A teacher job interview differs from many other job
interviews in one key way. In many other job
interviews, a poor performance can be dismissed as
being unrelated to how the candidate would perform on
a day-to-day basis at the job. For a teacher job
interview, however, the elements of the job interview
directly relate to how well he or she can teach. After
all, in both the job interview and the classroom, the
teacher must convey information to an audience in a
way that the listener both understands and is
motivated by. If the teacher is unable to adequately
put together a presentation of his or her own job and
personal experience in a way that the interviewer is
convinced by, that has a direct correlation to their
ability to present information to students.
For that simple reason, a teacher job interview
deserves a great deal of preparation. As in most
things, the first step is to discover exactly what the
situation is. Just like every other job, some teaching
positions are different from others. You owe it to
yourself to find out as much as you can about the
position that you are interviewing for. Through online
and personal research, discover the official and
unofficial duties of the teaching position, and as
much as you can about the school, the environment, the
students and the rest of the faculty. If you are
replacing a teacher, find out as much as you can about
what that teacher contributed to the school. If, for
instance, the teacher you are replacing coached
volleyball as well as taught, you know that there are
really two vacancies for the position. Chances are
good that the school will give precedence to a
candidate who can fill both pairs of shoes.
Preparation for Teacher Job Interviews
When you have all the information you can gather about
the opening, you are ready to begin preparing for your
teacher job interviews. Take a look at the
requirements and duties and preferences that you were
able to compile in your research. Chances are good
that the questions that you are asked will directly
address these issues and elements. To prepare your
answers to the questions you are likely to be asked,
your strategy should be to take your existing job and
personal experience and turn it into convincing proof
that you can immediately come in and begin doing a
great job for the school.
A great tactic to use in your teacher job interviews
is answering the questions with relevant examples and
anecdotes from your personal and job history. These
anecdotes are particularly strong if they contain a
situation, actions you took and results you achieved
that highlight or dramatize the desired element. To
really make your research and investigations pay off,
tell your stories in a way that the situation, actions
and results match with the target job’s situation,
actions and results as closely as possible. This makes
you appear to be a candidate who has already succeeded
in a similar environment, and strengthens your
candidacy greatly.
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