Questions to Ask in an Office Manager Interview
For candidates interviewing for an office manager job, to put to the owner or the hiring manager. The title covers a different job at every company, so the list starts with what the role really holds, then goes through people and authority, money and vendors, the state of the office you would inherit, hours and pay, and a few to close on. Each question has a note on what a good or a worrying answer sounds like and what to do with it.
Want questions from the whole vault instead? Try the random question generator.
The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
The role
Which of these fall to the office manager here: facilities, vendors, HR, bookkeeping, IT?
Why ask it
No two companies mean the same thing by office manager, and running through the five areas by name is the quickest way to hear this company's version. A useful reply gives a yes, a no or a 'shared with' for each one. Five plain yeses with nobody else named is your cue to find out which one they most need done well.
What does a normal week look like for the office manager, and what only comes around once a month or once a year?
Why ask it
The weekly part is usually easy to describe: mail, supplies, the front desk, invoices. The monthly and yearly jobs, such as closing the books, an insurance renewal or the holiday party, are the ones that catch a new office manager off guard. Find out which of them comes due first after your start date.
Why is the office manager job open right now?
Why ask it
The reason sets your first month. A promotion leaves someone down the hall who knows where everything is, a departure may leave nobody, and a brand-new role means the owner or a partner has been ordering the supplies and paying the bills. In that last case, ask how ready they are to let go of it.
What did the last office manager find hardest about the job?
Why ask it
A straight answer names something concrete: chasing receipts from the partners, a landlord who never calls back, being interrupted all day. Be wary of 'nothing really', or of an answer that is only about the person's faults. Whatever they name, ask whether it has changed since.
Who would I report to, and who else can hand me work?
Why ask it
In an office job anyone can walk up to your desk with a request, so the second half matters more than the first. One named boss and a rule for when two requests collide is the answer to hope for. With 'everyone, really' you would be ranking the requests yourself and answering for the ones that waited.
What would you point to as proof that the office is being run well?
Why ask it
Office work is noticed mostly when it fails, so a measure agreed in advance protects you. Good answers can be counted or seen: bills paid on time, new hires ready on day one, no surprises reaching the owner. 'Things just run smoothly' is not a measure, so follow it with a request for the last time they did not.
What should be off your desk and on mine by the end of the first three months?
Why ask it
Put this to whoever has been carrying the work, because they know exactly what they want to hand off. A list of real tasks, such as vendor calls or expense reports, is a ready-made plan for your first quarter. Someone who struggles to name anything may find it hard to let go, and the handover will be slower than the posting suggests.
How much of the day is spent at the front desk with phones, visitors and deliveries?
Why ask it
Desk coverage decides what else is possible, since invoices and vendor calls are hard to do between interruptions. When it is most of the day, the next thing to learn is who sits there while you are at the bank, in a meeting or at lunch.
Would I be supporting anyone personally, such as keeping the owner's calendar or booking their travel?
Why ask it
Plenty of office manager jobs have an assistant's job folded inside them. That can suit you, but the owner's requests will jump the line, so ask for a rough number of hours a week. Past a handful, something else on the list has to shrink or wait, and it is fair to say so now.
Is any of the role client-facing, such as handling billing questions or complaints?
Why ask it
In a practice that serves the public, such as a dental or law office, an unhappy client is often sent to the office manager. Find out how often that happens and what you would be allowed to offer them. Being the face of a decision you cannot change is a hard seat.
Which jobs does nobody own at the moment that you expect this role to pick up?
Why ask it
Most offices have a pile like this: the copier contract, the expired first aid kit, the laptop for next month's hire. A candid list is a good sign, because it means someone has noticed. 'Whatever comes up' means the job has no edges, and you would be drawing them yourself.
Who plans team lunches, celebrations and the holiday party, and is there money set aside for them?
Why ask it
Events tend to land on the office manager without anyone saying so. Some people enjoy them and some find them a chore, and they usually run outside normal hours. When the answer is you, last year's count and what each one cost show the real size of it.
How would you describe the culture in the office, and how much of it is the office manager's to look after?
Why ask it
The person who orders the lunches, seats the new hire and enforces the kitchen rules shapes how the place feels more than the title suggests. Listen for whether they want that looked after or simply want the office kept quiet and stocked. Both are real jobs, and they suit different people.
Which HR tasks come with the role: onboarding paperwork, tracking time off, benefits questions, personnel files?
Why ask it
Paperwork and record keeping are administration, and most office managers can pick them up. Advising on discipline, complaints or a firing is another matter, and the rules for those depend on where the business is. Ask who gives that advice here, whether an outside HR firm, a lawyer or the owner.
If an employee came to me with a complaint about a coworker or a manager, where would it go next?
Why ask it
Staff often bring these to the office manager first, simply because the desk is nearby and the person is trusted. You want to hear a named next step and a person who takes it from you. A shrug leaves you holding other people's problems with nowhere to pass them.
When I have to hold someone senior to an office rule, who backs me up?
Why ask it
Expense receipts, the shared kitchen, parking spaces: the office manager enforces rules on people who outrank them. Ask for the last time it came up. An owner who says 'send them to me' and can recall doing it is worth more than one who says everyone here is easygoing.
Which decisions about how the office runs would be mine to make without asking?
Why ask it
Push for examples at the right size: switching the coffee supplier, rearranging the seating, changing the cleaning schedule. If each of those needs the owner's approval, the job is closer to an assistant's than a manager's, whatever it is called.
How much confidential information would I see, such as salaries, contracts or personnel records?
Why ask it
With bookkeeping or HR in the role you would likely know what everyone earns, and your coworkers would know that you know. Follow with where those records are kept and who else can open them, since that is your protection if something leaks.
How often would you and I sit down together, and what do you want brought to you in between?
Why ask it
An office manager can go weeks without a real conversation with the boss, because a quiet office looks like nothing happening. A standing half hour gives you somewhere to raise the lease, the budget and the slow problems. The second half of the question gets you the short list of things they want to hear about the same day.
Money and vendors
Is there an office budget, and would I see the whole thing or only spend against it?
Why ask it
A larger company usually has a yearly figure broken out by line, while a small one may have no budget at all, only an owner who approves each purchase. Both can work. Where there is no figure, ask what the office spent on supplies and services last year so you have something to measure against.
Up to what amount could I buy or approve something without your sign-off?
Why ask it
The answer should be a number. Without one you will be asking permission for printer toner, and with one you can settle most small problems the day they appear. Check whether the limit applies per purchase or per month.
Would I have a company card, or would I pay out of pocket and get reimbursed?
Why ask it
Covering office costs from your own account is easy to overlook until the first big order. Where that is the system, the two facts to leave with are how fast the money comes back and how large the biggest reimbursement has been.
How much bookkeeping is in the job: entering invoices, paying bills, sending out invoices, reconciling accounts?
Why ask it
Each step along that list asks for more skill and carries more risk. Coding and entering invoices is clerical work, while reconciling the accounts is a bookkeeper's. Say plainly which of them you have done, and ask what software they use and whether an outside accountant closes the books.
Would I have any part in payroll, and what happens when it is late or wrong?
Why ask it
Payroll has hard deadlines and everyone notices a mistake. If it is yours, ask who ran it last month, which service or software does the calculating, and who you would call with a question. Payroll rules differ by place, so the backup matters more than your memory.
When money leaves the business, who approves it and who reviews what I have entered?
Why ask it
A second pair of eyes protects you as much as it protects the company. If one person enters the bills, pays them and reconciles the account, any discrepancy points at that person. An owner who approves payments and an accountant who looks monthly is a healthy setup.
Which vendors and contracts would I manage, and when do the big ones come up for renewal?
Why ask it
Expect cleaning, the copier, internet, phones, coffee, shredding and perhaps security. The real test is whether a list with dates exists. Without one, building it is your first project, starting with whichever contract nobody has looked at in years.
Am I free to replace a vendor that is not working out, or are some of them here to stay?
Why ask it
Some suppliers are tied to the building, and some are the owner's long-standing choice. Knowing which are off the table saves you from spending your first month on a recommendation that was never going to be accepted.
Who deals with the landlord or building management, and how long does the lease have to run?
Why ask it
Day to day this is about repairs, heating and access cards. The lease date matters for a bigger reason: if it ends within a couple of years, a renewal or an office move may fall to you, and a move is about the largest project this job gets. Ask whether one is being discussed.
The office now
What is the first thing about the office you would want fixed?
Why ask it
This is your mandate in one sentence. It may be small, such as the supply closet, or large, such as years of unfiled records. When nothing comes to mind, try 'what do people complain about?', because the staff usually have a list even when the owner does not.
How many people work out of the office, and how do you expect that number to change?
Why ask it
Twelve people and sixty people are different jobs under one title. Growth means more desks, more onboarding and sooner or later a question about space, so ask whether the current office has room for the hires they are planning.
How many days a week are people in, and does the office manager need to be here every day?
Why ask it
Hybrid schedules change the job: fewer lunches to order, more desks to assign, a quiet office on Fridays. The office manager can be the one person expected on site daily while others work from home. Hear that now, and decide whether it suits you.
Would I overlap with the person who is leaving, and what have they written down?
Why ask it
Even three days alongside the outgoing office manager saves weeks of guessing. If they have already gone, ask whether they can be called, and whether a binder, a shared folder or a checklist exists. Where there is none, offer to write the manual yourself: it is useful work that people can see.
Where are the keys, alarm codes, passwords and vendor logins kept, and who holds them today?
Why ask it
If they left with the last office manager or live in one person's head, your first month is a recovery job. A shared password manager and a record of who holds which key are good signs. The answer also shows who would be locked out if you were away.
Who handles IT when a laptop dies or the Wi-Fi goes down?
Why ask it
An outside IT provider, with you as the contact who calls them, is a job most office managers can do. 'You would figure it out' makes you the IT department. Ask what happened the last time something broke and how long the office was down.
Which software runs the office: accounting, payroll, scheduling, the phone system?
Why ask it
Named tools tell you what to brush up on before you start. A spreadsheet and a filing cabinet tell you something too, so ask whether they would welcome a change or prefer things as they are. Either answer is fine as long as it matches what you want from the job.
How does a new hire get set up now, from desk and laptop to keys and accounts?
Why ask it
First days are where an office manager's work is seen by everyone, so a checklist you can look at is worth asking for. A last hire who spent the morning without a login is an early win waiting for you. The other end matters too: who collects the keys and closes the accounts when someone leaves.
Who looks after safety in the office: the first aid kit, fire drills, the evacuation plan?
Why ask it
What an office has to do on safety varies with the place and the building, so ask what applies to this one and who has been doing it. A long pause is the worrying answer. Should it become yours, training ought to come with it, and that is reasonable to request.
Hours and pay
What are the hours, and does the office manager open up or lock up?
Why ask it
Holding the keys fixes your day at one end or both. Ask who else can open the office, and what happens on a morning when you are sick or your train is late.
Would I be the person called if the alarm goes off or a pipe bursts overnight or on a weekend?
Why ask it
Somebody is on that call list, and it is often the office manager. Ask how many times it happened in the past year and whether that time is paid or given back as time off. Employers handle call-outs differently, so get this one's practice in plain words.
Is the pay hourly or a salary, and what happens when an event or a deadline runs into the evening?
Why ask it
How extra hours are treated depends on where you work and how the job is classified, so ask what this employer does: pays them, gives the time back, or expects them. Ask it with the holiday party and month-end in mind, since those are where the late nights tend to come from.
What is the pay range for the role, and what would put someone at the top of it?
Why ask it
Office manager pay spreads widely because the job does. If the interview has shown that bookkeeping, HR or payroll are part of it, say so here and ask whether the range was set with that in mind. This sits best in a later round, or whenever they raise money first.
What happened to the office the last time the office manager took a week off?
Why ask it
A story tells you more than a policy. If the mail piled up and bills waited, there is no coverage and your vacations will come with a backlog. A good answer names the person who stepped in and what they were able to do.
When is pay reviewed, and what would a raise depend on?
Why ask it
In a small office a review may happen only when someone asks for one. Getting a month named now is easier than raising it cold a year in. If the job is likely to widen, for instance by taking on the books, ask whether pay is looked at again when it does.
Would you pay for training, such as a bookkeeping course or an HR certificate?
Why ask it
Nobody arrives trained in every field this job touches. A yes with an example shows they see the role as skilled work. Ask which course they would most like you to take, and you learn which part of the job they value.
How has the job grown for office managers who stayed, or where did they go next?
Why ask it
A small firm may have no rung above this one, and growth there means the job widening toward operations, with the title and pay following. Ask whether that has happened to anyone. For someone who wants a steady job that stays the same size, a flat answer is not bad news.
To close
Of everything this role covers, what matters most to you personally?
Why ask it
Every owner or manager has one thing: the books being right, clients greeted well, never hearing about the printer again. It is what you would be judged on whatever the full list says. Build your first month around it.
Is there any part of the job you are unsure I could handle?
Why ask it
With a role this wide the doubt is usually about one field, such as payroll you have not run or contracts you have not negotiated. Answer with the nearest thing you have done and how you would close the gap. Keep it short and do not argue the point.
Could I see the office and where I would sit before I decide?
Why ask it
A walk around shows what answers cannot: the state of the supply closet, how exposed the front desk is, whether your seat is in a corridor. If the desk faces the door, stand there for a minute and count the interruptions.
What happens next, and when do you need someone to start?
Why ask it
A rushed start date usually means the seat is already empty and work has been piling up, so ask what would be waiting on day one. Leave knowing who else has a say in the hire and roughly when you will hear.
How to use these questions in an office manager interview
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the interview
Mark up the posting first
Go through the job posting and sort every duty under facilities, vendors, HR, bookkeeping, IT or reception. The fields with nothing under them are the ones to ask about, and a line such as 'other duties as assigned' is the reason the group called The role exists.
Find out who you are meeting
In a small company the interviewer is often the owner, who can answer everything here. In a larger one it may be an operations or HR lead, or a recruiter who knows the pay range and little about the supply closet. Keep the questions on budget, signing limits and backing for the person you would report to.
Pick by the size of the office
For a practice of a dozen people, the questions about bookkeeping, payroll and the owner's own calendar matter most, because one person usually carries all of it. For an office of sixty with a receptionist, lean on direct reports, vendor contracts and the budget. Choose the questions that fit the office you are walking into.
Bring five, in order
Most interviews leave only a few minutes for your questions. A workable five: which of the five areas are yours, who you would report to, the spending limit, the first thing they want fixed, and what matters most to them. Lead with whichever answer could change your mind about the job.
In the room
Scope first, pay last
The groups run in the order the conversation usually goes: what the job holds, who you answer to and what you can decide, the money, the state of the office, then hours and pay. Asking about pay after scope also helps you, because by then both of you know how large the job is.
Get the story behind the policy
A question about who handles IT gets the arrangement on paper. Asking what happened the last time the Wi-Fi went down gets the name of whoever fixed it and how long the office waited. Payroll, lock-up, complaints and vacation coverage can all be asked the same way.
Ask to see things
An office manager's work is physical as well as administrative, so a good deal of it can be shown. Ask to see the front desk, the supply area, the vendor list or the onboarding checklist. What you are shown, and how readily, answers several questions at once.
Say what you have done as you ask
A question lands better with a line of your own experience in front of it: 'I have entered and paid invoices but not reconciled accounts. How much of each is in this role?' It shows where you are strong, and it gives the interviewer a reason to answer precisely.
Reading the answers
Count the yeses
If facilities, vendors, HR, bookkeeping and IT all belong to the role and nobody outside the company helps with any of them, you are looking at two or three jobs under one title. That can still be a good job. Weigh it against the pay range and the hours before you decide.
Authority should match the list
A long list of duties with no budget, no signing limit and no decision that is yours means asking permission all day. A shorter list with a spending limit and a boss who backs you is usually the easier job to do well.
Listen for who stands behind you
Good answers keep naming other people: the accountant who closes the books, the IT provider, the HR advisor, the owner who deals with the landlord. Each name is someone to call when a question goes past what you know.
Vague can be honest in a first-ever role
When a company has never had an office manager, the owner may not know yet where the edges of the job are. That is different from dodging. What matters then is whether they would let you define the role, and whether they will agree to look at it again after three months.
Mistakes to avoid
Assuming the title means what it meant last time
At one company an office manager runs reception and supplies. At another the same title keeps the books, runs payroll and handles HR. Ask about each field even if you have held the title for years.
Treating local rules as settled
How overtime, payroll, personnel records and workplace safety are handled depends on the country, the state and the employer. Ask how each one works at this company, and check anything that matters to you before you accept.
Skipping the unglamorous questions
Keys, passwords, lock-up and who gets the call at night feel too small for an interview. They decide what your evenings and your first month look like, so ask at least one of them.
Leaving without the one thing they care about
An owner who wants the books right and an owner who wants the front desk warm are offering different jobs. If you go home without knowing which matters most to this one, you have a list of duties and no way to rank them.