Interviewing Suggestions

I've been on a few interviews for an elementary school position, but I'm wondering what are the best techniques to impressing the principal, teacher panel, and superintendent.

I also wanted to know what kind of questions you've been asked in an interview. A lot of the questions I asked were situational based. For example: "You're a 5th grade teacher. You have a student who is acting out and disrupting the class. What do you do?"

My last question is what do you think makes the difference in getting through the interviewing process: experience, connections, or personality? Obviously they all help, but which one do you think makes the final cut?

Good questions. I just gave some old fashioned advice to one of my college students who was going out for an interview in which she got the job. These suggestions may strike you as odd, but they work and are based on solid research.

1. By the time you are being interviewed, the school or other employer has already decided you probably have the necessary skills, so that question is not always on the table.

2. The real question is personal chemistry.

3. Happily or sadly, you can "game" the chemistry issue by two tricks. First, check out the employer before you go for your interview and be sure to dress just like the people who work there. They will feel you fit in if you look like them. Second, keep your head moving. Psychological research has shown that interviewers will form all kinds of positive impressions if you keep moving your head.

4. It does sound as if you have had some good interviews in which serious questions have been asked. Obviously the question about students who "act out" is getting at your age and maturity and also telling you something about the challenges the school is facing. I'd suggest that you respond to a story question with a story answer. Confidently describe a time you managed a tough student, while quickly going over in your head a principle or two that you ought to demonstrate. As a person who hired professors for years, if I asked a question like that, I would have been looking for a relaxed answer that showed me the prospective employee had seen it all and could comfortably manage any challenge.

You will no doubt have noticed that there is a problem with the hiring scenario I have described. When the main question is personal chemistry, or how a new person will fit the group, the unspoken agenda works against hiring people who are different in any way: younger, older, of a different race or ethnicity. That's how structural discrimination works. Once you know that, however, you can try to set people at ease and show how well you fit--even as you may understand that you may be swimming upstream.

There are lots of different types of interviews. What I have said applies best to the informal individual or group meeting. Panel interviews that are run like Olympic competitions can be different. Good luck.

Thank you very much Thomas for your extremely informative response!

I had never heard of that head movement trick. It makes sense though. I have tried to make sure that I making eye contact with everyone in the room (when it is a panel) throughout the interview. I guess the trick is to do that without looking like a bobble head. I also try to make sure to keep eye contact with the person asking the question, while glancing at the others when I respond.

Thank you for also confirming that it sounds like I've been doing the right thing by responding to scenerio questions with my experience. Sometimes the questions are difficult though, so I guess that refers back to your comment about giving a relaxed answer. One colleague of mine said she was asked, "What would you do if you found a knife in a student's desk?" She said she responded fairly well to the answer, but it did clue her in that school may not be for her if they are asking that kind of question.

The job market for teachers (as with many fields now) is very competitive and hard here in Massachusetts. It's hard to make yourself stand out. It's especially difficult becasue the panel discussions do seem to run like "olympic competitions."

Thank you again for your expertise. I hope it has also helped others as well.