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Career Services and Job Search Information
Interviewing for Teaching Positions
Preparing for an Interview:
The most important way to decrease the feeling of nervousness one gets when facing the prospect of an interview is to prepare. Candidates who know a lot about themselves and the employer's needs are best able to sell themselves.
You will be doing the most talking in this interview, so the first step is to know yourself! Just as people in sales must know their product, you must be able to speak about yourself with confidence. Review your resume and lesson plans or units. Make a list of your strengths. Think about how you might improve on your weaknesses. Think about what you are looking for in this job, school, faculty, etc.
Then you must research the school/district. What is their educational philosophy, enrollment, what are they looking for in teachers? What methods do they prefer? What kind of test scores do their students receive? What percentage of their graduates go on to post secondary education?
There are many avenues for researching schools. In Illinois, each public school is required to publish a School Report Card, containing information about the school's demographics, IGAP and/or ACT test scores, etc. You also find school web sites by visiting our researching schools.
You also should practice answers to questions the interviewer is likely to ask. Take the time to formulate solid answers to the questions listed below. Practice some of the answers aloud. It's helpful to tape record yourself.
Put together a portfolio to give to the interviewer(s) during or at the conclusion of your interview.
Finally, a tip to quell the nerves. Whenever you feel like they're overtaking you, and just before the interview, sit quietly and close your eyes. Take deep breaths and visualize yourself in every step of the interview. You're impressing them from the start with a friendly, enthusiastic attitude....you're giving all the right answers....you're enjoying yourself and so are they....you're just what they've been looking for! You've knocked them off their feet! It may sound hokey, but this really works. Try it!
Mechanics of Interviews:
—Look professional: Women: wear a career dress or suit with the skirt at the knee or below. Choose conservative jewelry, makeup, perfume, and shoes. Men: wear a suit or long sleeved shirt and tie. Wear polished shoes and a conservative haircut.
—Be on time: Arriving late severely hurts your chances of being hired. Plan to arrive at the interview site at least 15 minutes early, so finding your way and finding a parking space do not cause you to be late. Give yourself a few minutes to find a bathroom so you can check your appearance and settle yourself by doing some deep breathing and relaxation exercises.
—Make a great first impression: Share a warm and friendly smile, handshake, and eye contact with everyone you meet, including the receptionist or secretary. Make sure your body language conveys professionalism and receptiveness.
Questions to ask them:
You won't have much time to ask questions of the employer, so it's essential to ask the right ones. Remember your goal in the interview: to ascertain if this teaching position is right for you. You can also use this time to show the employer how much you know about the school/district and what a valuable addition you'd be.
- Do you use ability grouping in your school?
- Would I be part of a team teaching situation? Open classrooms?
- Could you tell me about the other educators with whom I would be working?
- Are extracurricular assignments available?
- Does your school/district offer faculty in-service training days during the school year?
- What reading (or math) series is currently being used?
- Do you have an active parent-teacher association?
- What percentage of your graduates continue their education?
- What is the retention rate for secondary students?
- What types of support personnel are employed by this school/district (counselors, reading specialists, etc?)
- Are computers available for classroom use?
- Do you have a media center, learning center, resource materials?
- What is the most pressing problem facing your staff now?
- What kind of mentoring can I expect to receive?
- What can I expect to receive support in terms of discipline?
- How involved are parents in the learning process?
Potential Interview Questions
Background Questions
- Describe your educational background. What are your educational goals?
- What five adjectives describe you? your teaching style?
- What do you know about our school/district? What part of your background matches our goals? What new ideas would you bring to our school/district?
- How would you describe your last principal? Department head? Cooperating teacher?
- Tell me about your student teaching experience. What was most effective about you? What have you learned in your experiences? What kind of problems did you have?
- How have you involved parents in the learning process? Describe how you would establish and maintain positive working relationships with parents.
- What curriculum materials have you developed? How have you used (or would you use) teacher's aides in your classroom?
- What books, concepts, or experiences have influenced you the most in your professional development?
- How have you contributed toward the development of the total school program in your current position?
Subject Area and Grade Level Questions:
- What do you feel is your strongest subject (or teaching) area? What subject is the most difficult for you?
- How would you teach reading (math) (science) in your classroom? Describe a typical lesson.
- What activities do you use with your independent workers during reading?
- What supplementary reading (or other subject) materials do you find most helpful? What resources do you use other than the basal text?
- What do you feel are the most important things students should learn at your grade level (in your classroom, subject area)?
- Why is your field important for a student to study? How do you view your subject in relation to the total school curriculum?
- How do you motivate a group of slow readers?
- How do you use math manipulatives?
- Describe an ideal curriculum in your area of study.
- Discuss a critical issue in your subject area.
- How have you emphasized the development of basic skills? What skills do you feel are most important at this grade level(or subject)? What math series are you using? Reading series?
- How have you used computers in your lessons?
- Elementary: Can you handle instruction in physical education, art, and music?
- Secondary: Can you handle three or more preparations at the secondary level?
Teaching Technique Questions--Motivational Skills
- There are times when you may have an extra five or ten minutes at the end of the period. What types of activities do you use to make the best use of this time?
- Define cooperative learning and give an example of how you have used it.
- How would you individualize instruction to meet the needs of all your students?
- Describe a teaching strategy you used to maximize the learning potential of all students.
- Share with me a recent learning experience you developed for your students and how you organized that experience to enhance each student's success.
- What role does active-participation play in your teaching techniques?
- Name three effective ways to motivate students.
- What innovative ideas would you like to initiate in your classroom?
- What strategies would you used to aid students in developing creativity?
- What extracurricular activities are you willing to supervise?
- How have you stressed the development of cognitive skills within your classes?
- What kind of relationship do you have with your students?
- How do you reinforce self-esteem in your students?
- Describe your typical teaching style. What teaching techniques do you use?
Classroom Control/Management Questions
- What is your philosophy of discipline?
- What classroom management system do you use?
- Explain the structure of your discipline plan. What rules do you establish in your classroom?
- How do you handle discipline problems?
- What is the toughest aspect of discipline?
- How would you handle a student who is a consistent behavioral problem in your class?
- How would you handle cheating?
- How would you handle a student who refused to do what you asked?
- If students tell you they have engaged in some illegal or unethical activity, what would you do?
Classroom Organization/Lesson Planning Questions
- How is your classroom organized?
- What type of learning environment do you try to create?
- If I visited your class, what would I see that would indicate your program is meeting the needs of each student?
- Do you use heterogeneous or homogeneous grouping?
- How would you work with a main streamed learning disabled student?
- Describe independent study projects your students have completed.
- How do you structure your class to achieve maximum benefit from teacher/student contact?
- How do you handle the different ability levels of students? Different cultures? Gifted students? Limited-English speaking students? How would you help a student who is having difficulty?
- Are you well organized?
- How do you use lesson plans? In lesson planning, how do you organize and prepare your material?
- Describe the specific components or steps of an effective lesson plan.
Philosophy of Education Questions:
- What would be your ideal educational philosophy of a school/district?
- What do you consider an ideal class size?
- What is your philosophy on homework?
- What are you looking for in a school/district?
- What is your philosophy on team teaching?
- What is your position on behavior modification? special education? learning centers' use of cooperative learning groups? computers in the classroom? time-out discipline methods? competency based instruction? career education? sex education? open-space classrooms? individualized instruction?
- What is your philosophy on grading, report cards, classroom management?
- What are your practices in dealing with controversial subjects?
- Describe the role of the teacher in the learning process.
- What is the most/least satisfying aspect of teaching?
- Why did you become a teacher?
- What are some of the challenges facing educators today?
- Describe some of the characteristics of an outstanding educator.
- What are your concerns and outlook for the future of public/private education?
Evaluation Questions:
- How will you appraise your own teaching performance?
- How will you determine if your students are learning?
- What evaluation techniques do you use? Do you grade on ability or effort? Why?
- How do you communicate with parents about a student's progress?
Professional Activities and Knowledge Questions
- What do you think about the current events in education?
- In what professional organizations do you hold memberships and what have you gained from those memberships?
- How have you recently improved you professional skills? What are your plans for future improvement of skills?
- Comment on some leaders in education.
- Cite several authorities in your subject and comment of them.
- What professional journals do you read regularly?
- Do you plan to continue your education?
After the interview...
Write a thank you letter to each person who interviewed you. These should be typed. Thank them for their time and consideration, and, if you liked the school, reiterate your interest. You can also take the opportunity to tell them anything you forgot during the interview, or improve on any less-than-outstanding answers.
It's also a good idea to take some time after the interview to reflect. Make some notes on how you felt you did, any questions you wish you were better prepared for, and your overall feeling about the fit between the school and you. You can use these notes to prepare for your next interview. If you didn't do as well as you would have liked, it's also a good way to put that experience behind you and build on it for the next interview.
What can screen you out:
- answers: too long or too short
- no questions for the employer indicates lack of interest in the position
- unprepared: knows nothing about position or school
- poor grammar, voice, diction
- smoking or gum chewing
- poor eye contact
- body language conflicts with words
- appearing bored or indifferent, lack of enthusiasm
- too aggressive, overconfident, know-it-all
- too timid, shy, won't speak up
- obvious nervousness: lack of confidence and poise
- lack of courtesy, ill-mannered, argumentative
- unprofessional appearance, poor grooming, personal hygiene
- negative attitude: criticizing former employers, fellow workers
- poor beginning: late, poor posture, no attempt to establish rapport
Information and questions taken from:
"The Right Fit: An Educator's Career Handbook and Employment Guide," Strother and Marshall
Learn more about:
For More Information:
Lynn Bryan, Director
Education Career Services
DePaul School of Education
Schmitt Academic Center, Room 481
2320 N. Kenmore, Chicago IL 60614
phone: 773-325-1652
fax: 773-325-7713
©2002 DePaul University, 1 E. Jackson, Chicago, IL 60604 | Disclaimer
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