Seeking interview advice! How can I handle some difficult questions?

Hello all,

A year ago, I moved to a new state with my family. I struggled to find work for the first three months after moving until I found a position as a marketing assistant/listing coordinator at a local real estate company. Unfortunately, the owner of the company decided to sell it and I was laid off after just one month of working there. I struggled again to find work for another five months after that before I found a job at a print shop as a graphic designer (I earned my BFA in graphic design a little over two years ago). In all honesty, I can say that I do not enjoy doing graphic design where I currently work, and I think I would rather it be more of a hobby and less of something that I do full-time professionally. I went to school thinking this would be a good option for me, but I quickly found out after graduating that it's just not what I thought it would be.

I worked as an administrative assistant for three years while I went to school, and I've found that I really enjoy having more responsibility like that. I enjoy helping others, working with clients, and providing general support. After college, I worked as an office and account manager for a small start-up company where I assisted clients, handled billing, and provided general administrative support to the CEO, sales team, and software development team for two years before moving.

I recently applied for a job as an administrative assistant at another local real estate company, and I have an introductory phone interview tomorrow. From reading the job description, I know I would really love having the job. I really wanted my previous real estate job to be something that would be long- lasting and I'm looking for something similar. I became more interested in real estate and received a limited amount of real-estate specific training too.

I'm nervous about my interview for several reasons, and I am seeking advice and answers to some of my interview-related questions:

1. I've had job interviews for office manager/administrative assistant positions recently, and the employers have all expressed concern that I will leave the position very shortly after being hired in order to pursue a career in graphic design. This is frustrating because it seems that nobody will give me a chance because of this. How can I make it clear that I would rather not do graphic design full-time any longer?

2. Should I even tell the interviewer that I'm currently working as a graphic designer where I started my job in October? (when I applied for the administrative assistant job, I left my current position off of my resume)

If I do tell the interviewer that I am currently working, what should I tell her if she asks me why I am leaving a position after only working there for four months?

3. My current job as a designer is very boring. I often spend the majority of my day changing names and numbers on pre-designed business cards, not really designing anything. I also cannot give my clients the quality and creativity that I would like to due to time constraints. I really enjoy taking on more administrative duties, such as handling invoices, payments, scheduling, answering questions, preparing documents and reports, and supporting a team. I enjoy multi-tasking and I enjoy the challenges that roles like the one I am interviewing for present. How can I possibly explain these things to my interviewer and really get the point across that I would love to have the position I applied for and would fully intend stay with their company for a very long time?

If anyone can give me advice on how to answer some of these questions, I would greatly appreciate it! In addition to the fact that I will enjoy the variety job duties more, the job I am interviewing for will also pay more and will offer more benefits than what I currently make. I really want to stand out and make an impression, and also ease any concerns regarding my past experiences that my interviewer might have.

Thank you so much for reading!

What you have to do is just talk about the previous admin job you had and how well you liked it. This is what the real-estate office wants to hear about anyways. Having a current job is actually important, but you can describe it like you did here, that your job is basically fixing typos and changing names on business cards, but you'd like to get back into admin. Make sure you keep a smile on your face so that you will sound upbeat over the phone. And hopefully, you'll stick out from the rest of the crowd and they'll call you back for an in-person interview.

Word to the wise! Here's a list of things to help.

1. Never bad mouth your previous boss. Even if they were the Devil Wears Prada!

2. Make sure you research the company thoroughly. I once passed on a great girl because when I asked her about our company she couldn't even tell me what we did. That was a major turn off.

3. Make sure you have questions after.

4. Tell them you want to be the best at everything even from making coffee to copies.

5. Make sure you tell them the top ten things you loved about your job.

6.Explain how you can improve their company