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Attitude and Mindset at an Education Job Interview Are Pivotal to Success

attitude and mindset at an education job interview are pivotal to success

Whether you receive a job offer after your education interview depends on many factors. The hiring decision will depend on:

  • How your skills and talents align with the school’s needs and requirements.
  • If you effectively communicate your value proposition.
  • Your ability to share your relevant success stories to show the value you can bring to the school district.
  • The other qualified candidates’ ability to interview compared to your performance?
  • The unpredictability of the hiring authorities, including school principals and superintendents.

Attitude Matters During the Education Job Interview

One of the pivotal components for interview success you may not have considered is your attitude. By this, I mean what you are thinking about as you prepare for, go through, and reflect on a job interview.

Many people underestimate the importance of keeping a positive attitude during an interview. A candidate’s attitude can be the key to your success in a job interview.

The degree to which you think optimistically, keep the right things in perspective, and maintain a poised mental attitude will directly affect the outcome you are hoping for—a solid teaching job offer.

What do you think about as you prepare for a job interview?

I’m not talking about researching the school and the teaching position, coming up with your fundamental messages about yourself and your value proposition, or the thinking it takes to practice answering the toughest interview questions to alleviate stress during the interview. I’m talking, more specifically, about your attitude.

Get in the Right Mindset

Do you view the education job interview as a “sink or swim,” “do or die” proposition? Are you telling yourself how this one probably won’t work out? Are you worried you won’t communicate what the interviewers want to hear? All of these kinds of thoughts raise your anxiety level and work against you.

When you walk into the interview room, all of these anxious thoughts and feelings will be communicated through your body language and overall attitude to your interviewers. Your interviewers will easily pick up on this, and it will affect your interview chances. For instance, if you prepare for and enter a teaching interview feeling defeated, this attitude will permeate the entire interview process.

Confidence Matters

What school would want to hire a teacher with a defeatist attitude? When in doubt, remember: “Mind over matter.” Use your willpower, your drive to land a dream job, to push yourself through any nerves or doubts you may have. Even if you’re not feeling 100% confident, do as they say and “fake it till you make it!”

What you need to be feeling going into an interview is confidence, curiosity, and openness. To keep your thoughts in check, pay attention to where your mind wanders.

If your mind wanders to negative thoughts, proactively stop it. Distract yourself from other thoughts or tell yourself: “No. I’m prepared. I deserve this opportunity. And if it doesn’t work out, there’s always tomorrow”. Don’t allow yourself to sabotage your chances before you even get into the interview room. Keep a positive attitude!

Education Job Interview Tips to Kick the Nerves

If you feel a bunch of nerves coming on, reassure yourself using the steps above and take a deep breath. If you become easily paranoid by the potential negative outcome, sit down the evening before your interview with a pen and paper.

List out the worst possible outcome of not getting the job. After a while of doing this exercise, you’ll notice that not only is “the world ending” not on that list, but the list you have generated looks a little silly after all! Putting the absurd places, your mind wanders to down on paper can help normalize the thoughts in your brain. Once you’ve calmed down a bit, if it helps, rip up the paper and throw it in the trash!

Eliminate the negative thoughts and anxiety that might hinder you during your interview performance.

We hope this article has helped give you interviewing tips and tricks on overcoming pre-interview butterflies best, so you’re at your best while searching for a job.

If you need help with any aspect of your job search, reach out to Candace today via email or call toll-free at 1 877 738 8052!