Office Management Specialist

Do I meet the minimum qualifications for Office Management Specialists?

To be considered as a candidate for the Office Management Specialist position, you must meet the minimum education and experience qualification requirements listed below.

Education	Specialized Experience	Check Your Level
High School Diploma or Equivalent	3 years in an office management position within the past ten years
—– OR —–
A two-year college degree in Office Management, Business Administration, Computer Technology, Web Development or other related field	2 years in an office management position within the past ten years
—– OR —–
4 year degree from an accredited college in any field	2 years in an office management position within the past ten years
—– OR —–
None of the above

Note 1: In addition to education and experience requirements, candidates must be able to pass a proofreading test and computer-based skills test.
Note 2: All office management experience must be of a professional nature and must have been acquired from supporting one or more individuals. The experience must have been acquired in a position which required utilization of the knowledge of specific administrative functions in the employing organization(s) and which required a minimum of direct supervision. For example, in the Civil Service these duties are represented by the GS-318 (Secretarial) job series.

Further, to be considered for the Office Management Specialist position, you must be willing to move around the world.

Question	Verification
Are you willing to be mobile and available anywhere around the world, including moving one’s home base, uprooting children from school, etc., every 2-3 years, and having to re-establish friendships or professional contacts at new locations?
Furthermore, are you willing to spend time, often brief (e.g., few days) but occasionally prolonged (e.g., month or more) away from your family because of job responsibilities?

Factors Influencing Your Competitiveness

There are a wide variety of factors influencing who is offered a position as an Office Management Specialist. These include how well a candidate performs on the oral assessment, the number of vacancies, the number of eligible hires already in line, and the number of people who accept job offers. Even though there are no guarantees that anyone will be offered a position, there are certain evaluation factors used to distinguish between candidates.

Below is a list of some of the factors used to evaluate candidates. By rating yourself honestly, you can get an idea of how competitive you might be. When you are finished, click the “Submit” button to view an analysis of your competitiveness. The self-evaluation is a guide for your use only. The U.S. Department of State does not use, pass on, or even record and retain the information contained in this questionnaire.

Experience

Please rate yourself on the extent to which you possess the experience. Use the following scale:

Score	Experience Description	Typical Years of Experience
5	I am considered an expert in performing this task. Because of my expertise, I am normally the person who is consulted by others to train them in doing this task.	3 years of direct experience
4	I have routinely performed this task independently with little or no supervision.	2 years of direct experience
3	I have performed this task on the job with occasional assistance.	1 year or less of direct experience
2	I have had education or training in performing this task, but I have not yet performed it on the job.	No experience
1	I have not had education, training, or experience in performing this task.	No experience

Experience	1	2	3	4	5
Experience with organizing, prioritizing, and managing time to accomplish large amounts of work with hard deadlines often in stressful conditions, including working without much direct supervision.
Experience with handling work overload and conflicting priorities in an office environment supporting multiple people or offices.
Experience writing documents (e.g. from brief notes and emails to official memos and detailed reports), including having documents reviewed by appropriate parties and making revisions.
Experience with proofreading and editing documents, including content, English usage, and readability.
Experience with computers and office technology (e.g., Microsoft Office Suite, copiers, scanners, telephones, cell phones, basic computer hardware, and networks), including using computers to automate work processes.
Experience providing computer support to others, including troubleshooting, updating systems, and researching solutions to technology issues.
Experience building and maintaining electronic databases and paper filing systems.
Experience supporting senior and executive level officials, including receiving calls, taking messages, maintaining calendars, receiving and coordinating visitors, etc.
Experience preparing for meetings, including ensuring the staff provide documents, coordinating materials, arranging for necessary personnel, finding locations, tracking invitations, monitoring progress, and supporting as necessary, etc.
Experience planning events, including maintaining guest lists, preparing seating charts and place cards, coordinating with security, keeping everyone apprised of progress, etc.
Experience developing business relationships, both within the same organization and with those from other organizations.
Experience working with people from other cultures or backgrounds, including forming strong working relationships.

Please continue by rating your knowledge and skills.

Knowledge and Skills

Please rate yourself on the extent to which you possess the following knowledge and skills. Use the following scale:

Score	Knowledge and Skills
5	I am considered an expert in this knowledge or skill. Because of my expertise I am normally the person who is consulted by others to train them.
4	I have knowledge or skill in this area and can use it on the job with little or no supervision.
3	I have some knowledge or skill in this area and can use it on the job with occasional assistance.
2	I have had education or training in knowledge or skill, but have not performed it on the job.
1	I have not had education, training, or experience in this knowledge or skill.

Knowledge/Skill	1	2	3	4	5
Knowledge of office computer programs such as Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and SharePoint.
Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures such as word processing, managing files/records/databases, and other office procedures.
Knowledge of structure and content of the English language, including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, grammar and punctuation, and skill in applying that knowledge to writing and proofreading documents.
Skill in interacting easily with people from varied backgrounds, including people outside of your social, professional, or cultural group.
Skill in working positively with people within a government or commercial organization in order to promote harmony, cooperation, and good morale.
Skill at organizing multiple and varied tasks into an achievable plan or system quickly and accurately with minimal supervision.
Skill in time management and prioritization of work, often under conditions of high stress and tight deadlines.
Professional judgment and maturity to make decisions within appropriate areas of responsibility, including knowing when it is necessary to seek guidance from more experienced employees.

Amount of Self-Assessed Fit for Office Management Specialist

The table below indicates how well your self-indicated knowledge, skills and abilities, and experience fits with the requirements of the job and many of the factors with which candidates are evaluated.

Self-Evaluation of Competitiveness for Office Management Specialist

Score Key

Score (%)	Amount of Fit
74-100	High
47-73	Medium
20-46	Low

For salary, detailed job description and information on how to apply for this position, please review the vacancy announcement.