Given the pandemic, your interviews will be via Skype, Zoom or MS Teams etc.
There are a lot of resources on the internet with tips on online interviews and sample interview questions. We’ve included some links to some good ones below.
Accepting Interview Requests
If a school contacts you for an interview – through a Fair or perhaps they identified your profile through the Search database – our recommendation is to ACCEPT THE INTERVIEW. You may not have considered this school/country/region before, but the information you gain from the interview will allow you to evaluate the school far better than any research. It is also an opportunity for you to connect with school leaders – if this job doesn’t work out, but you made a strong personal connection with the interviewer, he/she may remember you next time when they have moved onto a school that you are interested in. Lastly, treat every interview as a PD opportunity – interviewing (especially online) is a skill that gets better with more practice.
Here are some general tips when interviewing on Skype/Zoom. If you are using Skype, make sure your Skype account name is professional and appropriate (ie name.surname vs Avengers)
1. Test audio and camera in advance. Use your laptop or tablet, not your smart phone.
2. Elevate your laptop to avoid staring down into the camera.
3. Dress professionally.
4. Position yourself at a desk or table, against a plain, neutral background.
5. Check the lighting in the room (lighter is better for clearer image). Do not have a bright light behind you, rather soft lighting from behind your laptop. If you wear glasses, check that the glare from your lenses is minimized (tilting your glasses forward sometimes helps).
6. Close all other applications on your laptop.
7. Silence your cell phone, and disable vibration alert.
8. Have a copy of your resume at hand.
9. Attach post-its around the laptop screen with prompts, and the questions you wish to ask the interviewer.
10. Ban kids, pets and others from the room for the duration of the interview.
11. Have pen and paper at hand.
12. Have a glass of water/water bottle next to you.
13. Have the phone number/skype address of the interviewer at hand, and/or quick access to the email with the zoom link, in case video connection is lost.
14. Fully researched the school in depth before your interview
15. Double check date, time, time zone. Be on time, not too early and never late.
Here are some useful articles on online interviews:
5 Tips to Ace Your Video Job Interview
20 Video Interview Tips to Help You
14 ways to ensure your Skype interview is a success
How to Prepare for a Skype Interview: 9 Tips and Strategies
Here are some general interview tips:
8 Top Tips: Preparing for and Conducting a Successful Job Interview Exhaustive lists of criteria and strategies for creating successful applications and interviews abound, but here are some tips that can determine whether your first choice school makes you an offer. These are distilled from over 25 years of experience recruiting candidates for schools, working closely with international school recruiters, and interviewing over 5,000 candidates. (Forrest Broman TIE Online, 5 January 2017)
Preparing for an international teaching job interview An in-person interview is like taking a trip to the dentist – a necessary evil. The build up is the worst part, the actual appointment is usually over far quicker than you expected and it’s a huge relief when the ordeal is over (by Irma Berardi in Teachaway 18 November 2016)
Four things you need to know about being interviewed for international teacher jobs Interviewing for a teaching job overseas is very different from what you might be used to back home. Here are some things to consider (TES Jobs 5 December 2018)
7 Questions Principals Should Ask When Hiring Future-Ready Teachers. From the teacher/candidate perspective and with a slight design/IT bias this is a useful list as you think about preparing for a Skype or face to face interview (Mind Shift 10 July 2019)
Preparing for a teaching job interview – tips from principals No matter how many you have experienced, or how established you are in your career, attending a job interview can be a daunting experience. What do you do when you are unsure how to answer a question? What should you remember to bring along with you? In this Q&A, we speak with three principals about their top tips (by Dominique Russell in Teacher Magazine 25 June 2018)
11 Questions You’ll Be Asked at a Teaching Interview Commonly asked interview questions you can anticipate—plus tips and links to resources you can tap as you polish your answers. (Robert Ward, Sonja Cassella in Edutopia Online, 25 October 2018).
Interview Questions and Answers: A useful archive of standard and no so standard interview question and some suggested responses (by Biron Clark in CareerSidekick)
Top 10 questions teachers are asked at job interviews. Preparing for interviews – whether face to face or by Skype can be daunting. This may help. (Rebecca Ratcliffe in The Guardian, 14 January 2014)
8 Teacher Interview Questions (& How to Answer with Confidence) The interview process can be daunting. You try to present your best self, hoping that you say the right thing and don’t botch any of your answers. (Teachers of Tomorrow, 27 March 2017)
50 Teacher Interview Questions and Example Answers
(Indeed, 2nd October 2020)
25 Teacher Interview Questions & Answers (Common & Hard)
(Tom Gerencer, 11th June, 2019)
If you would more Interview Tips and sample interview questions (ie if you are registered for a Virtual Fair), please email me.
