1. Check the attitude at the door. You really don’t want to come off as a diva or someone that criticizes other too much.  And if you complain in an interview in front of people that don’t know you that well, that’s what it’ll look like.  Be professional and focus on the positive.

Do Your Homework for Your Teaching Job Interview

1. Do your homework! Lawyers say you should never ask a question that you don’t already know the answer to.  I think the same should go for job interviews.  Be ready with questions, but make them informed questions.  Ask the interviewer(s) questions about things you discover about the school during your research.  But find this information and think of your questions before the interview.  Don’t expect to do this on the fly.

1. Don’t drink a lot of coffee before the interview. Ok, I know I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s worth repeating.  You don’t want to be jittery or nervous acting in the actual meeting.  And you don’t want to have to raise your hand to be excused!  There’s no way to know if the interview will go long and a bathroom break will be offered.  Assume there will be no breaks.

Be nice, be informed, and don’t be jittery.  Use common sense when you prepare for your teacher job interview.  You will most likely be interviewed by teaching professionals.  They will show you respect if you act like a professional.

Getting That Teaching Job Will Require A Little Homework

There are Common Teacher Interview Questions you can expect to be asked.  You can find sample questions all over the internet.  Get a good list and start practicing.  After you have the answers in your head, it’s a good idea to rehearse your answers out loud.  Then find a friend to ask you the questions.  When you’re in the actual interview, you’ll be glad you did.

There are several topics that are common in teacher interviews.

Topics include:

General Teaching Questions, such as “Tell us a little about yourself,” and “What age/grade do you enjoy working with the most?  Why?”

Management and Discipline Questions. “What kinds of consequences are appropriate for misbehavior in your classroom?” and “What would you do if you do if a student was not handing in homework on a regular basis?”

Assessments, Standardized Tests and Meeting Standards. “How do you prepare students for standardized tests or state tests?” and “Describe how you might assess a student’s higher-order thinking skills.”

Are you ready for those?  You’d better be.  These are some, but not all of the topics that will be discussed in the teacher interview.

Teaching Job Interview

Anyone that has been through the teacher interview process probably has a good idea about the process.  But if this is your first go-round, or if you haven’t interviewed in a while, you may stand out like a sore thumb.  You need to act with confidence.  The interviewers will watch your body language. Will you shift in your seat? Will you look around the room (hoping to find the right answer to their questions)? It’s not a formal thing. Observing those types of things is just human nature.

If you need help preparing for your next teaching interview, you can try www.teacherjobinterview.info as a good place to help you focus your efforts and prepare for an interview. There’s a free sample download you can get right away!  It includes some Common Teacher Interview Questions and advice on how to answer them.

The interviewers are hoping you will do well. They want to find a good teacher.  They will give you every opportunity to do well. But don’t make it hard on them. Be prepared and be confident.  Make them glad they are interviewing you!

Wear a smile when you walk into the room! You should rehearse your entrance at home. But don’t look rehearsed!  (Yeah, it’s hard!  But it’s not impossible.)  While it’s not likely you’ll ever be comfortable walking into an interview, you need to be comfortable “acting like yourself.”

As a teacher you do, or you will do, a form of public speaking.  Every day. You will need to show that you have the confidence, and the ability, to articulate your thoughts. Go ahead, tell them you’re nervous.  They’ll get it. But be done with it and don’t use that as an excuse.