Office Skills Test

1. Your computer is not printing and a technician is not available, so you perform the following activities to investigate the problem. In which order should you take these up?

1 See if the printer cartridge is finished

2 See if the printer is switched on

3 Try to print a test page using the printer self-test

4 Try to print a test page from Windows

5 See if the printer is properly attached to the computer

Answers:

• 5,4,3,2,1

• 3,2,1,4,5

• 3,5,4,1,2

• 2,3,1,5,4

• 3,1,5,2,4

2. What is 'flexi-time'?

Answers:

• The feeling when time slows down or speeds up at certain times of the day in an office environment.

• The flexible use of personal office hours, such as working an hour earlier one day, in order to leave an hour earlier another day.

• Occasionally moving the hands on the office clock so everyone can go home early now and then.

• Bringing an alarm clock to work that rings at the end of the day and at lunchtimes.

3. Which of the following is the correct response when you are dealing with a client, and your boss enters the room?

Answers:

• Smile, stand up and politely introduce the client.

• Stand up and salute, standing to attention.

• Keep sitting down, but look up without smiling.

• Keep discussing business until your boss politely interrupts.

• a and d

4. Which of the following are considered bad manners while greeting a business visitor to your office?

Answers:

• Remaining seated while the visitor introduces himself/herself

• Not shaking hands, but simply saying hello with a smile

• Shaking hands from the shoulder rather than the elbow

• Shaking hands with gloves on, or forgetting to smile

• All of the above

5. What is the best practice for ensuring that sensitive material to be destroyed does not leak out of the company building?

Answers:

• Always encrypt on computer disk, and shred any hard copies.

• Shred hard copies, save onto the file.

• Burn hard copies, save only once to the file.

• E-mail documents to colleagues, and then close the e-mail browser.

6. What information would the petty cash register contain?

Answers:

• Details of expenses on account of the administrative staff.

• Details of small expenses related to the running of the office.

• Details of expenses on account of electricity and water bills.

• Details of expenses worth less than $80.

7. What is the benefit of e-mailing documents rather than always providing hard copies to individuals?

Answers:

• There is no benefit except that people can delete them more easily.

• The documents can potentially be edited online and re-circulated.

• The documents can be electronically forwarded, which saves stationery that may otherwise be used.

• b and c

8. What is the most frequently used typeface and point size when creating Word documents?

Answers:

• Times New Roman, 12 point

• Times, 14 point

• Courier New, 12 point

• Courier New, 14 point

• All of the above

9. In any office or business environment, what does the 'opportunity success rate' refer to?

Answers:

• The success of a business in dollar value minus the dollar value of previous attempts to make it a success.

• The number of won opportunities as a percentage of the number of won and lost opportunities.

• The number of lost opportunities as a percentage of the number of almost won opportunities.

• The opportunity costs divided by the so-called sunk costs.

10. According to standard filing conventions, in which order will the following three documents be filed?

Dr. Jones's office, Doctor at sea, Doctor come quickly

Answers:

• Dr. Jones's office, Doctor at sea, Doctor come quickly

• Doctor at sea, Doctor come quickly, Dr. Jones's office

• Doctor come quickly, Dr. Jones's office, Doctor at sea

• Dr. Jones's office, Doctor come quickly, Doctor at sea

11. What is 'commodity value'—an important business term of relevance to most office environments?

Answers:

• The value of all the office hardware, including computers and furniture.

• An economics term meaning the intrinsic value under optimal, often free-market conditions of the product the company sells or manufactures.

• The value of common decency between employees of a given office.

• The cost in petty cash of all company-expense dinners in a given month.

12. Which of the following are proven methods of improving your office skills?

Answers:

• Smiling and being appreciative of others, especially the clients.

• Actively listening to, even humoring people at times.

• Looking to resolve conflicts and bringing people together.

• Conveying what is expected in return as an appropriate response, and avoiding ambiguity.

• All of the above

13. When replying to an e-mail, who do you place in the cc: line and who in the bcc: line?

Answers:

• A person you wish to openly inform goes in the cc: line, and the same person in the bcc: line.

• A person you wish to openly inform goes in the bcc: line, and the same person in the cc: line.

• A person you wish to openly inform goes in the cc: line, and the person you wish to read the e-mail, but without the knowledge of either the recipient or the person in the cc: line, goes in the bcc: line.

• A person you wish to openly inform goes in the cc: line, and the person you wish to read the e-mail without the knowledge of the recipient, but with the knowledge of the person in the cc: line, goes in the bcc: line.

14. You are required to create a cost report for your department, and then present the report to the board. Which two programs would you use for these two tasks?

Answers:

• MS Powerpoint, MS Access

• Adobe Photoshop, MS Powerpoint

• MS Word, MS Excel

• MS Excel, MS PowerPoint

15. What is a 'golden handshake'?

Answers:

• The welcome to the building of a new CEO.

• The last day in the office before the holidays.

• The common usage for a generous employment severance package when an executive loses his or her job through restructuring, redundancy or a scheduled retirement.

• The common usage for a series of re-hirings of past employees.

• c and d

16. With regard to emails, when is bcc: used?

Answers:

• When you want to send the same mail to several people and do not want the To: and cc: recipients of the mail to know the bcc: recipients of the same mail.

• When you want to send the same mail to several people and do not want the bcc: recipients of the mail to know who else the mail was sent to.

• When you want to send the same mail to several people and want to receive acknowledgments from each recipient.

• When you want to send the same mail to several people, but the mail does not support attachments.

17. What does the 'glass ceiling' refer to in a business context?

Answers:

• The internal ceiling above the boardroom, whether it is on the top floor or not.

• The roof of the company building, frequently constructed from glass to optimize the company's public status for the surrounding area.

• The upper level of senior management or company executive positions which is traditionally hard to break through, for example, for women and/or minorities.

• The imaginary level above the CEO at which the company profits skyrocket.

18. You realize that the computer in your office is getting a lot of spam and unwanted e-mails. What should be your first action to stop these emails?

Answers:

• E-mail the Regulatory Authority in charge of stopping spam in order to complain.

• E-mail the source of the emails asking them to stop them.

• Call over a computer expert to solve the problem.

• Look for a Remove From Mailing List link in the email.

19. What does 'the bottom line' commonly refer to in an office environment?

Answers:

• The line that appears at the bottom of a paper with the company letterhead.

• The lowest office floor in a building.

• The same as the dotted line.

• The basic controlling factor, notably the financial cost, regarding whether a task or project can be accomplished or not.

20. What is the person in charge of administering an office commonly called?

Answers:

• Office Assistant

• Full-time Manager

• Office Manager

• CEO

• None of the above

21. What is the normal length of notice period for quitting job in most professional offices?

Answers:

• Either 2 weeks or 1 month

• 2-3 months

• 1 week

• Up to 3 months, or longer

• None of the above

22. Consider the following sentence:

'There are 20 new PC's in the accounts department.'

Should there be an apostrophe in PC's?

Answers:

• No

• Yes

• Not sure

• No idea

• None of the above

23. When you are introducing a woman and are unsure of her marital status, which title should you use?

Answers:

• Ms.

• Miss

• Mrs.

• Madam

• None of the above

24. You are asked to call up senior executives of your company located in different continents to inform them about the proposed dates for an international sales meeting. What is the best time to call them up?

Answers:

• During the call recipient's office hours

• After your office hours

• During your office hours

• Between 9:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M.

• Any of the above

25. What is 'outsourcing'?

Answers:

• Working outside the office, often from home.

• Freelancing work to workers outside the main office building, often to foreign workers for cheaper labor costs.

• A form of half working from home, half at the office.

• Leaving work early.

26. Which of the following are good office practices when creating documents such as letters, memos, company files etc?

Answers:

• Always save to hard drive and at least one back-up, such as a CD or thumb drive.

• Save to the hard drive and a back-up, if necessary.

• Save to the back-up first, and then the hard drive.

• Save once a day.

27. What is 'commodity value'�an important business term of relevance to most office environments?

Answers:

• The value of all the office hardware, including computers and furniture.

• An economics term meaning the intrinsic value under optimal, often free-market conditions of the product the company sells or manufactures.

• The value of common decency between employees of a given office.

• The cost in petty cash of all company-expense dinners in a given month.

28. What is the appropriate response to discovering the printer is out of ink?

Answers:

• Force the printer to deliver the last drop of ink by turning it upside down, holding it carefully.

• Walk away and tell a fellow office worker, hoping he or she will take responsibility.

• Leave it to the next person.

• Replace the ink if the cartridge is available otherwise follow the office procedure for replacing or ordering the cartridges.

29. What does 'Class A office space' commonly refer to?

Answers:

• Office space on former sites of class A drug offenses.

• The lowest quality office buildings in a given area.

• The highest quality office space available in a given area.

• The highest quality office space for the least price.

30. What does the CTRL+V shortcut accomplish in Word 2007?

Answers:

• It makes the selected text appear in bold.

• It pastes the text that has already been copied.

• It converts the selected text into the next larger size of the same font.

• It applies italic formatting to the selected text.

• All of the above

31. Which of the following energy-saving practices can be used in an office without adversely affecting company productivity?

Answers:

• Use only one bathroom light during office hours

• Turn off lights and computers at the end of the day

• Turn off the computers between sending e-mails

• Use lower Watt light bulbs, especially in the emergency exits

• a and d

32. What is the best way to handle an angry colleague or client with a complaint?

Answers:

• Listen to their concerns, and calmly but firmly explain what you are able to do, offering other solutions and options, without getting angry in turn.

• Show a little anger as a way of evening out the situation.

• Shout back, and then, later in the day, find a place to sulk, or time to complain to your own boss.

• Listen to their concerns, politely explain what you are able to do, and if they insist, shout back your own concerns and complaints.

33. Which of the following are not recommended when trying to improve working with others in an office environment

Answers:

• Talking when others are talking, and listening only occasionally.

• Being as consciously helpful as possible, and offering practical solutions.

• Changing the printer ink or cartridge when it runs out.

• None of the above

34. Which of the following file formats relate to a graphic file or scanned image file?

Answers:

• JPEG

• VBP

• HTML

• GIF

• a and d

35. What is the difference between Microsoft Access and Microsoft Excel?

Answers:

• Access is mainly for spreadsheets and Excel is for databases

• Access is mainly for databases and Excel is for spreadsheets

• Access is mainly for databases and Excel is for word processsing

• Access is mainly for word processing and Excel is for spreadsheets, including digitial photograph editing

36. What is a 'mouse potato'(a comic phrase in an office environment)?

Answers:

• The equivalent of a couch potato, but in terms of using a computer — i.e. someone who spends all their time at a computer.

• A virus or other harmful computer bug, such as a 'trojan horse'.

• An office ornament that workers place on their desks to keep them motivated during office hours.

• b and c

37. What is very important to remember to do when entering an office business meeting at any level, especially when clients are there?

Answers:

• Bow slightly before your superiors or company executives.

• Take the coats from clients and drape them over your arm during the meeting.

• Turn OFF all cell phones, pagers and other electronic devices.

• Turn ON all cell phones, pagers and other electronic devices.

• a and c

38. What are the traditional office hours in the Western world, now much more flexible, though still adhered to in most offices?

Answers:

• 9 AM — 5 PM

• 6 AM — 6 PM

• 8 AM — 7 PM

• 10 AM — 8 PM

• None of the above

39. What is an office 'memo circular'?

Answers:

• A simple message, usually delivered by e-mail or hard copy and sent to all office staff, updating everyone on new office procedures.

• A circular-shaped memo.

• A letter of introduction by a potential new client.

• A complaint letter to the CEO circulated to and signed by the entire company staff.

40. Traditionally, approximately how many pages should a business CV or resume have?

Answers:

• 1-3, preferably 2

• 1-5, but usually 2-3

• Just 1

• Exactly 2 and a half, and never more or less

• All of the above

41. Which of the following activities could possibly infect your computer with a virus?

Answers:

• Installing pirated Software from a CD.

• Downloading games and songs from the internet.

• Booting your computer with a 'write protected floppy disk'.

• All of the above

42. What are the dimensions of an A4 size sheet of paper?

Answers:

• 216 mm x 279 mm

• 220 mm x 310 mm

• 215 mm x 295 mm

• 210 mm x 297 mm

• a and d

43. What does the abbreviation CEO stand for?

Answers:

• Company Executive Officer

• Communicate Especially On

• Corporate Exact Office

• Cheat Every One

• Chief Executive Officer

44. You work in a company where some of your co-workers are recent foreign immigrants. They are unfamiliar with the work environment and your supervisor is polite to everybody in the staff but is often rude to these foreign workers. What will you do in this situation?

Answers:

• You talk to the foreign workers and tell them that they should complain to the Upper Management.

• You tell your supervisor that his misbehavior is inappropriate.

• Nothing, you prefer to keep quiet because everybody else is quiet.

• You complain to the Upper Management.

45. When a client visits the office and arrives early, what does office etiquette require you to do to handle the situation?

Answers:

• If you are free, allow the meeting to start early.

• Take their coat, offer them something to drink, and tell them you will be with them in a moment.

• Try and meet them as soon as possible.

• All of the above.

46. Which of the following are the important components of good interpersonal office skills?

Answers:

• Effectively translating and conveying information.

• Being able to accurately interpret other people's emotions.

• Calmly arriving at resolutions to conflict.

• Avoiding gossip and being polite.

• All of the above

47. What does administration generally handle in an office environment?

Answers:

• Paperwork and accounts.

• Specifically, the hiring of new management and middle management.

• The efficient day-to-day running of the office, with regard to company files, communication, management of jobs such as overseeing hiring and firing and human resources, etc.

• Ensuring that the infrastructure of the building is regularly checked and modernized.

48. Which of the following are commonly used computer web browsers?

Answers:

• Mozilla, Guardian Website, The Times of London, MSN

• Expedia, Opodo, Student Universe, Godzilla

• Chrome, Explorer, Firefox

• Google, MSN, Yahoo, Ask

49. What common injury can result from too much concentrated typing over too little amount of time?

Answers:

• Leg injury

• Broken neck

• Blue hands

• Repetitive strain injury

• All of the above

50. You send a package through FEDEX to a client in Korea. The client calls up after a few days and says that he has not received it. What is the best way to immediately let the client know the status of the courier?

Answers:

• Give the client the airway bill number and ask him to call up FEDEX about the status of the courier.

• Give the client the local number of FEDEX in Korea.

• Call FEDEX and ask them to speak directly to the customer.

• Track the packet on the FEDEX website and send the client a copy of the current status of the packet.

51. What two kinds of printers are commonly in use in most office environments?

Answers:

• Industrial and private

• Hewlett Packard and Brother

• Laser and ink-jet

• Black-and-white and color

• None of the above