Unless you are applying to become the principal of the school, you are not likely to have a sit down interview with the school personnel. It will likely be over some medium like Skype.
If you are applying for a principal's job at a prestigious international school after the skype interview they will likely fly you over for a one on one interview and if this happens write me and I will tell you what to do.
For the rest of you, a few hints. Skype is a funny medium. When I was interviewed for one job the owner of the school told me to make sure I brought lots of pairs of shoes. When I asked her why after I had arrived, she told me she thought I was much bigger than I am and shoes did not come in large sizes in that country. By the way, I am 5 feet seven inches so not that big at all.
Another interviewer happened to see all of my books behind me and was quite impressed. I did not set up the interview that way, but it just happens that I do have a lot of books and that owner was very impressed. In fact, I reached back and took a book and we started to talk about it. You may want to arrange some props like that although mine were serendipitous.
So...make sure you have a good space to talk and keep your "cheat notes" handy by the computer. Do make sure you make eye contact with the interviewer, but you can certainly pause and look at some notes out of range of the camera to remind you of what you wanted to say. Being thoughtful and pausing occasionally is not a bad thing,
You might be quite intimidated if you knew there was a whole committee watching you and your face was up on some screen for all to see but thankfully you will not know that probably. Just be yourself and say what you believe. After all, they are going to be hiring you so you may as well be honest. It will make it a lot easier once you get the job because you can be yourself!
Do's
1. Speak clearly and slowly and articulate every word. As my father would say, make sure you take the marbles out of your mouth when you speak.
2. Take your time. You are not in a race
3. Be as specific as possible when you answer questions about what you did in the classroom. For example, if they ask you about discipline, tell them how you handled a specific situation, or if they ask you how you assessed some piece of work, be as specific as possible. These are the things you have to think about before the interview so you have your "ducks in a row" It will be a descriptive behavour interview so they will assume that how you behaved in the past is how you will behave in the future.
4. You might want to have some artifacts of student work on a web site you can refer to or a youtube video but you better be pretty confident that the software will work and if it doesn't keep a good humour and do not be flustered. You can, when talking about a student piece of work, just dangle it in front of the screen realizing it is not the artifact that is so important but what you say about it.
Don'ts
1. Do not start asking about money, holidays, time in classroom and so on until the interview is over. You first have to make them believe they should offer you the job.
2. Dress appropriately...women no cleavage, guys wear a tie, even if you are the only one in the interview wearing one
3. Do not badmouth any former employer and if you have to give a personal weakness if they ask you, say something like you work too hard at school and should have more balance in our life.
4. Do not frown and use inappropriate language
If the interview lasts about 30 minutes, you know you have a shot at the job. If you are out of sight out of mind after five or ten minutes you know you blew it. For your own information, it would be good to find out what you said wrong. After a few weeks you may wish to write and inquire and if they answer you consider it a bonus and learn from it. Most principals will just ignore such an inquiry.
Don't forget that we learn by failure.
If you are applying for a principal's job at a prestigious international school after the skype interview they will likely fly you over for a one on one interview and if this happens write me and I will tell you what to do.
For the rest of you, a few hints. Skype is a funny medium. When I was interviewed for one job the owner of the school told me to make sure I brought lots of pairs of shoes. When I asked her why after I had arrived, she told me she thought I was much bigger than I am and shoes did not come in large sizes in that country. By the way, I am 5 feet seven inches so not that big at all.
Another interviewer happened to see all of my books behind me and was quite impressed. I did not set up the interview that way, but it just happens that I do have a lot of books and that owner was very impressed. In fact, I reached back and took a book and we started to talk about it. You may want to arrange some props like that although mine were serendipitous.
So...make sure you have a good space to talk and keep your "cheat notes" handy by the computer. Do make sure you make eye contact with the interviewer, but you can certainly pause and look at some notes out of range of the camera to remind you of what you wanted to say. Being thoughtful and pausing occasionally is not a bad thing,
You might be quite intimidated if you knew there was a whole committee watching you and your face was up on some screen for all to see but thankfully you will not know that probably. Just be yourself and say what you believe. After all, they are going to be hiring you so you may as well be honest. It will make it a lot easier once you get the job because you can be yourself!
Do's
1. Speak clearly and slowly and articulate every word. As my father would say, make sure you take the marbles out of your mouth when you speak.
2. Take your time. You are not in a race
3. Be as specific as possible when you answer questions about what you did in the classroom. For example, if they ask you about discipline, tell them how you handled a specific situation, or if they ask you how you assessed some piece of work, be as specific as possible. These are the things you have to think about before the interview so you have your "ducks in a row" It will be a descriptive behavour interview so they will assume that how you behaved in the past is how you will behave in the future.
4. You might want to have some artifacts of student work on a web site you can refer to or a youtube video but you better be pretty confident that the software will work and if it doesn't keep a good humour and do not be flustered. You can, when talking about a student piece of work, just dangle it in front of the screen realizing it is not the artifact that is so important but what you say about it.
Don'ts
1. Do not start asking about money, holidays, time in classroom and so on until the interview is over. You first have to make them believe they should offer you the job.
2. Dress appropriately...women no cleavage, guys wear a tie, even if you are the only one in the interview wearing one
3. Do not badmouth any former employer and if you have to give a personal weakness if they ask you, say something like you work too hard at school and should have more balance in our life.
4. Do not frown and use inappropriate language
If the interview lasts about 30 minutes, you know you have a shot at the job. If you are out of sight out of mind after five or ten minutes you know you blew it. For your own information, it would be good to find out what you said wrong. After a few weeks you may wish to write and inquire and if they answer you consider it a bonus and learn from it. Most principals will just ignore such an inquiry.
Don't forget that we learn by failure.
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