School admin assistant interview

[Flickerofhope]

I’m going for an interview later on this week, was wondering if any other school administrators are on here? if so what type of questions are asked? I also have to do some sort of a task, any idea what that might entail? TIA

Not an administrator but am a teacher and have interviewed candidates for admin job.

There will definitely be a safeguarding question. Make sure you’re familiar with the school’s action plan for safeguarding concerns and ideally can name the school’s designated safeguarding lead. It should be on their website. It’s usually a simple ‘I would speak to Mrs X and if that wasn’t possible then id speak to Mr Y’.

Not sure about the task but I would guess something to demonstrate that you are good with ict and can use the programs / software that the school uses - or at least learn how to quickly. The person we appointed hadn’t used the main software that we rely on, but she’d prepared for the interview by researching it quite extensively so was aware of its advantages and disadvantages, which impressed us. Perhaps you might be asked to show that you can write a letter to parents about a trip, or put together a weekly newsletter.

Being able to multitask, prioritise and work efficiently under pressure is key to the role. Ideally you’re very well organised but also great with people as you may be first port of call for crying children, angry parents and stressed teachers, especially if it’s a small school and you’re the only administrator.

Good luck. Great job for the right person, rather stressful for the wrong person!

I’m a Finance Manager in a school.

We’d ask a safeguarding question but we’re not looking for details of legislation - just good instincts.

Otherwise it’s like any admin role. Knowledge of database management would be well received as would flexibility: there is often the need to plug gaps in the school admin department.

Schools are sociable places so they’ll be looking for a easygoing personality and if you have some customer facing stuff that will help as you’ll likely have some interaction with parents.

Good luck!!

Dealing with difficult situations/people is quite a likely question.Not sure if it's competency based but it's always good to have an example.

They will probably be looking for someone who is good at juggling lots of different tasks at once and not too bothered by interruptions. Children's needs come first so you have to manage tasks while also being patient with the children coming to the office asking for things. Being a good team player and being flexible is important. You might want to have a little knowledge of the importance of GDPR and also confidentially. Being ok with dealing with first aid and illness is good too. That depends on the role though. Tricky question I was asked was what would I do if I was asked to.
do something I disagreed with. In real life this might be refusing a refund for a school trip or giving a discount for a trip to a parent who says they can't afford it when you think they are fibbing. You might have to deal with rude and demanding parents and people do make unreasonable requests sometimes so the ability to be polite but firm is important.

Task might be drafting a letter and/or an Excel task.

Agree with the safeguarding question and looking for instinctive rather than legislation based answers.
The task might be a an in-tray exercise, where you have a number of issues at the same time and you have to prioritise which you deal with first. They'd be looking for what you can escalate, what you can deal with yourself and how you can get each issue sorted.
Familiarise yourself with the school website before your interview and if they offer you either a virtual or actual school tour, do it! I was always surprised by my previous Head who seemed to make that an unofficial entry condition?!
Good luck!

Task might be drafting a newsletter, then detailing how you would prioritise a list of tasks, proofreading.

Read up on safeguarding/GDPR.

Think of examples of challenging situations you have faced in the past and how you dealt with it.

Think of how you would deal with a challenging parent situation

Look at school website. Always nice to refer to some aspect of the school as will be asked why you applied for that particular job

I was a school secretary. At my interview they asked about safeguarding as in what would you do if you felt a child was in trouble. I was also asked in my last position did I implement any new procedure that made the job easier to do. If you are dealing with parents they want somebody who is polite but firm. The ability to multitask is incredible too. You need to be organised, disciplined but also approachable for both parents, teachers and students. My position was really full on but was really enjoyable too.

Likely questions:
What is your understanding of safeguarding and how you would respond to a safeguarding concern (e.g. witnessing something, parent or child making a disclosure of some sort)
A time you had to multi task or prioritise tasks under time pressure
Equal opportunities question about dealing with discrimination - it’s definitely worth looking up the school’s equal opps policy
Knowledge of appropriate data handling and confidentiality (GDPR)
Knowledge of IT and databases
It sounds obvious but it helps if you like children and will be patient and kind with them, so make sure this comes across!
Good luck.

All of the above, plus the ability to wipe a snotty nose, tie shoe laces and stuck a plaster on a graze.

Obviously the above doesn’t apply to secondary school!

The answers above have already covered it pretty much. You MUST have a good safeguarding answer drilled down. You’ll likely also be asked about how you would deal with an irate parent, your understanding of the role, your skills and strengths (make them relevant). In my experience, the task is usually prioritising a list of jobs along with something that shows you’re competent on a computer, so: here are 8 things happening this morning when you arrive, put them in the order you would deal with them and then type this letter we’ve provided basic details for.

Good luck!

How will you deal with constant interruptions?
What do you picture the role of a school admin assistant to be?
Tell us what relevant experience you have?
In addition to the ones already mentioned.

@MrsDThomas I still have to stick multiple plasters on at Secondary, and at least remind them to attend to their shoelaces and snotty noses

Something you are most proud of

Example of where you could have done something better

Thank you all for your response, you have given me lots of info to look into .