Here are two example questions and sample answers to two interview questions for administrative interviews. How would you answer these questions you could be asked during the job interview? Are you prepared to answer interview questions such as these?
Why should we hire you over all the other applicants who have similar educational backgrounds and experience?
This is a difficult question as you cannot rely on your education and experience to sell yourself. What hiring panels are looking for when they ask this question is whatever you feel is most important to share. They’re looking for candidates who avoid canned responses. They are looking to learn how you see yourself and what you value about yourself.
Focus on your best qualities, such as your work ethic, by sharing examples to back up your strengths.
Did you work your way through college? Or were you the first in your family to earn a university degree?
What is your background in other areas: finance, fund-raising, charity work, adult education, training student teachers, the ability to speak a second language, grant writing; maybe you have a license in special education.
Interviewers like to hear about your tenacity or “stick to it” attitude even when things get difficult. Communicating your resilience during challenging times would be important.
Interviewers want to hear you speak about responsibility, integrity, kindness, and a love for children, as well as a desire to make a difference in their lives.
Don’t just focus on your enjoyment of working and helping children. It isn’t enough to set you apart from the other candidates. The panel wants to detect a sense of professionalism and wants to hear what is in your heart. Make sure you express a real passion for improving education and helping students maximize their potentials. Understanding and communicating what the basis should be to set the school’s priorities.
If there is a very compelling reason for the panel to hire you, mention it last and take a minute or two to tell why it will benefit their school district. Perhaps you and your staff raised test scores a significant amount or turned around a school with student gangs in your last position.
It would also not be inappropriate to read a short recommendation from an upper-level administrator. But whatever you do, don’t ever answer this question by saying, “I don’t know.”
What is the most important thing for a school to do to reach proficiency by 2020?
It is essential that the response you give to the job interview question is truthful, relevant to the position, and shows value to the school district. The following could be a possible answer, or it may provide some ideas for you to tailor your response.
The most vital thing a school can do to reach proficiency by 2020 would be to ensure that all children are receiving the support and learning resources they require to learn at high levels.
This critical component means accommodating all learning styles, learning abilities, races, and children from varying economic backgrounds. To reach proficiency, all students need to demonstrate proficiency in both reading and math on state tests. Therefore, it is true that ‘no child can be left behind. So the most important thing a school can do is ensure they accommodate all students’ learning needs.
To ensure all students are getting the support and educational resources they require, the school administration needs to provide all of its staff shares a common belief. That belief encompasses that all students can learn at high levels and commit to seeing every student achieve proficiency.
The school staff and community members need to take an active part in engaging all students in learning. All students need to have access to the curriculum plus should be included and fully participating in learning activities. Furthermore, teachers need to accommodate and differentiate instruction to reach different learning styles and abilities.
