Preparing for your First Teaching Interview

Congratulations! You’ve passed the first hurdle in your application and you’ve been offered an interview. The school is prepared to give you an opportunity to showcase your skills and this is your chance to show them what you have to offer.

What can I expect within a teaching interview?

Often over the course of a day, a teaching interview will often be made of a number of different sections, including a:

• School tour

• Panel interview by staff members

• Panel interview by students

• Sample lesson

• Conversation with the senior leadership team/headteacher

Although your interview day may not consist of all of the above, it’s great to prepare for all eventualities.

General hints and tips

• Visit the school prior to your interview day. For a school, it’s incredibly important to ensure you want to work there, as much as they want to employ you. Having a school visit beforehand will help you decide whether it’s where you can see yourself and will help to motivate you to perform the best interview possible. It will also help when it comes to your interview and sample lesson as you’ll have an idea of the school’s expectations.

• Dress to impress. Whether you’re arriving for your prior school visit or interview day, dress to impress. Don’t forget to smile and show off with your non-verbal communication. If you’ve visited the school prior and are aware of the school’s dress policy/culture, dress above that. This will especially help with the sample lesson as the students will take you more seriously as a visitor. My personal suggestion is to wear something a bit individual to stand out. Whether it’s a pair of funky cufflinks or a little pin badge, pick something small that the students are likely to pick up.

• Arrive early, prepared and bring a portfolio of work with you. If you’re experienced, this may not be as relevant but it may be helpful if you’re struggling for words. If you have any inspirational notes from students or a superb lesson plan, bring it with you! Make sure you’re aware of the parking and location before your interview as we all know that parking can be an issue with schools.

Preparing for a panel interview by SLT/staff

Do your research. From the school’s Ofsted report to their behaviour - make sure you actually want to be a part of the school. If you’re teaching a lesson, be prepared to answer questions about the lesson itself and the sequence of lessons on the selected topic.

Here’s a selection of some of the questions you may be asked:

• Why do you want to be a teacher? How did you get into teaching?

• Tell us about your experience within schools.

• Why this school? What are you able to offer the school? What skills are you able to able to bring to the school?

• How do you deal with stress? How do you deal with challenges?

• What skills do you think are essential for a teacher? What qualities do you have which are important as a teacher?

• How do you differentiate within lessons? How do you ensure the progress of all students? How do you tell whether students are understanding the content?

• Questions regarding the role of a tutor and/or teacher

• Safeguarding questions - scenario questions (e.g. a student approaches you to say x….what would you do etc).

• What is an outstanding lesson?

• What behaviour management strategies do you use? How would you deal with a non-cooperative student? How do you engage students?

• What are some of the current issues in education?

• Is there anything you’d like to ask us?

Preparing for a student panel

I’d love to give you an idea of the questions asked by students but it’s something that you really can’t compare for. If you’ve worked in schools previously, you’ll be aware of how to deal with students and their comments. Be prepared to answer any random questions but just remember to keep a calm, professional, approachable and inquisitive. Get to know the students (as much as possible) and just be yourself.

Preparing your sample lesson

The school will supply you with some information on the class - seating plans, SEN students, lesson topic and previous topics covered. If they don’t tell you everything you need to know for the sample lesson, do feel free to ask for further information. Use your common sense, ask fellow teachers if you don’t fully understand what they’re asking of you and don’t be afraid to ask for help. Once you have your lesson ready, make sure that you have it backed up on a memory stick/online drive to easily access. Some schools will offer to print resources before the lesson but come prepared for if they don’t ask.

Be prepared that you may not be able to get into the classroom much before the students arrive so be ready to just pop in a presentation and go. You may be observed by only one member of staff but there may be two or three, who may leave the lesson during your teaching. They will often have a checklist, where they will ‘tick off’ if you have greeted the students and whether you have differentiated etc. Just remember what they are looking for and ensure you show them your best.

Take your time, relax and be yourself. You’ve done the hard part of beating the crowd to get your foot in the door. Remember your training, show them your passion and enthusiasm for the subject and school and go and smash out a fantastic interview!