First Impressions

            Your mother was absolutely right when she told you, “You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.”

INSIDER TIP:      There is a considerable bank of research studies which proves that interviewers form an opinion about a job candidate in the first 15 to 20 seconds of an interview.  Yes, you read that right – the first 15 to 20 seconds!

Suffice it to say it is vital…no, it is critical…that you establish a good first impression as soon as you walk in the door (even before).  The clothes you wear, the style of your hair, the amount of perfume you have on, the condition of your shoes, the firmness of your handshake, and the excitement in your voice will all (collectively) send a powerful message to an interviewer about who you are.  Mess up on any one of those initial “contacts” and you will probably mess up the crucial first impression you want an interviewer to have.

            It is quite possible you can overcome a poor first impression with a stellar interview, but why put yourself at a disadvantage the moment you walk through the door?  Give yourself every advantage, every “brownie point” you can.  Knowing that your shoes are shined, that you are making direct eye contact, that your suit was recently dry-cleaned, and that you removed that humongous nose ring from your face will give you the extra confidence you want to do an outstanding interview.

§   Be absolutely certain you are dressed professionally.  Don’t wear your “college clothes” – wear the clothes of a professional educator.  For men that means a coat and tie; for women it means a classic blouse and skirt.  Your attire should be on the conservative side, your shoes should be shined to a brilliant gloss, and your jewelry should be at a minimum.  Oh, cover those tattoos.

§   Keep a close eye on your body language.  Give the interviewer a firm handshake and look him or her in the eye in responding to every question.  Make sure your feet are planted firmly on the floor and you hands are not stuck in your pockets or smoothing back your hair.  Sit up straight in the chair and lean slightly forward.

§   Practice your delivery.  Don’t speak in a monotone - your voice delivery should be enthusiastic and confident.  Be sure to enunciate all your words and please stay away from any slang (“Yeah, my college supervisor was a totally awesome dude!”).

Performance Interviews

          These situations are less about the interview and more about the performance.  Typically you are not asked any questions (although a few follow-up questions may be posed), rather you are asked to demonstrate your teaching expertise in a classroom-type or school-related environment.  Administrators want to see if you can put your knowledge into practice – can you teach, can you handle the ancillary duties that go along with teaching, and can you take your textbook knowledge and demonstrate how it works in practice.

            Keep in mind that the situations you may face in these kinds of interviews are artificial (you frequently won’t be doing them in a real classroom with real students); nevertheless you will need to demonstrate the same behaviors, skills, and talents that would be expected of a teacher on a day-to-day basis.  The teaching environment may be contrived, but this opportunity to put theory into practice must never be.  Don’t try to fake your way through one of these experiences – your lack of knowledge or insincerity will come through loud and clear.  Think of this as just one more element – one more day - in your student teaching experience and you’ll be surprised at how well you actually do.

·      Teaching a Lesson – Many schools and districts are asking teacher candidates to teach a demonstration lesson as part of the interview process.  In some cases you may get to select the lesson to be taught; in others a subject or specific set of objectives are presented to you in order to craft a unique lesson.  Often you’ll be asked to teach a full lesson (perhaps 45 minutes in length).  At other times you may be asked to teach a mini-lesson (an abbreviated form of a standard lesson).  In most cases the lesson will not be taught in a regular classroom, but will be presented in a board room, seminar room, or other location in the administrative offices or a special school location.  The audience may include a selection of district administrators and, quite possibly, a few classroom teachers.

Quite often, you will be told to imagine that the assembled administrators and teachers are a class full of students and that you should teach your sample lesson as though you were teaching it to elementary or high school students.  One of my former students was asked to teach a specific music lesson to a group of about six administrators.  She said the sight of a half-dozen administrators singing and dancing around a conference room was one she will never forget.  Another one of my students was asked to teach a life science lesson incorporating two specific science standards.  She developed a “hands-on” lesson using earthworms and still fondly remembers the superintendent getting very ill when asked to handle some of the critters (in spite of that [or because of it], she did get the job).