Office administration is a key business function that manages the day-to-day functions of the organization. From handling customer calls to managing the schedule of the CEO and everything in between – office administrators perform a myriad of duties. Hiring for office administrators should be performed after screening several profiles on a number of conditions to onboard the perfect fit. Administrative assessment tests can help in quick and effective hiring for office administrator roles.

Importance of the Admin Function

The administration function in a business is concerned with setting up business objectives and important policies in an organization. Office administration is a determinative function that makes important decisions in an enterprise.

Some of the main admin functions are:

• Providing customer service: The needs of both internal and external customers need to be handled by the office administrators. Maintaining strong public relations is also the work of the
• Preparing and administering policies and procedures: Written policies and procedures are needed for efficient and effective services within the organization. Ensuring compliance with Government policies and regulations is also part of the office admin.
• Preparing or assisting in the preparation of the organization’s budget: Office admin helps in the preparation of the office budget.
• Office management: Planning, organizing, and controlling office management processes is the responsibility of the admin department.
• Acquiring office stationery: Ensuring the availability of office forms and stationery is the function of the office admin. Managing the inventory and ensuring the quality of office stationery purchased and optimal distribution to various departments is part of the admin function.
• Operation of office systems and procedures: Ensuring the economical execution of office operations by planning office systems and procedures is an important part of office admin
• Staffing: Selection, training, placement, and remuneration of personnel are part of the staffing function. Office admin is responsible for the efficient performance of the staffing function.

The importance of the admin function is evident from the responsibilities that they fulfill for a business. Office administrators play a crucial role in ensuring that all the office admin functions are coordinated in order to achieve high levels of productivity within the company.

Roles in Office Administration

Office administration plays an important role in handling internal and external customers. The day-to-day operations are managed by personnel working in these office admin roles.

Office Administrator:

Office admin is responsible for general admin tasks within an office environment. They play a crucial role in coordinating office admin functions to ensure high productivity within the organizations. Carrying out clerical duties, coordinating and managing appointments, welcoming visitors and directing them to appropriate office personnel, maintaining and managing office files, etc. are some of the duties of an office administrator.

Office admin managers:

They are responsible for keeping an office up and running and overseeing administrative support. Some of the responsibilities of office managers include copy editing and support, front desk reception, handling specific paperwork, and overseeing general office operations.

Office Coordinator:

Also known as the office supervisor, the office coordinator ensures that admin tasks are completed on time and employees are supported with required documentation and supplies. Filing the documentation related to employees and projects, receiving and sending emails, greeting clients and visitors, and attending phone calls to provide requested information are some of the duties of an office coordinator.

Key Skills for Office Admin

Office admin personnel need to have specific skills to manage their duties and responsibilities.

Here are some of the key skills that office administrators need to have:

1. Organizational skills: Office administrators need to have strong organizational skills that help them link and organize data points in a logical manner. In order to manage several operations throughout the day, office admin personnel need to have good organizational skills.

2. Communication skills: Office admins play a customer-facing role and act as the bridge between the customers and the management. They need to have strong verbal and written communication skills in order to perform their role well.

3. Time management skills: Office admins need to prioritize their work well and have good time management skills. The ability to manage time when confronted with the unknown is important for office administration assistants.

4. Software usage skills: Office administrators need to have good knowledge of using computer software like Google Sheets, Microsoft Calendar, Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, etc.

Need for Administrative Skill Test

An administrative skill test enables HR to sift through hundreds of profiles to narrow down on the perfect fit. The office assistant skills Assessment test is a pre-employment test designed for evaluating the essential skills of office administrators. In addition to job-related skills, the office administrator assessment test helps evaluate personality traits and cognitive abilities.

Here is why administrative assistant skills tests are needed for an efficient and quick screening process:

• Comprehensive candidate evaluation:
  pre-employment tests cover a wide range of skills that need to be evaluated to find the right fit for the role
• Standardized assessments:
  pre-employment tests are objective tests that are free from human bias. The use of pre-employment skill assessment tests standardizes the evaluation process.
• Speedy evaluation:
  pre-employment testing software enables quick screening and instant availability of test results for the HR team.
• Easy test administration:
  pre-employment tests can be sent through email to the candidates. Candidates can take the test easily from any convenient place and time.

The goal of the pre-employment assessment is to determine if the candidate is capable of performing well in the role and is a good fit to the company’s culture. Pre-employment assessment tests like the ones provided by SkillRobo can be customized as per the role and skill that the candidate is being hired for. Office manager skills assessment tests are meant to evaluate the essential skills for the role of an office manager.

Types of Office Admin Tests

The skill library in SkillRobo is loaded with skill evaluations for various roles across industries. The hiring team can choose skill evaluations according to the skill requirements of any role. Specific skill requirements are there for every role, all these skills need to be evaluated so that the perfect candidate is hired.

For example, a software developer needs to have communication skills, team spirit, and analytical skills apart from basic coding skills. Conventional evaluation methods like writing tests or personal interviews fail to provide a comprehensive evaluation. In fact, traditional assessments are not an objective way to evaluate prospective hires.

Pre-employment assessment tools eliminate the bias and slackness of traditional assessments. SkillRobo provides role-based skill evaluations for office admin roles like admin assistant, front office assistant, office admin manager, and front desk assistant.

• Office administrator skill assessment – the office administrator assessment test includes communication skill assessments, multitasking ability, psychological skills, and organizational skills of candidates.
• Administrative assistant skills assessment – the administrative assistant skills test or the administrative assistant pre-employment test from SkillRobo includes logical and verbal reasoning evaluations, basic computer skill evaluations, and soft skill assessments like business etiquette assessment and courtesy assessment.
• Front desk skills assessment – the front desk skills assessment test or the front office assessment test from SkillRobo includes verbal and logical reasoning skills assessment, attention to detail capabilities, and basic computer skills of prospective hires.
• Admin manager skill assessment – the office manager skills assessment test from SkillRobo evaluates the ability of the candidate to manage a team, organizational ability, basic computer skills, communication skills, and cognitive abilities. This assessment is also referred to as the administration officer skills assessment test.

Thus, SkillRobo provides completely customizable tests for each role in the office admin function.

Advantages of using Administrative Assessment Test

There are several advantages of using administrative assessment tests for hiring admin office assistants. Administrative skills assessment tests from SkillRobo are designed to cover all the essential skills required for office admin roles. These tests have been created by subject matter experts to include key skills like organizational capabilities, communication skills, basic computer skills, and time management skills. As mentioned in the above section, office admin plays a crucial role in the day-to-day operations of the organization.

There are several advantages of using administrative skills assessment tests. From saving time to comprehensive candidate evaluation to fraud prevention – administrative skill tests are highly useful in the hiring process.

Online administrative skills assessment tests simplify the hiring process by including a comprehensive skill library for evaluating a variety of skills based on the role. From the office assistant skills assessment test to the admin manager skill assessment, all the admin roles are covered in SkillRobo.

Some of the Main Advantages of Administrative Assessment Tests are:

Hiring at scale

Pre-employment assessments are capable of large-scale hiring. A number of candidate profiles can be screened within a short time duration. These tools are extremely useful in campus hiring where a number of students (candidates) need to be screened quickly and effectively. Hiring for important office admin positions too can be effectively done via these tests.

Effective branding

The use of administrative skills assessment tests builds a positive brand image of the organization. The prospective hire connects better with the company via these assessments. Using engaging and interactive test content generates interest in the candidate and keeps them engaged throughout the test.

Instant reports and analytics

The hiring team need not wait to get the results of the test performance when using pre-employment skill assessment software. As soon as the candidate completes the test, the software provides section-wise performance reports to the hiring team immediately. Based on these reports, the hiring team can make easy comparisons between candidates and choose the one with the highest score. Data-driven decisions can be taken based on the performance reports.

Remote proctoring

Online pre-employment skill assessments are equipped with fraud and cheating prevention features. More often than not, candidates and hiring teams are located at different geographical locations. Pre-employment assessments that are administered to candidates via online links are conducted in a secure browser environment. In such test environments, the online activities of the candidates are monitored every second. This prevents the candidate from indulging in any fraud or cheating during the exam.

Easy customization

The skill requirements for roles vary in every organization. Online pre-employment tools like SkillRobo enable complete customization of skill tests. The hiring team can make their own skill test by choosing the skills specific to the role for which they are hiring candidates. Evaluating non-technical skills like logical and analytical reasoning and cognitive ability etc is as important as job-related skill evaluation. Creating custom tests that include a good mix of all the essential skills for that role ensures comprehensive candidate evaluation.

Enterprise integration 

New-age pre-employment skill assessment tools like SkillRobo enable seamless integration with enterprise HR tools. This feature enables the hiring team to upload the test scores to the HR evaluation system for quick shortlisting of candidates.

Cost and time saving

Using pre-employment assessments saves the hiring team significant effort and time that is usually spent on screening hundreds of candidate profiles. These tools can be administered to several candidates at the same time via email. Similarly, the test results can be gauged by the hiring team from a single location. The cost of logistics involved in setting up an evaluation center and the time spent in distributing test papers among candidates is reduced drastically by using pre-employment assessments.

Employee Evaluation

Apart from being used to evaluate prospective hires, skill assessments can be used to evaluate the skill level of existing employees as well. Relevant skill evaluations may be given to employees to evaluate their skill level. Their performance can be compared to the industry standard to identify the skill gaps. Appropriate training can be provided to candidates to bridge this gap.

There are several ways in which pre-employment assessment tools can be used by the HR team. Investing in a robust pre-employment assessment tool like SkillRobo improves the efficiency of recruitment.

Conclusion

Administration officer skills assessment tests are effective skill evaluation tools for narrowing down on candidates that are a good fit for the role. SkillRobo provides fully-customizable pre-employment tests that can evaluate a variety of skills across industries. The customizable skill library offers over 50 skill tests that the hiring team can choose from.

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