Teaching Job Interviews > Reviews (2)

All interviews are scary and stressful, but teaching job interviews are so intense that you are likely to feel like collapsing in a heap by the end of the day! I finish my four year teacher training degree in a week and have therefore spent my time since January searching for a teaching job to suit me. After one unsuccessful interview, I finally got offered a job two weeks ago at a local Secondary school after a gruelling but successful interview. Whilst we did receive some University input on the interview process, I would have loved to have known all the gruesome details of what a teaching job interview involves before being thrown into them. Therefore, I am writing this review of the process for anyone who may be heading towards interviews, as well as those supporting family members doing so, or simply just those who may be interested in the whole traumatic experience!! I understand that not all sections will be of interest to anyone so will break it up into chunks for ease.

What will the interview involve?

Teaching interviews vary from school to school, although generally they will always include a tour of the school, formal interview and you will be expected to teach a given topic for a duration of time so that they can observe your teaching skills. Most interviews now also include a pupil interview where you will be left with a panel of students who will interrogate you with their own questions (or in some cases, scripted ones from the school!) Some interviews will also require you to give a short presentation on a topic that they give you prior to the interview. You should expect the whole interview process to take up the majority of the school day. On interviews where there are a lot of candidates shortlisted, they may do interviews and the teaching activities in the morning and then send some of the unsuccessful candidates home there and then, leaving the remainder to be interviewed again in the afternoon in order for them to make their decision, although this is less common.

Preparation

As with any interview, it is very important that you are prepared. The majority of schools will give you the final information at short notice which is annoying, but remember that all the other candidates will in the same boat. Once you have been offered an interview the school will send you details on what they require of you. This will include the details of the teaching activity you will need to prepare, as well as whether a presentation will be required. Schools are often quite vague with the information regarding the teaching task, apparently this can be deliberate as a sort of test to see which candidates will use their own initiative and contact the school for more details. In order to have all the information you need to prepare, make sure you know:

• The year group you will be teaching
• The number of pupils in the class
• How long you are expected to teach for
• Their ability levels and the ability range across the class
• Any special educational needs that you will need to cater for
• What facilities will be available to you- eg will you have an interactive whiteboard, which type, *What resources will the children have access to, does the whiteboard have speakers etc.

• Whether the children have done any prior work on the topic you are expected to teach.
• Which course the class are doing – eg – GCSE, Diploma etc

Once you have all of this information you will be able to start planning your teaching activity. Some schools will ask you to teach a for an hour, some half an hour and the really mean ones will ask you for just 10 or 20 minutes! In my first interview I was expected to teach for 30 minutes and it was hard to break this into a three part lesson (starter, main and plenary) but my second interview task was 20 minutes which was incredibly hard to plan for. Remember that you want to show how you teach and how you interact with the children, but don’t try and cram every thing into the teaching task. If you over complicate it for yourself then there are more things to go wrong! Make sure all your resources are prepared and printed – its best not to rely on photocopying them when you arrive at the school as there is not likely to be time and it may make you look disorganised. Ensure that you have a full written lesson plan, even if you are only teaching for 10 or 20 minutes. Show the balance of teacher centred stuff and pupil centred stuff, as well as any differentiation and assessment for learning. Print copies of your lesson plan and resources for the people that will be observing you – this will make you look well prepared and if things don’t quite go to plan they can see what was intended. With both of my interviews I found it hugely beneficial to run through the lesson with a friend of family member prior to the interview. This helped me check that my timing was ok, get an idea of the pace I would need to keep and it meant that by the time I had to teach the lesson for real I felt like I had already done it once and felt quite confident about it. If you are expected to do a presentation, make sure it looks good and that you are well practised so that your mind wont go blank. I found it useful to take key note cards to prompt me if I was struggling. It is also useful to make sure you are prepared for the questions you are likely to be asked in both the pupil and the more formal interviews.

Make sure you have everything ready the night before. Triple check that you have all the resources etc in your bag. Whilst some schools will prepare a lunch for you it is worth making sure you take a lunch with you. You don’t want a rumbling stomach in your interview! Don’t take anything that will make you smell – so a tuna sandwich is probably not the best idea! Similarly, don’t take anything that will leave you covered in crumbs! I suggest taking a large bottle of water as although you will be offered drinks you will spend the whole day talking and what with being nervous, you will need plenty of water! Take anything you might need in the day, painkillers and antihistamines were ones I found useful – painkillers because the trauma of the whole day left me with a head ache and antihistamines to keep my hayfever at bay. It may also be worth taking some cheap spare pens and pencils for the irritating little oiks that will stare blankly at you saying “cant do it, aint got a pen”!.

Don’t forget to take your qualification certificates, your current CRB and proof of identification.

What to wear

Ok so common sense should stop you turning up in jeans or a bikini but don’t forget that what you wear to the interview is a statement about you! Obviously you need to look smart and it is expected that you would wear formal trousers or a smart skirt. Some candidates at the interviews I have been to wear a full suit. Men of course don’t have much choice as they will need to wear a shirt and tie with a suit jacket or smart jumper. For women, deciding what to wear can be a stressful process! It is best to minimise the amount of flesh on display. Make sure that you can bend over without flashing some poor unsuspecting adolescent boy. Try to avoid the all black and white look as it wont make you stand out. Include a bit of colour if possible. Wear shoes that look smart, but shoes will be comfortable. At my first interview I made the fatal mistake of wearing high heeled boots that weren’t very comfortable, only to find out that the school was spread across four floors and I was to spent most of the day walking up and down stairs in agony! For primary school interviews you might get away with looking a little less formal but its best to look too smart than too casual!

The Portfolio

For interviews in a Primary School you will be expected to bring with you a portfolio of your teaching experiences. The portfolio should include examples of lesson planning, pupils work, photos showing what you have done etc.

The portfolio is not an essential requirement of Secondary school interviews (although more schools are requesting them these days) but it has many benefits if you get time to put one together. Mine was in a smart black A3 presentation book. It contained a table of contents at the front so that I could quickly locate a page in the interview. The first place was a mind map type diagram of what I believed an effective teacher was and how I show this. I then had a page showing how I could meet the five outcomes of the Every Child Matters Agenda in the teaching of my subject area. I included a couple of pages on my primary experiences with photos and examples of work, alongside statements of what I had done in my teaching experience. I had similar sections for Key Stages 3, 4 and 5 which I found particularly useful in interview as when asked about my experiences of teaching certain topics etc I could open my portfolio and show examples to support what I was saying. I also included sections on the cross-curricular aspects of my subject and how I have made provision for children with special educational needs. I included examples of planning and children’s work, alongside positive comments from my placement reports.

I am very glad that I made a portfolio, although it wasn’t essential for either of my interviews it gave me something to talk about in interview if I was struggling on a question. It showed the interviewers that I was keen to showcase my abilities and was well prepared.

I would definitely recommend that you produce one even if the school do not ask for one. At the end of the interview, it is worth pointing it out to the interviewers (if you haven’t done already) and asking if they would like to have a look at it as they are likely to hang on to it for the rest of the day which will keep you in their thoughts which is hopefully a good thing!

Arriving at the school.

Remember that first impressions are important. Ensure that you arrive at the school in good time. Work out how long it will take you to get there, where you can park, where the main entrance is etc. You wont make the best impression if you screech your car into the headteachers parking space, and run red-faced and panting into the school reception after the time you were meant to arrive! Also be aware that everyone, particularly the receptionist will know that you are there for interview and you will be watched and judged from the moment you are in sight of the school! Introduce yourself confidently and politely to the receptionist and look smiley and cheerful! At both of my interviews I was joined by the other candidates in the reception area of the school. Be polite to them, talk to them and show that you are a sociable and confident person. In my first interview I noticed the deputy head teacher watching us candidates from his office and making notes! Bare in mind that if you are left in the staffroom at anytime you still need to be making a good impression. Talk to other staff, be polite and don’t sit huddled up in the corner looking like a frightened rabbit!

The Tour of the School

The tour of school may seem like it is for your benefit, which to a degree it is – if you don’t like the school then you wont want to accept a job there! But remember that they are watching you still! When you are taken into classrooms, where appropriate, speak to the children, show how well you can interact with children that you don’t know, ask about the work they are doing, show and interest, offer support if you can. Ask questions as you are being shown around and comment on things that you like – if you think the displays are good around the school – mention it! If you are being shown around with a lot of other candidates then don’t hide at the back and not enter the classrooms, avoid looking arrogant but try and keep at the front and keep eye contact with the person showing you round as they talk about the school.

The Teaching Activity

I spent hours preparing for my interview teaching acitivites and it was the part that I was most nervous about until the moment that I walked into the classroom! If your training has been good then teaching is your forte and you should feel comfortable doing it. Be prepared for the fact that you might not have much time to set up for the lesson – it is likely that you will be pretty much thrown into it! In both my interviews I was literally thrown into the room and had a second to put in my memory stick and open my powerpoint for the interactive whiteboard.

Make sure that you have a watch as one of the things they will be looking for is good pace and in both my interviews, there was no clock in the room!

Show confidence, be assertive and make your expectations for behaviour and learning clear. In my second interview, the behaviour of the class was very challenging, but the people observing me knew that and were impressed by the way that I dealt with it. Try and show your teaching style as best as possible so that the school can make a decision on whether you are really right for them. Don’t try an cram too much in and give heaps of praise. It is not uncommon for pupils that you teach to be asked for their opinions on your teaching so try and make the lesson enjoyable.

The teaching aspect of the interview can be structured in a variety of ways. In my first interview, I was to teach the first 30 mins of the lesson and one of the other candidates was to teach the second half. In my second interview there were three candidates and we were all to teach the same group. I was unlucky enough to have the last teaching slot so the poor class had already been taught for 20 mins by one candidate, 20 mins by another candidate and then had to endure 20 mins of me on the same topic that they had just been taught twice already! Be prepared for this – bare in mind that the class may have already just been taught the same topic once or more by other candidates so have plenty of extension task incase they find it too easy. It is also worth considering that you may not be observed by the same person/people for the whole of your lesson. My friend was asked to teach and hour lesson whilst one of the other candidates taught another class at the same time. Halfway through the lesson the observers swapped over to enable them to observe each candidate.

In both my interviews the teaching part went really well and I felt pleased with how well I had done in such a difficult situation of not knowing the class. However, if it is a disaster don’t let it eat away at you, try and find the opportunity to explain why you felt it hadn’t gone to plan and what you would do differently. It may not be your fault – for example – in my second interview I was told that the class had weak literacy skills. It turned out that they were a nurture group and literally couldn’t read or write. Luckily I had catered for this and made sure that I had lots of visual resources for support, however a friend on my course had been in a similar situation and it had gone badly, but by explaining to the panel what went wrong and how she could have improved it they were satisfied that she was being reflective and she actually got the job.

The Presentation

The first interview I went to involved a presentation. The topic was on why my subject specialism is important for children to have successful futures. It was a five minute presentation and I prepared a powerpoint presentation with the key points that I was going to talk about. My presentation was good, perfectly planned and well practices but went hideously wrong in the interview!

I was taken by surprise as I was asked to wait outside of the interview room whilst they took my memory stick off me and went into the room to open my PowerPoint. I was invited into the room and they literally pointed to my presentation on the screen and said “ok start”. It shocked me to be thrown straight into it and all the clever, well thought out things that I had to say left my brain. Having had no time to compose myself meant that my notes were in my bag so I completely messed it up. I rambelled for what I assume was five minutes, repeating myself and babbling with a shakey voice! My nerves got the better of me and it really was a disaster. I was thrown straight from this to the interview and it meant that I was stressed and stupidly nervous throughout the interview – the knock on effect was that I came across badly in the interview too due to being so shaken by the dodgy presentation and as a result didn’t get the job! My teaching was good and they were happy with that part so it goes to show that if you are asked to do a presentation it can be quite important!
My advice would be to practise it lots, be well prepared and if it goes wrong try and not let it get to you like it did me! Its funny how you can be so confident in standing in front of children and presenting a lesson to them, yet the moment your audience is a few adults you can turn into a bag of nerves!

The Pupil Interview

The pupil interview is that part that I felt most confident about! The pupil interview will usually not involve the adults that are interviewing you, either you will be alone with a panel of students or there may be a member of support staff there to support the pupils. The questions they ask will depend on what they have been told. In one school the pupils asked questions like: “if you could dye your hair pink, green or brown, what would you choose and why?” these questions are more for them to assess your personality so be interesting and humerous. In my second interview I was asked what I liked about the school, how I would deal with a difficult pupil, what my experiences of teaching were and other questions about myself and my teaching. I quite enjoyed the pupil interviews as I am confident in my interactions with pupils and was able to get them on board. In both interviews, the feedback was that pupils had unanimously voted for me! Remember to ask them questions aswell – what do they like about their school and things like that. It will be their answers that are the closest to the truth, so anything you want to find out to make your decision of whether this is somewhere you want to work – they are the people to ask! Just be yourself and show confidence. Don’t be afraid to joke with them, you want to get them to like you!

The Formal Interview

The formal interview will usually take place after you have taught your lesson so that they can interrogate you on it! The format is generally the same and you will be called into an office and either sat round a table or sat on a chair opposite the panel.

The interview panel will usually consist of the head teacher or deputy head, the head of department and sometimes a governor, other headship team member or teacher. They tend to take turns in asking you questions and will make notes as you talk. Whilst it can be quite daunting, if you are well prepared you should have worked out answers to the most common questions already so it is just the ones specific to the school etc that will be more difficult. The most common questions that I and colleagues on my course have been asked at interview were:

• Why do you want to teach?
• What do you think about the school?
• How do you think your lesson went?
• How do you incorporate Every Child Matters into your teaching?
• What do you enjoy most about teaching your subject?
• Tell us about the best lesson you have ever taught?
• What are your opinions about current educational issues?
• What skills and interests do you have that you feel this school will be interested in?
• What do you have to offer this school?
• Where do you see yourself in 10 years time?
• How would you deal with…..(they give a scenario on behaviour etc for you to respond to)
• How would you motivate pupils who have lost interest in the subject?

Obviously there are plenty more questions that could be asked although most interviews will be around 30 minutes long so you wont have to answer too many questions. If you don’t understand a question – don’t waffle some dumb answer – ask for the question to be rephrased (politely!). Smile lots and make eye contact with all of the panel. If you have a portfolio, try and use it when answering questions. When asked about my experiences in teaching Key Stage 4 I was able to show and discuss examples from my portfolio which was useful and helped illustrate my answers. Most importantly, try and stay calm and be confident. For each question think about what they are looking for you to say, and draw on your experience.

The final question is likely to be along the lines of “Would you accept the job if you were offered it?”. This is one that you will need to answer honestly. Don’t say yes if you aren’t sure! In my second interview I was asked this question, I said yes, and the deputy head said “good because you got it!”. I wasn’t expecting this as common procedure is for them to ring in the evening once they have discussed the interviews. So I sat there like a goldfish for about 30 seconds until someone got up and shook my hand!

The Job Offer/Feedback

As mentioned above, usually the school will ring in the evening with their decision. If you are offered the job you can verbally accept it there and then or ask for a day to consider the offer. If you verbally accept the offer you will be asked to confirm this in writing, however it is important to acknowledge that verbal acceptance is almost as good as a contract in this situation and if you accept the job and then change your mind it will not be considered professional and could cause you problems as schools talk to each other! If you have asked for time to decide and then conclude that you do not want the job, you should let the school know as soon as possible as they cannot offer the job to the next candidate until you have officially declined.

The school should also ring the unsuccessful candidates and will offer feedback on what you did well as well as why you didn’t get the job! This will usually be the same evening as the interview unless they are interviewing over a couple of days. Everyone is entitled to the feedback so if it is not automatically given to you when they ring, it is perfectly acceptable to ring the next day and request it. I do recommend this as the feedback I got from my first interview was quite useful as it made me realise that I had to control my nerves in the interview and presentation bit!

To Conclude

I am absolutely delighted to have been given my first teaching job in a school that I like! I am very glad that I only had to endure the interview process twice as it really was the most emotionally draining and stressful day of my life (each time!). The interview process for teaching jobs is very gruelling and traumatic but you will feel so proud of yourself once you get offered a job! My final point of advice is to remember that there is a lot of competition for teaching jobs, particularly in nice schools! The “credit crunch” has pushed a lot more people into teaching as it is one of the most secure professions in the current climate, and so competition is ever increasing. If you don’t get shortlisted or aren’t successful at interview then don’t feel too disheartened, its not nice feeling rejected by given the amount of people that apply it can take several interviews before you find the school that is right for you.

Im not going to lie to you, teaching interviews are horrible - rest assured that if you are going for one you will hate it!! But the whole process will be rewarding in the end.