Interview Tips for Teachers

This week, I had the opportunity to participate on the interview committee for my school.  It was such a great experience and made me think about what I can do to make myself more marketable.  I've mentioned it before but my family is moving to Hawaii at the end of November.  It's very exciting BUT also nerve-wracking to think about having to start all over again and hunt for jobs.  

After we got done interviewing, I thought that many of readers in blog land are probably also looking for teaching jobs and are facing the stress of interview committees.  So here are things that might be helpful to think about and consider when interviewing/applying for teaching jobs. 

1.  Make sure your resume is up-to-date.  It can be easy to tell if you have an out-dated resume.  If you are tailoring your resume to specific schools, such as naming the school you are trying to get hired at in your resume, make sure you are sending the resume to the right school.  Don't say you will be a great fit at ABC Elem School and then send it to XYZ Elem School.

2.  Think carefully about who you ask to submit a reference letter for you.  Will this person write a good reference letter?  If you have teaching experience, did you list your last principal as a reference?  It can be a red flag if you do not have your principal listed or if all of your references are fellow teachers.

3.  Think about the questions you might be asked and possible answers before the interview.  Interviews can make people nervous and anxious.  It helps if you have thought about questions beforehand, so you're not caught off guard.  The next few points are some common questions you might be asked.

a.  What does your behavior management plan look like?

b.  How would you structure your literacy block?

c.  How would you motivate an unmotivated student?

d.  How do you communicate with parents?

e.  How do you incorporate technology in your teaching?

4.  Make eye contact with all the people on your interview committee.  Even if the questions are coming from one person, remember the other people on the committee will probably have input into the hiring decision.

5.  Talk about the standards and experiences you have had in the past teaching, interacting with students, and communicating with parents.  Even if you only have student teaching experience, you have things you can talk about that make it more personal.

This website has a forum for people looking for teaching jobs.  The first link at the top has different posts from all over the country that list the types of questions the poster was asked in their interview.  This can give you a good idea of the different kinds of questions asked and lets you think about how you would answer the questions.  Click here to check it out.

Good luck to all of those searching for jobs!