The Single-Most Important Question You Must Always Answer! - Part II

Here’s how another candidate answered the question:

            Heather wanted to teach more than anything else in the world.  She also knew that the competition for the 10^th grade social studies position at Central High School was fierce.  Six students from her college were applying for that position in addition to dozens of others from various colleges and universities.  The principal, Mr. Grove, had a tough choice to make.

            During the course of the interview, Mr. Grove made two or three references to the school newspaper – it had gone through four different student editors since the start of the year and the morale among the staff was low.  Heather sensed his concern and in response to the following question – “What would you say is your greatest strength?” – Heather replied:  “I’m a goal-oriented person.  My greatest strength is my ability to be organized and stay organized.  My classroom and my lesson plans are always well-planned and in order.  For example, I believe I can bring those organizational skills to the school newspaper.  I worked for two years on the college newspaper before my student teaching semester.  I’ve taken a few journalism courses and interned at our local newspaper one summer – my uncle is the managing editor – where I worked in a number of departments.  I enjoy a challenge and would welcome the opportunity to bring by background of experiences with journalism and newspapers to Central High School.  If assigned as a faculty advisor, I can assure you of a newspaper operation that will be successful…and very organized.”

The Single-Most Important Question You Must Always Answer! - Part I

It’s the one question that is always in the mind of any interviewer.  It doesn’t matter whether you are interviewing for a job flipping burgers at your local fast food restaurant, interviewing for the CEO position at a major company, or interviewing for a position as the manager of a minor league baseball club – every interviewer has this question on his or her mind when they interview candidates for a position.  And here’s why it is important – the question will never be asked in any interview…but it must always be answered.

            The question is:

How will this person make my job easier?

            You are being interviewed because the interviewer hopes you can bring value, dedication, and expertise to the job.  Those qualities are what any boss wants to see in his or her employees.  Those qualities help the boss (principal) do his or her job better and ensure that a product (education) gets into the hands of the consumer (students).  That single question will never come up in any teacher interview (or any other kind of interview for that matter), but if you can answer the question – several times during the interview - you will put yourself heads and shoulders above the rest of the competition and ensure a very favorable assessment on the interview.