When interviewing for a teaching position, so many things compete for the forefront of your mind: how to dress, what to say, where to look, whether you will know or remember how to best answer questions and more. Aside from the basics, such as showing up on time and dressing professionally, there are three basic things that are essential for having a great interview: Eye contact, sincerity, and a prepared question.
Maintaining Eye Contact During an Interview
There is nothing more bothersome to an interviewer than an interviewee who is too nervous to make eye contact for more than a split second at a time. The constant shifting of the gaze is enough to make even the interviewer jittery. On the other hand, when an interviewee makes steady eye contact with each member of the interview team, it portrays confidence and a sense of calm.
It is very nerve wracking as an interviewee to make good eye contact with the interviewer, often because the interviewer’s job is observing, so he or she will be watching the interviewee a lot. To combat nerves, you can practice answering interview questions with family or friends and have them simply stare at you while you answer. You may find this terribly distracting at first, but with practice, you will be able to focus on your answers and remain calm and confident.
Conveying Sincerity During a Teacher Interview
Interview tips often include confidence and energy. Teachers need to appear to be fun and excited about teaching. The problem with these tips is that not all good teachers are super energetic or bubbly in personality. It is better to not misrepresent your personality during an interview and often attempting to do so will come across as fake. Instead, think about how you can be sincere.
Sincerity coming from an energetic and bubbly personality will include excited responses and lots of movement when answering interview questions. Sincerity coming from a more reserved or quiet personality will be much calmer. Some universal signs of sincerity include leaning forward slightly when speaking, making eye contact and smiling and showing fondness of memories of past teaching experiences when answering questions that relate to previous experience.
Preparing a Question for the End of the Interview
At the end of any interview, you will be asked if you have any questions. It is important at this point in time to have prepared a question for the interviewer. This will demonstrate that you have done your research and that you are indeed interested and invested in the school or district. If you simply cannot come up with a question (not recommended!), the only appropriate response is “not at this time”, which leaves the door open for more questions later.
Questions that are appropriate to ask include opportunities to become involved in extra-curricular activities, whether there is a particular activity that you would like to be a part of but could not find information about (like yearbook or art club), and similar questions. These questions will provide additional incentive for the school to hire you by providing subtle information that you will be a larger part of the school community than simply a classroom teacher.
Preparing for a teacher interview is even more important in today’s economy when hundreds of teachers are losing jobs all across the nation. There are districts that will hire teachers, but the competition is stronger and the candidates for open positions need to prove that they are the best fit for the job.
Jennifer Wagaman - Jennifer is a mother of 2 and has both public, private and administrative experience in the education field.
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