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Interviewing for a Teacher Position – Build Personal Chemistry

Interviewing for a Teacher Position – Build Personal Chemistry

Are you interested in turning interviews into job offers? Let me share some tips. Building rapport with your interviewer will increase your performance and chances of landing a teaching position. 

First, no two education interviews are the same, so you can’t plan precisely how the conversation will go. It’s essential to have a strategy to get a job offer.

Face the interview as a sales meeting, meaning your goal is to build personal chemistry and establish an open dialogue for free information exchange. Success is not necessarily what you say but how you say it.

Display a Positive Attitude and the Right Image

Did you know that many interviewers make their minds up in the first few minutes to continue with the interview? It is true, so you must establish excellent chemistry in those first few minutes. Having a superb resume showcasing your qualifications would communicate you have the necessary credentials.

Show a positive attitude, excellent communication skills, confidence, mannerisms, enthusiasm, and interest. A smile and a firm handshake should be a given.

Make a Sincere Compliment

Use sincere comments; it’s so important not to sound phony. One hint for finding something to say is researching the school and uncovering some positive things. Find the opportunity to make a connection near the beginning of the interview. Let the interviewer know that you know a specific faculty member or appreciate what the school has done to close the achievement gap or something similar.

Complement the school campus, faculty, culture, rating, etc. Try your best to be unique and provide some details, if appropriate.

Demonstrate Effective Communication During the Interview

Have you ever heard the saying, “it’s not what you say; it’s how you say it”? When answering interview questions, try to use fun, action-oriented stories. People remember engaging stories that use lots of action words because they keep them interested.

Your chemistry will expand if you can correctly answer tough questions. For example, “Wow, Joe, you look very impressive on paper. You should be able to solve our problems, so why should I hire you?” If you try to answer that, you may risk sounding like you can solve *all* the school’s problems when, in reality, this is next to impossible.

A way to answer this and build chemistry is to explain. “Could you please share some more information with me? Then maybe I would give you a more insightful response. Yes, I do have a lot of experience and personal strengths that can contribute to your school. But, without knowing specifics and priorities, I would be speaking without thinking. So, for now, I would sooner listen to the person who knows what the challenges and the opportunities are.”

Listen and Discover Their Needs

Some interviewers will let their needs be known; this makes it easy for you. Put your “listening ears” on during the interview and use the information you gain to your advantage. If they don’t give you the information, you may have to *pry* it out of them by asking job-related questions. “What would be the biggest challenge for the teacher in this position?”

This question would increase your popularity if the interviewer weren’t interested in you as a job candidate. Suppose you *listen* carefully and ask the right questions during the conversation. In that case, you will understand how the interviewer views the problem, their expectations, and if there has been any progress.

Know your strengths and skills beforehand, and be prepared to discuss examples of your skills by using action-packed success stories. You can then easily relate your strengths to the school’s needs.

Now, you have a strategy for building chemistry with your interviewer. If you want to learn more about conducting a successful job search, strengthening your interview techniques and confidence, etc., call me and make an appointment. Many clients who have gone through this process state it’s worth every penny!