Congratulations! You finally got the interview at the school you want, or if you are new to teaching you got one of your first interviews, and now you are invited to an interview.
You have so much to show them, and you can’t wait for the right questions so you can strut your stuff…but what are the administrators looking for on the other side?
The Right Fit
This is a hard one to swallow, even for this seven-year high school principal in my twelfth year of administrative experience. You need to know that even if you had the best, rock ‘em, sock ‘em, nailed the landing interview, it still has to be the right fit for the school and for you. The administrators are looking for whether this hire will add value to their school. Thus, one of your goals during the interview is to show what you can bring to the school. What skills, what experience, what can you add to the school?
For example, we interviewed a certified physical education candidate who could coach football and track this spring. On his resume, he taught a math class last year without a certification. It was an outstanding young man who brought some diversity to our campus and who had a good story about how he persevered to where he was today. However, we had recently interviewed a physical education teacher who would also fill a head coach position. It was a better fit to hire the head coach for our campus. We did not have another place to put another physical education certification, it was about fit.
Do Your Research
It is always impressive in interviews when candidates can tell you something about your school. We all have a friend who likes to take the opportunity to name drop, in this case, research drop. Taking the opportunity to add in how you looked through the school’s data, or perused their campus improvement plan, or talked to some people who are familiar with the school shows initiative and a desire to work at that school.
Take that research and then turn it into some experience you have or some program you have been associated with. This will show how you bring something to the school and can address a need the school may have. This will be a common theme in this article, how do you contribute to the school?
Demonstrate a Team-First Approach
Every principal or person in charge of hiring will want to make sure you will maintain the campus culture. In the case of principals who know they need a culture change; they are looking for candidates who will add to their culture.
The goal here is to show how you are a team player, and the school or organization comes first. Give examples of how you and the team worked toward a common goal or better yet, a time when you helped lead a team through a difficult situation.
On a personal note, I am a culture-first principal. I will gladly hire someone who cares for students, works well with others and is coachable with little content experience over a twenty-year successful veteran who will be a curmudgeon and bring my school down.
Patrick Lencioni in his book The Ideal Team Player talks about hiring hungry people (desire to learn), humble (team first), and smart (smart with people). This is a blueprint I discuss with each team I hire with.
Content/Classroom Management
Why has it taken this long into the article to talk about instructional strategies, content, and classroom management? These are all things that can for the most part, be taught.
Most of the successful principals I admire are looking for people who care for kids and are team players. The state of Texas and other places have developed curriculums that can be followed and allow the teacher to just teach.
At some point in the interview, you will either be asked or given the chance to show your experience in the classroom. Maybe talk about your student teaching experience, why a lesson worked so well, how you adjusted the lesson, how you know students are learning, or even a favorite instructional strategy. You need to show the committee some competence in the instructional arena to stay in the running for the job.
A similar approach applies for classroom management. Administrators want you to demonstrate how you handle students. Talk about some procedures you have, how you have handled challenging students, how you are willing to call parents about situations, and how procedures and structure are important.
To put the icing on that cake, remember that relationships with students and good instruction will diffuse 90% or more of any classroom management problems you might have. Relationships and instruction prevent classroom disruptions.
Extra Curriculars
One of the best things an educator candidate can show a school is their willingness to get involved. It shows a desire to help students if you can talk about the different clubs, organizations, athletics, etc., that you were involved in. Then take it to the next level and be willing to start something on that campus or get involved with an existing program already on campus.
This desire or experience you bring to a campus can often be a tiebreaker in deciding to hire. This is a great example of how adding value to a campus could earn you that job.
Ask Questions
Another thing you have to remember is that this is your interview also. You need this to fit as much as they need this to fit. You are each looking for a situation that will make you successful and the school successful.
Thus, ask questions. New teachers, ask about the support you will receive from the school and district. Veteran teachers, ask about the longevity of the teachers at the school. Anyone should ask what the school sees as their biggest challenges and how they are handling them. Turn to the teachers in the room and ask them why they like teaching at that school.
Asking questions is your chance to turn the tables so to speak and put the interview committee on the hot seat. Don’t be aggressive but be curious and ask the questions you want answers to.
Closing Thoughts
Follow your gut! If you leave the interview and don’t have a good feeling about the people you interviewed with, it might not be a good fit. Trust those questions or feelings you still have. Hopefully you walk out of every interview with the feeling that you want to come to work every day with those people, but, that does not always happen.
In the end, take the chance to show how your skills can help the school, show you know the school, demonstrate a team-first philosophy, demonstrate competency with content and classroom management, and how to get involved with students. Doing those as mentioned above will put you in a position to get hired. You can’t control the fit the school is looking for…but you can make sure you make it hard for the school not to hire you!
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