I know that some people are still interviewing for those last minute jobs.  One thing you can do to get hired is to be good at interviewing.  You can practice to become a better interviewee by practicing your responses to some typical interview questions.

I have jumped around a bit in my international teaching career (still looking for that perfect place where I want to stay for 3-5 years) so I have averaged about 5 interviews a year since 2010.  I have written down some questions that were asked of me, my fellow teachers, and that I have found on various blogs and forums.

HINT: Remember to write out and practice giving answers to these questions, but don’t practice so much that you sound like a robot when you answer!

I find that questions are normally focused around you and your history, the school, the students, the parents, and the country so I’ve organized them that way.

All About You

– Why do you want to teach at our school? Why should we hire you?

– What has been your most positive teaching experience?

– What has been your most negative teaching experience? What would you change?

– What is your philosophy of education?

– What have you recently done in education of an interesting or innovative nature?

– What motivates you?

– What professional books, blogs, or journals have you read to keep abreast of educational news and best practices?

– How would your students describe you?

– What is your greatest strength/weakness as a teacher?

– What are 3 words that your students/admin/close friends would use to describe you?

– Describe a typical lesson in your classroom. (Going through the step by step overview)

– Describe a successful lesson and how you knew it went well.

– Why did you want to be a teacher?

– What is a difficult situation you faced and how did you deal with it?

– What do you want to teach__________(grade level) students? What do you like about them?

– How do you use technology in your classroom?

– How do you use assessment in your classroom? Describe how you used the information you gained from an assessment in your instruction.

– How do you address the needs of English language learners?

– How do you integrate other subjects into your units?

– How do you approach classroom discipline?

– What is your favorite essential question (UBD model)?

Parents

– How do you communicate student progress to parents?

– How do you normally communicate with parents?

– How have you involved parents in the learning process?

Students

– How do you handle the different abilities of students in your class?

– What techniques have you found useful in individualizing learning in your class?

-Describe one or two techniques you use to motivate students. How do you motivate a student to learn a concept they do not do well in?

– Describe a difficult student you had and how you handled it.

– How do you handle a student who is a consistent behavioral problem in your class?

– If you met your students 20 years from now, what would you want them to remember about you?

School

– Why do you want to teach at __________ (school)?

– How have you contributed to the development of the total school program in your current position?

– How do you structure your classroom to achieve maximum benefit from teacher/student contact?

– What kind of extracurricular activities would you be interested in being part of?

– What are the talents/expertise you can bring to your team?

– Why are you leaving your current school?

– What did you like the most about your current school?

– What was the most difficult thing about your current school?

– How would you implement the school’s core values into your classroom?

– What are your thoughts on collaboration with other staff?

Country/City Specific

– Why do you want to live in __________ (country)?

– Tell me what you already know about the country and culture.

– What kinds of things do you like to do outside of school?

– Do you have any concerns about moving to this country?

The End of the Interview

– Is there anything else you feel that you want me to know about you, that we haven’t had a chance to talk about?

– Do you have any questions for us?

Remember to always ask questions during your interview because it shows that you are truly interested.  I will leave those questions for my next blog post!  Check out this book for great ways to answer some of these questions (free with Kindle Unlimited).

Have I forgotten any important questions? Please comment with any questions you think I should add to the list.

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