Executive Coordinator Interview

Question 1

Cabinet Decision Item (CDI)

Answer 1

Cabinet Decision Items (also called CDI’s) are cabinet documents. They are both an advocacy document and a decision-making instrument used by a minister, or ministers, to recommend and justify a certain course of action and to secure a cabinet decision.

Question 2

Order in Council

Answer 2

An Order In Council is a directive issued by the Lieutenant Governor on the advice of Cabinet authorizing certain actions, such as:

• implementing a policy decision;
• implementing an administrative decision beyond the sole authority of a minister; and
• recording a Cabinet decision by providing a document for public use.

Question 3

Reviewing and formatting

Answer 3

I have several years of experience proofreading and formatting correspondence and documents to meet corporate policy, court rules, and visual identity guidelines

Question 4

DocShare

Answer 4

Assisted with the preparation of and approval processes of a couple of cabinet information items and memorandums to cabinet and uploading them to and tracking of their progress on DocShare

Note: being a part of the Public Law, Legislative Services handles most of the Cabinet documents but I was given access to DocShare for the few documents that I prepared and because of my interest in seeing the entire process through.

Question 5

Monthly expenditure forecasting

Answer 5

I have no professional experience with forecasting but I believe that given the opportunity to analyze past months’ data that I would be able to accurately determine a budget and plan going forward

Question 6

Processing staffing actions

Answer 6

I have helped manage personnel files, help team members apply for deferred salary leaves and permission for outside employment

Question 7

VOIP Phones

Answer 7

I do not have a lot of experience with VOIP Phones, but after that last issue which caused the voice mail lights to stay on, I assisted with our floor’s update installs and rebooting

Question 8

Ability to prioritize

Answer 8

In my current position, as well as several of my previous positions, I support a large team and need to maintain a high degree of organization and communication in order to assure that all work is done according to its priority in the queue and to make sure that all deadlines are met.

Question 9

Team Player

Answer 9

I have never felt that each person holds only one position or role on a team, I believe that a team is most efficient when everyone does everything they are capable of to meet a deadline. I believe that this especially applies to me, in a support role, and I often lend a hand to others that I see are struggling to meet a deadline or are shorthanded.

ie: cleaning up messes, offering to stay/come in after hours, requesting to be cross-trained to be able to better assist my team

Question 10

Integrity

Answer 10

I am a loyal, honest, and have a strong moral compass.

Example: Story about Notary fees

Question 11

Basic accounting/financial principles

Answer 11

I have serval years of experience in accounts payable and receivable, and ensuring accounts and Ledgers balance.

Question 12

Office Management

Answer 12

I have plenty of experience scheduling meetings/calendars, making travel arrangements and managing office equipment (i.e.: arranging service/maintenance calls and supplies for postage and copier machines)

Question 13

Service excellence

Answer 13

I always try my best to ensure that all clients (internal/external) are satisfied with their interaction with me and I will do what I can within policy to make it so (i.e.: arranging to come in on the weekend to help complete and serve briefs, re-direct inmates/public that contact the branch looking for legal advice)

Question 14

Innovation

Answer 14

I always keep my mind open to new things and often respectfully question processes and offer my ideas to make things more efficient or cost-effective

(i.e.: online supply ordering to save time and keep a favourited list of frequently ordered supplies, change process of who receives and logs document to prevent duplication and lost time)

Question 15

Cabinet Process

Answer 15

In my current position I assist with the process by creating and uploading ministerial referrals, briefing notes, cabinet information items and memos along with ensuring sign off and approval processes are being followed.

Question 16

Application of policy and guidelines

Answer 16

As an administrative support person I am often interested to ensure the privacy laws, conforming guidelines, court rules and corporate policies are being met.

(i.e.: formatting and/or sending back documents or correspondence that don’t meet the standards/guidelines, Quality Checker for entire team at MNP to ensure policy was being followed and there were no mistakes)

Question 17

Identify issues and provide options/recommendations

Answer 17

The Constitutional Law Branch has recently been amalgamated with the Aboriginal Law Branch. I often receive calls from the public and inmates in search of resources or legal advice. I make sure to advise them that we often work with the crown prosecutors (to ensure to avoid conflict issues) and help redirect them to departments/organizations that I believe will be able to assist them.

Question 18

Leadership

Answer 18

I often am the first to take initiative when I see a task that requires completion and try my best to lead by example. I often initiate events and lunches to help strengthen communication within the team and to boost morale. At my previous position, I was often chosen to train new staff and saw that they often struggled with learning the software programs, so I created a training manual that is still being used even now that I’m gone.

Question 19

Communication

Answer 19

On a daily level, I communicate with team members, superiors, and the public in person and written and telephone communications. I always maintain a high level of professionalism and respect in these interactions

Question 20

Organizational

Answer 20

In order to stay organized I make lists. I find keeping track of and identifying the priority of the tasks is important in a fast-paced environment with constant revolving top priorities and deadlines.

(I.e.: I utilize the “Tasks” tool in Outlook to flag emails that still require my attention and to keep track of lower priority tasks and projects for when there is time for them)

Question 21

Filing system

Answer 21

Maintain file system by logging and updating the spreadsheet that tracks certain closed files, transferring records to Gemini, and managing the calendar for Diarized files and bring them forward as required

Question 22

Identify issues and provide options/recommendations

Answer 22

The Constitutional Law Branch has been amalgamated with the Aboriginal Law Branch after receive calls from the public or inmates in search of resources or legal advice, I am always sure to advise them that we often work with the crown prosecutors (to avoid conflict issues) and help redirect them to the department/organizations that I believe will be able to assist them

Question 23

Leadership

Answer 23

I am often the first to take initiative when a task is required and always try to lead by example. I initiate events and lunches to help strengthen communication within the team and to boost morale. At my previous position, I saw the new staff often struggled with learning the software and programs so I created a training manual that is still being used even now that I’m gone

Question 24

Communication

Answer 24

On a daily level, I communicate with team members, superiors, and the public in person, in written correspondence and over the phone. I always maintain a high level of professionalism and respect in these interactions

Question 25

Organizational skills

Answer 25

I am a list maker. I find that keeping track of and identifying the priority of tasks is important in a fast-paced environment with constant revolving top priorities and deadlines.

(I.e. use of tasks feature in outlook to keep track of lower priority tasks and projects and emails still requiring attention)

Question 26

Team

Answer 26

There are often times our branch has to file and serve a Brief and Book of Authorities on numerous parties, this often means that two or more of us are working together to print, compile, and bind all these packages on a tight deadline. Sometimes this results in us running both photocopiers and lining several piles of paper down our office hallway, but we have a system and it works pretty well.

Question 27

Independence

Answer 27

I am a self-starter and use my organizational skills to make sure that those lower priority tasks and office maintenance such as library updates get completed during the periods of time with fewer pressing deadlines and do so with minimal supervision.

Question 28

Use of software to ensure efficiency

Answer 28

In our office, there are often internal documents that need to be updated that there are no electronic copies of. I am able to scan these documents, convert the PDF to an editable Word document, make the revisions and then save them with a footer with the file path to provide ease of reference to the location for when the next update is required

Question 29

Accurately perform mathematical applications to calculate and balance financial information

Answer 29

As a legal assistant, in real estate transactions there are multiple calculations that need to be accounted for before the exchange of money can take place. (i.e. Sale price - mortgage payout - property taxes - legal fees) especially if the transaction does not close on the schedule date and per diem rates need to be calculated.

Question 30

Experience with budgeting

Answer 30

I have never been responsible for budgeting for an office, but I have been responsible for supply orders and I am always cautious with spending. I am just as frugal with corporate transactions as I would be if it were my own money being used

Question 31

Experience with forecasting

Answer 31

Working for an accounting firm, I was responsible for personal income tax return season, having never experienced a T1 season before, I reviewed previous years’ supply orders to be able to accurately determine what would be required and placed these orders with successful results

Question 32

Interpersonal (Respect & Confidentiality)

Answer 32

I always maintain a strong level of professionalism in my interactions and communications.

Often times in a private Law Firm I would receive phone calls from upset clients, family members, or even the party on the other side and I would have to diffuse the situation or even in some cases explain that because we represented the other side but it was inappropriate for me to get directly with them instead of with their lawyer.

When working for the accounting firm, we had very strict policies on to the client information could be released to.

Question 33

A little about me

Answer 33

I am loyal, ambitious, and caring. I love to learn and experience new things (so far this year my favourite new things have been axe throwing and hot yoga!) I am hard-working and take great pride in my work. I am currently working for the Ministry of Justice and as my term there comes to an end I find myself excited for this opportunity with the Ministry of Agriculture and the possibility to bring with me all that I have learned

Question 34

Hobbies

Answer 34

Camping, reading, photography

Question 35

Strengths

Answer 35

My years as a legal and administrative assistant has made me very detail-oriented and taught me to embrace change and challenges.

Question 36

Weaknesses

Answer 36

I tend to suffer from the mentality of if “I am capable of doing something myself, then I should”. But over the years I have learned the value of teamwork and delegation, and that collaboration and working together creates great outcomes.

Question 37

Why do you want this job?

Answer 37

The government of the schedule has been a fantastic place to work and I would like to continue my career here. The values of the Ministry of agriculture match my personal values and the values of my families agricultural roots. I feel that I would be able to make a strong contribution to the Corporate Services Branch

Question 38

Why should we hire you?

Answer 38

I believe that my experience, personality and strong work ethic make me a strong candidate for this position. But I think that it is my willingness to learn and overcome obstacles along with my desire to surpass all expectations of me that should make me stand out in this competition

Question 39

How do you handle pressure/stress?

Answer 39

I actually love pressure. I like to be challenged and thrive under healthy types of pressure like deadlines and small hurdles.

Sometimes too much pressure can lead to stress in situations with larger hurdles or managing multiple same day deadlines, but I make my lists and schedule tasks to complete the projects and then once there is time I often will take a walk on my break and then come back to it.

Question 40

Situation have a conflict with a coworker

Answer 40

When I work for a private Law Firm, there were three assistants (including myself) that were notary publics. The other girls charged cash for their services for walk-ins and then would pocket the money. When I questioned this practice, I was told that if I wasn’t comfortable with it I could just give the money to them. When it came down to my first walk-in notary service, I took the cash to my manager and advised that I wasn’t comfortable with the current practice and he agreed that it didn’t seem ethical. In the end, because the office did not get very many walk-ins, the policy was ultimately change to clarify that we did not charge for the service

Question 41

Situation of a conflict with the manager

Answer 41

Conflicts arise when communication breaks down. I try to never let it come to that.

I once had a manager who became quite irritable under pressure. He once snapped at me for failing to complete a task that he had emailed me about. Once the interaction was over I did my best to complete the task based on our conversation. When I took it to him I explained I had not received the email. It turned out that he had mistyped the email address and it bounced back. He apologized and thanked me for successfully completing the task even with the minimal instruction.