Writing a Cover Letter

You know you can't just send your resume off to a known opening; you've got to include a cover letter.  Once again, it's IU South Bend Career Services to the rescue!  Check out their guide to writing great cover letters:

IU South Bend Career Services - Cover Letter Writing Guide

You Got the Interview!

OK, so you've written a resume and cover letter, sent it off, AND gotten a telephone call inviting you to an interview.


AAAAUUUUUGGGGHHHHHH!  I'm so nervous I can't think straight!  What to do?  What to DO?  WHAT TO DO?????


Relax . . . . breathe . . . . . breathe in . . . breathe out . . . breathe in . . . breathe out . . .


Now, check out IU South Bend Career Services Interview Skills Guide.  It's got all the answers.


IU South Bend Career Services - Interviews Skills Guide

The Questions - Part I

The heart of every interview is the questions you'll be asked by an assistant principal, principal, assistant superintendent, or superintendent (or someone else such as the Director of Human Resources).

There is no way at all to predict exactly what you'll be asked.  The best you can do is answer honestly and thoughtfully based on what you know and what you've experienced in your preparation.

However, I've contacted several of my school administrator friends and asked them to supply me with questions they've actually used in the past.  These next several posts will feature these questions.  I invite you to post possible responses to these as a way of preparing yourself for your future interviews.



++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++



1. How do you feel about relationship-building with your students? What does that mean to you?

2. Why might that be an important part of your job?

3. How would you go about building those relationships?

4. What kind of a role do you believe parents play in the educational process?  How do they complete the relationship building process?

The Questions - Part II

Here's a biggie . . . if you can't answer this, well, why are you here?

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Why teaching?

The Questions - Part III

What are the elements of effective instructional planning?

What is most important for student learning?   Explain.

The Questions - Part IV

Identify some of the strategies you would use during a lesson to check for student understanding.

Identify ways you would use technology in your lesson.

The Questions - Part V

What are keys to establishing a positive learning environment?

The Questions - Part VI

Here's a question that demonstrates how you'd have to do your homework before you can formulate a response: you'd have to find the mission statement for the school in which you're interviewing.

+++++++++++++++++++++

What is the relationship between the school’s mission and your classroom instruction?


+++++++++++++++++++++
So, what follows is the mission statement from the South Bend, IN, Community School Corporation:

We will achieve excellence in learning for each student, embracing the diversity within our community. We commit to building relationships based on trust and care, fostering innovative approaches to meet the challenges of tomorrow, and inspiring community pride.

The Questions - Part VII

Outside of the classroom…what do you think the role of a teacher should be?

The Questions - Part VIII

Why should my school corporation* hire you over the other candidates?

By watching you, how would I know that you are a team member?



*In Indiana, most public school organizations are known as "corporations" not "districts."  However, they are essentially the same thing.

The Questions - Part IX

What is an appropriate role for parents in your classroom?

The Questions - Part X

Here is a set of questions as asked of a recent IU South Bend Transition-to-Teaching program completer in a telephone interview for a job at a school in the Dominican Republic.

1.  what is your teaching philosophy? 2.  What expectations do you have for your supervisor? 3.  What expectations do you have for your peers? 4.  Why this school? 5.  Walk us through a typical class period.. start to finish 6.  What would you do if...... (insert disruptive student situation here) 7.  What would you do if..... student missed lots of school... what would you do? 8.  Give us an example of how you differentiated instruction in a classroom.  9.  Explain 3 of the most important qualities you feel a teacher should have. 10.  What would you do if you taught a unit and the majority of the students did poorly on the assessment?

The Questions - Part XI

What classroom management strategies do you use?

The Questions - Part XII

OK, that's a good start.  But that's certainly not all the questions you might be asked.  So here are links to several web sites of lists of potential questions.

The best way to prepare?  Just read these lists and consider how you'd respond to each one.  If you don't have a good answer fairly quickly, jot down that question to ponder at a later time.


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


DePaul University Potential Interview Questions for Educators
This is a very extensive list of questions.  Lots of great food for thought here.


Virginia Tech University Sample Interview Questions for Teachers
This list contains a few unusual questions.  Be ready for anything!

The Sage College's Sample Teacher Interview Questions

Another set of good questions.


Boise State Practice Interview - Education Questions
Good questions, but better still is the list of "Potential Knockout Factors" at the end.  Inside information on why candidates DON'T get the job!


And finally . . . .


Google Search for "Teacher Interview Questions" from .edu domains
Click this link to go to the Google search results for teacher+interview+questions with results coming only from .edu domains. 

One Last Piece of Advice

Here's one last piece of advice from The Sage Colleges' document:

Don’t let your actual interview be the setting for practicing these questions.

What's that mean?  Find somone who'll interview you using questions from the above lists BEFORE you actually go out for a real "chips are on the table" interview.  You'll be glad you took the opportunity to practice.