Landing the Teaching Job of Your Dreams Series: Part 1: Interview Tips

Welcome to Part 1 of the “Landing the Teaching Job of Your Dreams Series.” In the series, I will use my experience interviewing for and interviewing to hire to help you land the job you want!  The series will focus on how to ace the interview, how to set yourself apart from the other candidates, and how to share all of the ideas that you have to make learning fun for your students.

Follow the following tips to leave a great impression on the interview committee: 

1. Address your interviewers as Mrs./Mr/Dr.; never use their first name alone when addressing the interviewers. 
2. Make eye contact with all of the individuals on your interview committee as you answer questions. 
3. Bring several copies of your resume to share with the committee. Please do not put them in folders. Print on nice paper with clear, easy to read font. 
4. Prepare questions to ask at the end of the interview. Some suggestions are: 
   1. What is the best part of working at ______ school? 
   2. What are the goals for _____ school for the upcoming school year? 
5. When answering a question, do not ramble on. Practice answering questions on camera, so you can practice answering questions to the fullest without getting off-topic. 
6. Be prepared with examples. If they ask you to explain how you will handle a disruptive student, explain from the beginning to end. Such as: 
   1. To gain parents’ support and limit the number of disruptive students, I will reach out to parents/families at the beginning of the year with a welcome back letter and phone call. Then each week, I will call two students’ parents for a positive call about something they did well that week. That way, when I run into a problem, and I call home, my first call is a negative one. Once I have a disruptive student, I will move towards them, place my hand on their desk. If that does work, I’ll give the class a task and ask the student to see them in the hall. I ask them if something is bothering them and how we can help them focus on learning. If the behavior continues, I will call home to seek the parents’/families’ guidance on what may be happening at home. If the behavior continues, I will seek help from the guidance counselor or a mentor teacher.