for computers will help to protect your company from:

A.     People trying to physically break into your office.
B.     Online hacking and corporate sabotage, both from inside the company and out.
C.     Unnecessary office expenditure.
D.     Computers and associated IT equipment malfunctioning.

Question 16
In an office, which of the following is it most important to know the location of;

A.     Coffee and snack vending machines.
B.     Bathroom and locker-rooms.
C.     Emergency exits, first-aid kits and fire extinguishers.
D.     Where the office stationary supplies are kept.

TRUE OR FALSE QUESTIONS

Question 17
Filing cabinets should be loaded from the bottom up to maintain stability.
True or false

Question 18
Shorthand is a method of rapid writing by means of abbreviations and symbols.
True or false

Question 19
To save money office equipment should be left ON when not in use and outside of normal working hours.
True or false

Question 20
Colour coding files and categories of paperwork is commonly used to organise filing systems.
True or false

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