Interview Themes

2.  Skills and Experience

            One of the first things you need to do in any interview is to establish your ability to do the job.  In a nutshell – Can you teach and can you teach effectively?  In most interviews these will be the initial set of questions you’ll be asked.  Many of these questions will be factual in nature and will provide you with an opportunity to highlight your skills and talents and how they will be used in a classroom setting.  This is when you must offer specific information rather than generalities.  It is also the time to be completely objective about yourself – with confidence and assurance.

INSIDER TIP:      Tony Beshara, who manages a professional recruitment and placement firm in Dallas, Texas says that the answer to “Can you do the job?” accounts for the first 20% of the hiring decision.  In short, a candidate must convince an interviewer that she/he is capable of doing the job very early in the interview process.

           

How do you put together a lesson plan?  What do you do when a lesson isn’t working?  Describe one of your best lessons?  What will you bring to the teaching profession?  Why should we hire you?  Why do you want to be a teacher?  What did you learn in student teaching?  Please don’t make the mistake of assuming that these are easy questions – they are not!  They are often asked near the beginning of the interview because they help “set up” the rest of the interview.  Positive answers to these questions help ensure the success of the entire interview.

INSIDER TIP:      Every interviewer wants to know about the potential and specific benefits you will bring to the school or district.  Thus, it is important to give examples of your strengths that relate to the school’s needs.  For example, instead of saying “I like to teach science,” say something like, “I’ve been known to get even the most reluctant of students interested in science through a ‘hands-on, minds-on’ inquiry-based approach to science education.”