Teachers all over are starting to make decisions about their plans for next school year, and fresh, new teachers are donning their caps and gowns...that means teacher job hunt season has begun! Searching for a job can be stressful, but with the right preparations, you can make it a little easier on yourself. I've served on my school's interview committee a number of times, and a fresh job hunt has me reflecting on interviews I've conducted, as well as times I have been interviewed. I want to share a few little nuggets that can help you succeed in your teacher job interview.
1. Be confident. Be you.
If you're feeling nervous, use positive self-talk. Believe in yourself! You've got this! Also, stay true to the best version of you. If you pretend to be someone you're not in an interview, you might end up working at a school that really isn't the best fit for you. Just go in there and give it the best you've got!
2. Think of it as a two-way interview: is this school a good fit for you?
Your interview will probably be conducted by a panel of people from the school. I hear in other fields interviews can be one-on-one, but in my experience, that is not the case for educators. Your interview panel could include some combination of administration (principal, assistant principal), instructional coaches, support staff, classroom teachers, or maybe even representatives of the school district. In most of the interviews I've been involved in, the panel has included at least one teacher from the grade level team you are interviewing to be a part of: somebody who is in that room specifically to give feedback on whether you are someone they would feel confident working with directly.
This is great news. In fact, the more people you're interviewing with, the greater your opportunity to see a snapshot of what the school is like as a whole. Treat this like a two-way interview. Yes, the panel is trying to decide if you are a good fit for the school, but you also get to decide if the school is a good fit for you. Pay attention to how the panel interact with each other and what they say about the school. Do the members of the panel seem excited when they talk about the school? Does the team seem to have a good rapport? Keeping in mind that your interview panel might be nervous and on their most formal behavior (like you probably are), can you see yourself being a member of their team?
3. Research the school and district.
I don't just mean read the "about us" section of their website...I mean really research. Your research should have three goals: collect a few nuggets of information that you can slide into your interview to show your panel you've prepared for this interview, come up with questions you can ask in the interview (see tip 4), and determine if this school is a place you want to work. Other than the obvious parts of the website, I like to look for: school report card, parent newsletters, classroom websites, library website, and student/family handbooks. All of these resources will help you get an idea of the school's dynamic and priorities. In North Carolina, where I began my teaching career, all schools are required to publicly display their School Improvement Plan on their website, which has a wealth of information, including what the school is doing well and what they want to improve. Teacher working conditions surveys are also a great source of information if you're looking in a state that uses one.
4. Prepare to ask at least two genuine questions about the school.
Asking some questions in the interview shows that you're interested in the position. Consider asking questions that give you an opportunity to tell them a little bit more about yourself, like: "I really enjoy collaborating closely with my teammates, can you tell me a little bit about how PLCs work at your school?" or "I like finding opportunities to involve parents in the classroom, do you find that your parent community are interested in volunteering at the school?" Here are some questions that are important to me that I've asked in interviews:
- What support/resource staff does the school have (e.g., special education, English as a second language, social worker)?
- What does planning look like? Do teachers plan together or independently?
- What technology is available to students and teachers at your school?
- How much planning time do teachers have each week?
- What systems does the school have in place to support students who are performing below grade level? Students who need an extra challenge?
- What types of professional development are available to teachers? Has the school had a particular focus for professional development lately?
5. Practice responding to some common interview questions.
You can't prepare for every single question your interviewers will ask you because they will likely ask questions specific to their school and their mission, but you can at least brainstorm some ideas in advance for some topics you will almost certainly need to talk about.
Because your panel will draw conclusions about you based on your answers to all of their questions, try to plan your responses with the end in mind: what do you want them to know about you? Sometimes I like to jot down some notes about aspects of my practice I want to be sure to talk about (e.g., "I want to make sure I tell my interviewers about how I incorporate art in my classroom.") and then look for ways I can incorporate those pieces into different questions I might have to answer. Here are some questions I have asked or been asked in teacher job interviews:
- Tell us about yourself.
- Walk us through the process of how you plan a math/reading lesson. How do you know whether students have grasped the material?
- Talk about how you integrate content into your math/reading instruction.
- Tell us about a time when you had a conflict with a colleague, student, or parent, and how you dealt with it.
- Teaching is so rewarding, but can be difficult. What types of things do you do for self-care?
- How do you promote equity in your classroom?
- What types of leadership qualities/experience do you have?
- What has been your proudest moment as an educator?
- Tell us about how you differentiate for your students' learning needs.
- How do you integrate technology in your instruction?
- What would we see if we walked into your classroom during a reading class?
If you are asked about something you don't have lots of experience with, it's ok to tell the panel so. At a recent job interview, the panel asked me about how I run my reading workshop, which my current school doesn't use. I told my panel that I don't use that model and explained my current reading instruction, all the while trying to connect my instruction to what I know about reading workshop. This showed my interviewers that I have at least some knowledge of their curriculum model and that the transition from my current method to the school's method is reasonable, which helped them better visualize me as a member of their team.
Best of wishes on your job hunt, teacher! You've got this!
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