Interview Tips & Questions
Interview Tips
- Know yourself, what you want and how you will get there
- Research the school district prior to the appointment, check out their web site
- Know what the school district needs and match your strengths
- Dress professionally
- Bring resumes, references, and portfolio
- Arrive on time…10 minutes early
- Make allies of everyone
- Concentrate on the first impression, use direct eye contact and a firm handshake
- Establish rapport, be optimistic, sincere, enthusiastic and open
- Express your willingness to learn and enthusiasm for your profession
- Discuss what YOU can offer them…not what THEY can do for you
- Be yourself
- Follow-up with a thank you letter
Possible Interview Questions
- Tell me about yourself
- What are your greatest strengths?
- What are your weaknesses, areas of improvement?
- What have you done in the past three months to improve in these areas?
- Why are you interested in our school?
- What college courses did you enjoy the most? The least? Why?
- What activities did you participate in during your college years?
- Who influenced you to pursue a career in education?
- What was the single greatest highlight of your college career?
- What is your philosophy of education?
- What are some of the objectives you hope to achieve in your first year?
- What are your thoughts on classroom management and discipline?
- Define for me the role of the principal?
- How should parents be involved in the instructional process?
- What kinds of information do you provide to parents?
- How do you resolve peer conflicts?
- Who or what influenced you to become an educator?
- What experience with technology do you have in the classroom?
- What makes you the best candidate for the position?
- What are your interests outside of teaching?
Behavioral Interview Questions (STAR)
| Situation: | Pick the situation that best fits the focus of the question |
| Task: | Explain the task you were trying to complete |
| Action: | What action did you take to complete the task? |
| Result: | What was the end result of your actions? |
- Describe a lesson plan which was particularly successful by walking me through each stage from planning to delivery
- Tell me about a time in which you had to motivate a reluctant learner
- Describe how you provide examples from life experiences to your students
- Tell me about a time in which you had to change your scheduled lesson plans at a moment’s notice
- Describe how you have differentiated a lesson to accomodate varying student needs
- Tell me about the most challenging classroom management situation you have encountered
- Describe the toughest discipline situation you encountered and how you handled it
- Give me an example of a time in which you had to be relatively quick in coming to a critical decision
- Describe in detail your best and worst days in a classroom
- Provide me with a specific occasion in which you conformed to a policy with which you did not agree
- Describe the teaching strategies you have used to present subject matter
- Describe for me your classroom management plan and how you would plan to implement it
- Tell me about a time where you were confronted by an angry individual on an issue, how did you respond
- Describe for me specific strategies you would use to assist students who are struggling in reading and mathematics
- Explain a situation where you had to go “above and beyond the call of duty” to complete a task
- Describe the most significant report/presentation that you have completed
- Give me an example of a time where you disagreed with a policy/decision of your employer/supervisor
- Describe a time where your work/performance was criticized by a supervisor
- What was the situation, and how did you respond?
Questions You Can Ask a School District
- What is the student/teacher ratio in your district?
- Do you encourage teachers to obtain advanced degrees?
- How long have you (the interviewer) been with the district?
- What types of internal/external training opportunities are available?
- Has your organization previously hired Central Graduates?
- How would you describe the level of community/parental support?
- What have you most/least liked about working for (name of school)?
- What allowances are made for new supplies and materials?
- What are the growth opportunities for the community?
- Does the school district have a mission statement or philosophy of education?
- How does the rest of the interview process work from here?
- What are you most proud of about your school?
- What were your school's goals for last year?
- How do teachers integrate technology into the classroom?
- What priorities would you have for me as a new staff member?
- Do you offer a mentoring program?
- How does the school district support professional development?
- What extracurricular activity opportunities might be available?
