A friend of mine once told me that I was very "lucky" to have been selected for a position in a prestigious district and wished me well. I thanked him for his well wishes, but as I thought about his comment, I was struck by how often people attribute good results to good luck. Conversely, many also blame "bad luck" when they experience poor results. As pertains to interviews, the simple fact is that "luck" has little if any role to play.
If you were ever an athlete, or even if you weren't, you know that the big game is always decided primarily on preparation. No matter how talented an individual or team, weak preparation can be their undoing. Similarly, great preparation can raise even average talent to winning levels. The same principle applies to the interview as well. Yet, a significant majority of prospective teachers arrive at their interview having done little or no preparation for the day. You will often hear them say, "I hope I do well," or "I hope I'm ready." That brings us to the point of this article; if you are resting your chances of success on luck and hope, you have already put yourself at a severe disadvantage. You can and must create your own luck by out-preparing every other candidate. Today we will look at how to do just that!
Because you can never know exactly what questions are to be asked at your interview, it may seem that you are always preparing "in the dark" for the big day. Nothing is further from the truth. There are a number of significant steps you can take that will have you walk into that room brimming with confidence and completely ready for anything that comes your way. Let's take these ideas one at a time.
Learn all you can about your school before you even make out the application. Go to the school website, look over state report cards, find brochures or other print material and identify all the important activities and initiatives that are taking place. As you study a school's profile, you will see exactly what things are valued and where they are trying to go in the future. Once you know where the school is making its investments, you can sharpen your answers and comments to closely fit that profile. Most candidates simply fall back onto what they already do and know; you will be able to stand out with a tailored answer that fits the school's precise needs.
Be ready with sharp kickoff and end-game answers. In almost every interview, the first question is an open-ended request for you to describe your background and why you think you will be a great fit for the position. DO NOT just go over a few strong points in your resume and talk about your enthusiasm to be "part of the team." Instead, take all the information you know about what the school values and tie in your background, philosophy, and teaching methodologies directly to those points.
Shape this answer before you ever go to the interview and rehearse it out loud until you know it by heart and are sick of hearing yourself say it. Similarly, the last question usually offers you an opportunity to talk about things the interview may not have covered. Here again, you do not reprise the entire interview. Choose two or three major themes of the school and talk about how you have the capacity and passion to fill those needs. Talk about your desire to be part of the full school program and involve yourself in a wide variety of student activities. As with the opening question, you can script this in advance and rehearse it. You need a great ending that will continue to resonate after you leave.
Prepare yourself for the standard questions that are part of most interviews. You can almost count on hearing questions about lesson design/instructional practice, classroom management, parent relations, and meeting state testing standards. Place a few sample questions on index cards and script out your response on the back. Make sure your response has a few succinct opening ideas followed with a practical classroom example that shows you can put those ideas to work. Wherever possible add in quantitative outcomes that underscore the success of your strategies. Rehearse these answers aloud until they are almost second nature. You will be amazed at how easily you can insert much of the prepared answers into whatever questions you receive. Practice keeping your answer crisp, targeted, and enthusiastic. I assure you such preparation will transfer to your interview day.
Put together a targeted interview portfolio. I will not go into a lot of detail here. But advance preparation of a great portfolio that targets school values while emphasizing your great work with students can often be the game winner. Take the extra time and rehearse how you will present the portfolio with someone. You will quickly become quite adept and quite confident.
These are four steps very few, if any, of the other candidates will take to prepare. I promise you that if you do what is suggested here, you will arrive at that school completely confident and ready to dominate the interview. Let everyone else rely on hope and luck, you have out-prepared them and will be the most formidable candidate the committee is likely to meet.
If you were ever an athlete, or even if you weren't, you know that the big game is always decided primarily on preparation. No matter how talented an individual or team, weak preparation can be their undoing. Similarly, great preparation can raise even average talent to winning levels. The same principle applies to the interview as well. Yet, a significant majority of prospective teachers arrive at their interview having done little or no preparation for the day. You will often hear them say, "I hope I do well," or "I hope I'm ready." That brings us to the point of this article; if you are resting your chances of success on luck and hope, you have already put yourself at a severe disadvantage. You can and must create your own luck by out-preparing every other candidate. Today we will look at how to do just that!
Because you can never know exactly what questions are to be asked at your interview, it may seem that you are always preparing "in the dark" for the big day. Nothing is further from the truth. There are a number of significant steps you can take that will have you walk into that room brimming with confidence and completely ready for anything that comes your way. Let's take these ideas one at a time.
Learn all you can about your school before you even make out the application. Go to the school website, look over state report cards, find brochures or other print material and identify all the important activities and initiatives that are taking place. As you study a school's profile, you will see exactly what things are valued and where they are trying to go in the future. Once you know where the school is making its investments, you can sharpen your answers and comments to closely fit that profile. Most candidates simply fall back onto what they already do and know; you will be able to stand out with a tailored answer that fits the school's precise needs.
Be ready with sharp kickoff and end-game answers. In almost every interview, the first question is an open-ended request for you to describe your background and why you think you will be a great fit for the position. DO NOT just go over a few strong points in your resume and talk about your enthusiasm to be "part of the team." Instead, take all the information you know about what the school values and tie in your background, philosophy, and teaching methodologies directly to those points.
Shape this answer before you ever go to the interview and rehearse it out loud until you know it by heart and are sick of hearing yourself say it. Similarly, the last question usually offers you an opportunity to talk about things the interview may not have covered. Here again, you do not reprise the entire interview. Choose two or three major themes of the school and talk about how you have the capacity and passion to fill those needs. Talk about your desire to be part of the full school program and involve yourself in a wide variety of student activities. As with the opening question, you can script this in advance and rehearse it. You need a great ending that will continue to resonate after you leave.
Prepare yourself for the standard questions that are part of most interviews. You can almost count on hearing questions about lesson design/instructional practice, classroom management, parent relations, and meeting state testing standards. Place a few sample questions on index cards and script out your response on the back. Make sure your response has a few succinct opening ideas followed with a practical classroom example that shows you can put those ideas to work. Wherever possible add in quantitative outcomes that underscore the success of your strategies. Rehearse these answers aloud until they are almost second nature. You will be amazed at how easily you can insert much of the prepared answers into whatever questions you receive. Practice keeping your answer crisp, targeted, and enthusiastic. I assure you such preparation will transfer to your interview day.
Put together a targeted interview portfolio. I will not go into a lot of detail here. But advance preparation of a great portfolio that targets school values while emphasizing your great work with students can often be the game winner. Take the extra time and rehearse how you will present the portfolio with someone. You will quickly become quite adept and quite confident.
These are four steps very few, if any, of the other candidates will take to prepare. I promise you that if you do what is suggested here, you will arrive at that school completely confident and ready to dominate the interview. Let everyone else rely on hope and luck, you have out-prepared them and will be the most formidable candidate the committee is likely to meet.
My name is Robert W. Pollock. I am an educator, with over 34 years experience, a speaker, a consultant, and the author of 'Teacher Interviews. How to Get Them & How to Get Hired!. I have spoken to 1,000's of prospective teachers on how to interview and get the job. I have consulted with numerous schools around the country. Currently I am a professor of Education at Tusculum College, Knoxville, TN, where I also serve as the president of their alumni board.
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