A Guide to Getting Your Ideal Job (Part 2 - the interview)
You have done your research, found the school where you would love to work and have successfully been shortlisted. Now it is your time to shine and showcase all you have to offer.
Leadership Interviews involve many varying elements which are deliberately designed to demonstrate your strengths in different scenarios. Opportunities can easily be lost here due to a lack of preparation or nerves, leaving you frustrated at missing opportunities or giving poor answers. Fortunately, there are easy steps to follow before the day to ensure that you are fully prepared and able to present the best version of yourself.
1, Everyone counts
Remember that you have the opportunity to make a positive impression with everyone at every interaction from the first email to thanking the office staff as you leave. If you are the type of person who struggles with small talk during the informal parts of the day, focus on asking questions (How long have you worked here for? What do you do to encourage feedback from parents? Who created that amazing display and how often do you change them?) People will want to show off their school and it is always better to be interested than interesting.
2, Speak their language
Consider the key vocabulary of the school, which should be evident in their marketing material, on their website and around the building. Where relevant, use these specific words and phrases in order to demonstrate that you would be a good fit for their culture.
3, Awesome Assemblies
Find out as much as you can in advance about the routines of the school. Do they have entrance and exit music? Can you provide it? Are there codes they use to get everyone’s attention?
Where possible make your assembly interactive, with multiple choice questions, voting opportunities and (if you’re feeling brave) volunteers - best to allow the teachers to choose someone in this case.
Once your assembly is prepared, see if you can practise it at your own school to check timings and ask others for feedback for improvement. You’ll then be much more confident the second time around.
4, Feedback
You may be asked to:
Observe and give feedback - Start by agreeing what is the main focus of the feedback and ask what their intention was and how successful they felt it was. Keep your feedback as impersonal as possible by focusing on the impact rather than the input and by sharing facts (I saw) rather than your opinions (I thought). Fow more guidance, see my Guide to Giving Effective Feedback.
Roleplay a difficult conversation - Follow the GROW model: First agree the Goal of the session, then establish the Reality of the situation before exploring Options and then Wrapping up with next steps. Keep an eye on the clock and refer to the time if the conversation needs to move along.
Write an email response - Follow my SEO model: Start with a Summary of their complaint, give an Explanation of the situation and then give an Offer (usually for a compromise, and a follow up response or, better still, an in person meeting).
5, Do / Defer / Delegate
Most leadership positions will have a safeguarding exercise. Sometimes this might be a case study or it could be an intray exercise. Think of this as Emergency Room Triage:
What is life threatening? DO
What is dangerous but not urgent? DEFER (perhaps with a holding message)
What can wait / is not your job? DELEGATE
6, Powerful presentations
This is another opportunity for you to incorporate the language of the school and show that you would be a good fit. It is also an opportunity to share images of your current work to subtly reinforce your strengths. You could include images of your school books, displays, photographs of you teaching, presenting or talking with others to provide a visual back up to your words.
7, Authentic Interview Answers
You have already proven that you meet the job description criteria in your application so this is simply a chance to get to know you better. It is worth considering examples of when you have successfully demonstrated each of the required leadership skills outlined in the advertisement but avoid giving answers which sound too rehearsed. At the end of the day, authenticity and honesty are more important than perfection.
