Hellobee Boards

Congratulations! I’m not a teacher, but an SLP in the schools and I do the interviews for new ones. Without going into the SLP questions, here are a few we ask!

1. Tell us about your education and experience that qualifies you for this position.

2. What would you consider your strengths and weaknesses as an SLP?

3. What types of service delivery models have you experienced?

4. What type of collaboration/teamwork have you been involved with?

5. Tell us one example of a triumph and a war story you have experienced in teaching or working.

6. Have you ever had experience in working with CPS? Are you comfortable in making a call?

Best wishes in your interview!

@bubblegum: Sadly no, we can’t tell the applicant right away because we have a pool of applicants. I’ll be honest in the fact that when the interviewers know the interviewee will be a good fit it seems more relaxed.

Stay calm but be yourself. Don’t try and be someone you think they want because then you aren’t you!

One thing that helps me calm down in interviews is to remember that you are interviewing them, as much as they are interviewing you. So be prepared with your own questions. I work in banking so one of my biggest questions is about work/life balance and what the atmosphere is.

So think about what you would want in your job, do you need a mentor for the first year, how do classroom supplies work, is there anything out of the norm that you are expected to do, or how the school runs etc.

I work in HR at a public school in MN. Not sure what type of teacher position you're interviewing for, but here's a sample set of questions we use for elementary teacher interviews.

1. Please tell us about your professional an educational background.
2. What are the most important or worthwhile qualifications of a good teacher?
3. Describe what you believe are the essential elements of a quality literacy block of instruction.
4. What experience do you have with guided reading?
5. How might you utilize small groups in math instruction?
6. How would you plan effective differentiated activities to meet different learning styles of your students?
7. What formative assessment strategies would you use to check student understanding?
8. What are some techniques you have found useful for modifying behavior?
9. How would you develop and maintain routines and behavioral expectations with your students?
10. Being new to the building, how do you go about building relationships with other staff members?
11. How do you plan to communicate with parents? What are you goals with parent communication and involvement?
12. Give us an example of a time you received constructive feedback concerning your performance. How did you handle that situation? Would you handle it differently?
13. How do you deal with conflict?
14. What are three words you would use to describe yourself?
15. In what areas of professional development do you want to further develop or focus?
16. Is there anything else that we did not ask that you would like us to know as we consider you as a candidate?
17. Do you have any questions for us?

Our district does not hire on the spot, and I'd be surprised if anywhere does, except for maybe really small rural areas that have trouble getting applicants.

Not sure if it's like this everywhere, but I know the biggest challenges that our new teachers seem to struggle with is classroom (behavior) management and responding to feedback from principals. So I know our principals would be focused more on those types of questions than the teaching-style type questions.

Good luck!!

@bubblegum: Sorry! I really didn't mean to make you nervous!

I can’t speak on questions, but I know in our district interviewing is like a 5 step process. They typically start with a sit down interview with general ed questions, then they bring someone in to teach a lesson, and then they continue interviewing with different administrators. Not sure how it works where you are located, but I’d be prepared that it may be several steps! That’s pretty much the norm in all public schools where I am! Good luck!!!

@bubblegum: So happy for you! Congrats!!! Wall me if you ever need any resources.

@bubblegum: That's ok! EVERY teacher is nervous, but the kids have no idea!