What kind of questions to ask on a personal assistant interview?

Question

Hi! I'm going on an interview tomorrow (yeaa!) and it's for a personal assistant job...something of which I never really thought of doing however the person who I'd be assisting is in career fields which really interest me. I'm pretty nervous and it seems like this interview will be much more different than the normal "stock...tell me about yourself" type interview. Do you have any questions you recommend I should ask? What should I expect? Thanks so much!!!

Answer 1

I did this working out of my home.  Really was a fun, easy, interesting job but my boss simply didn't put his financial obligation to me as a priority.  

Here are a few questions:

1) Has this company/CEO/hiring person ever declared bankruptcy or been involved in similar?  (This will give you a small picture of their personal fiscal responsibility.)

2) Expectations of the hours expected of you. In an interview, they will always lowball this - would you be willing to give more than they say?

3) Benefits - very important, especially if you're the only employee.  Paid vacations, sick leave are just starters.

4) Payment schedule - you want to see a committment to your paycheck.  Will they be filing taxes on your employement?  You'll need to do a 1041 - without it, you're on the hook for all the taxes on your income.

5) What skilled tasks will you be performing?  Any opportunity to improve your skills - benefit for yourself?

Like I said, this can be fun.  But don't go into anything that is "gray", fuzzy math or otherwise unclear about the expectations of your time committment, duties or performance standards....

Answer 2

Perhaps if or when they ask if you have any questions, you can ask about how long he or she has been in the field, how he or she sees you fitting in with the staff :)  

Questions that the interviewer may ask includes 'what are your strengths and weaknesses' (weaknesses question is a trick and one should never say anything negative about oneself -- or a past employer), 'how did you handle a conflict with a previous coworker', 'do you work better independently or in a group, as part of a team' (they're usually looking for someone who can handle both scenarios ;)  'Describe yourself in three words.'  

It's best not to bring up the subject of salary until the very end of the interview unless the interviewer speaks of it sooner.  Most suggest to say that 'salary is negotiable' as to not overbid or underbid.