How to assess · For hiring teams
How to Assess Executive Assistant Skills When Hiring
The test formats that actually work for Executive Assistant, what a strong answer looks like, sample questions and a scoring rubric you can use as-is.
The short answer
Assess Executive Assistant with a task, not a conversation: inbox and calendar exercise, communication exercise, ai-scored assessment (e.g. cohesyve) or disruption scenario. Score it against written criteria you fix before you see any submissions, and weight the criteria that the role actually depends on.
- Prioritises the executive's time by importance, and protects it
- Anticipates needs: prepares for meetings, spots conflicts, pre-empts problems
- Communicates on the executive's behalf clearly and in the right tone
- Handles confidential information and difficult people with discretion
Paste a job description; Cohesyve generates a role-specific assessment and rubric. Ten candidates free, no card.
An executive assistant multiplies an executive's time or consumes it, and the difference is judgement: anticipating what will be needed, deciding what deserves attention, handling people with tact and information with discretion, and staying calm when everything changes at once. It cannot be assessed by asking about it. This page covers how to assess executive assistants for EA, chief-of-staff-adjacent and senior administrative roles: prioritisation and anticipation, communication, discretion, and composure under changing demands.
Why Executive Assistant is worth testing
A weak EA creates work rather than removing it: missed details, calendar conflicts, communications that need rewriting, and an executive who cannot delegate. A scenario-based exercise with competing demands shows whether a candidate prioritises well, communicates cleanly and handles sensitive situations with judgement, and that predicts how much of the executive's time they give back.
What strong Executive Assistant looks like
- Prioritises the executive's time by importance, and protects it
- Anticipates needs: prepares for meetings, spots conflicts, pre-empts problems
- Communicates on the executive's behalf clearly and in the right tone
- Handles confidential information and difficult people with discretion
- Stays composed when plans change and re-plans quickly
- Manages details — travel, logistics, follow-ups — without misses
- Builds relationships across the organisation that make things happen
Ways to assess Executive Assistant
Inbox and calendar exercise
Provide an executive's inbox of fifteen messages and a week's calendar with conflicts, a confidential item, an urgent request and a trap. Ask what they would do with each and how they would reorganise the week. Forty-five minutes.
Pros
Cons
Best for Any EA role.
Communication exercise
Ask them to draft a decline, a reschedule and a sensitive message on the executive's behalf.
Pros
Cons
Best for Screening.
AI-scored assessment (e.g. Cohesyve)
Generate a executive assistant task from the job description — an inbox-and-calendar exercise, drafted communications, a discretion scenario — with a rubric. Each candidate receives a different variant; the work and the reasoning behind it are scored together.
Pros
Cons
Best for Screening an applicant pool fairly before interview time is spent.
Disruption scenario
Present a day where the executive's flight is cancelled and two meetings collide. Ask what they do.
Pros
Cons
Best for Any level.
Cohesyve
Run a Executive Assistant assessment on your next opening
Cohesyve generates a unique Executive Assistant task per candidate from your job description, with the scoring rubric attached. Questions are different for every applicant, so they cannot be shared or looked up.
What to test
Prioritisation and anticipation
Whether the executive's time is protected.
Communication
Whether messages are right.
Discretion and judgement
Whether sensitive things are handled well.
Composure and detail
Whether things get done under change.
Sample Executive Assistant questions
Two important meetings are booked at the same time. How do you decide?
EntryLook for Importance to the executive's goals, who else is involved, what can move; ask if unclear, then act.
Someone asks you for a document you know is confidential. What do you say?
EntryLook for Polite refusal, redirect to the right route, inform the executive if appropriate.
The executive's flight is cancelled the night before a board meeting. What do you do?
MidLook for Alternatives immediately, inform, adjust the schedule, prepare a remote option, stay calm.
How do you decide what to bring to the executive's attention and what to handle yourself?
MidLook for Agreed thresholds, judgement about consequence, keeps them informed without noise.
Draft a message declining a meeting request from a senior peer of your executive.
SeniorLook for Warm, clear, offers an alternative, protects the relationship.
Red flags
- Cannot prioritise; escalates everything
- Communications need rewriting
- Would share confidential information
- Flustered by disruption
- Misses details
Scoring rubric
| Criterion | Weight | What strong looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Prioritisation and anticipation | 30% | The executive's time is protected and prepared. |
| Communication | 25% | Right message, right tone, no rewrite. |
| Discretion | 20% | Sensitive matters handled well. |
| Composure and detail | 25% | Calm under change; nothing missed. |
Mistakes hiring teams make
- Hiring on tools and typing speed
- Not including a confidentiality trap
- Skipping the communication draft
- Ignoring disruption
- Assuming administrative experience includes judgement
Roles that need Executive Assistant
Common questions
What is the best single EA question?
Ask how they decide between two important meetings at the same time. Judgement and process show together.
How long should an EA assessment take?
Forty-five minutes for an inbox-and-calendar exercise; fifteen for a disruption scenario.
Should the exercise use our executive's real situation?
A realistic fictional one is fairer and avoids exposing anything sensitive.
How do I assess discretion?
Include a request for confidential information in the exercise and see whether they resist gracefully.
Cohesyve · Skill assessments for hiring
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