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Free CAP Practice Questions

10 free, exam-style Certified Administrative Professional (CAP) practice questions with answers and explanations. No signup required. Work through them below, then take the full free CAP practice test to study every exam domain.

Question 1

An administrative professional mentions to her supervisor that she received a salary increase and new office furniture last quarter, yet still reports feeling dissatisfied with her work. According to Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory, this is MOST likely because:

  1. The raise was too small to have a meaningful effect on her attitude toward the role
  2. Hygiene factors like salary prevent dissatisfaction but cannot create job satisfaction
  3. Satisfaction requires both financial reward and public recognition to take effect
  4. She has not yet advanced beyond the security level in Maslow's hierarchy
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: B - Hygiene factors like salary prevent dissatisfaction but cannot create job satisfaction

Question 2

A manager tells a new employee that her position will only be made permanent if she agrees to accompany him to business dinners outside of office hours. This BEST represents which type of workplace harassment?

  1. Constructive dismissal
  2. Workplace bullying
  3. Hostile work environment harassment
  4. Quid pro quo harassment
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: D - Quid pro quo harassment

Question 3

According to ARMA International alphabetical filing rules, which of the following names would be filed FIRST in a paper filing system?

  1. Smith, Janet
  2. Smithfield, Alan
  3. Smith, J.
  4. Smith-Jones, Barbara
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: C - Smith, J.

Question 4

An administrative professional realizes that a report personally requested by the CEO is due in two hours and she has not yet started it. According to the Eisenhower Matrix, she should:

  1. Delegate it - the time constraint makes it appropriate to reassign to available staff
  2. Address it immediately - it is both urgent and important
  3. Schedule it - important tasks deserve focused time rather than rushed execution
  4. Postpone it - completing reports under pressure significantly increases the risk of errors
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: B - Address it immediately - it is both urgent and important

Question 5

An administrative professional is drafting a formal rejection letter to a vendor. To correctly apply the 'You Attitude' in business writing, she should:

  1. Frame the message around the vendor's perspective and interests
  2. Address the vendor by name at least three times throughout the letter
  3. Use second-person pronouns (you, your) consistently throughout the body
  4. Focus primarily on the organization's internal rationale for the decision
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: A - Frame the message around the vendor's perspective and interests

Question 6

A cross-functional team that has worked together for eight weeks has begun missing deadlines, arguing openly about priorities, and challenging who should be leading specific workstreams. According to Tuckman's model, this team is MOST likely in the:

  1. Norming stage
  2. Forming stage
  3. Performing stage
  4. Storming stage
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: D - Storming stage

Question 7

A company learns it is being named in a lawsuit involving employee overtime records from the past three years. The organization's retention schedule calls for overtime records to be destroyed after two years. The records manager should FIRST:

  1. Issue a litigation hold and suspend all scheduled destruction of relevant records
  2. Consult with department managers to determine which specific records may be affected
  3. Continue with scheduled destruction, since the retention policy predates the lawsuit
  4. Destroy the records immediately to minimize the organization's legal exposure
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: A - Issue a litigation hold and suspend all scheduled destruction of relevant records

Question 8

An administrative professional needs to send a company-wide announcement to 300 employees and must ensure that no recipient can see any other recipient's email address. Which email field should she use?

  1. CC
  2. To
  3. BCC
  4. Reply All
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: C - BCC

Question 9

A hotel contract for a company conference states that if the organization fails to fill at least 75% of its reserved room block, it will be charged for the unfilled rooms. This contract clause is called:

  1. A force majeure provision
  2. A cancellation penalty
  3. An indemnification clause
  4. An attrition clause
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: D - An attrition clause

Question 10

A colleague returns a business proposal draft with the following marks: a comma inserted after an introductory clause, the word 'irregardless' replaced with 'regardless,' and a misspelled vendor name corrected. This type of review is BEST described as:

  1. Copy editing
  2. Proofreading
  3. Developmental editing
  4. Substantive editing
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: A - Copy editing

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