How to Nail Your Teacher Interview (And Land Your Dream Job!) [episode 69]

Kelsey

You are listening to episode number 69 of wife, teacher, mommy the podcast how to nail your teacher job interview, whether you are just finishing your student teaching and looking for your first teaching job, or you’ve been teaching a while but you just kind of want to have a change. You want to be prepared for your job interview, but have no fear because you will feel confident and ready after listening to today’s episode.

Kelsey

Welcome to wife, teacher mommy the podcast. I’m Kelsey Sorenson, a former elementary teacher and current homeschool mom. And even though I’ve been a resource creator since 2014, I’ve realized that printables alone aren’t all you need in order to thrive as a teacher or homeschool parent. That’s why I also created this show and got certified as a life coach to help you finally kick burnout to the curb and feel competent with whatever challenges come your way. But the right mindset strategies and new teaching inspiration, you’re going to be well on your way to your best teacher life. Now let’s go

Kelsey

Hey, everybody, it feels a little bit like deja vu for me right now, because I am recording this episode for the second time, because I recorded it. And it was like, okay, that went great. But then I realized that I forgot to change the input. And I really want to put out high quality audio podcasts. And it was just not good. You could hear like the hum of my computer in the background. And I just want you to have a great listening experience. And I think it’ll be even better the second time around. So I’m super excited to be chatting with you today. All about T shirt job interviews. And I’m so grateful to be here today on the podcast, I want to put out really good quality episodes for you because I care that you’re taking the time to listen, and that some of you are even taking the time to leave reviews on the show too. Because I love that it really makes my day because it reminds me that like, Oh, you are listening on the other side. It makes me so happy. I want to share a couple of reviews that have come in recently. Okay, there is a review called helpful tips from Kay Williams five to four. And they said I have recently started listening to this podcast and I can’t get over all the info and helpful tips that I can use in my classroom. Can’t wait to listen to the rest of them. And yeah, that’s right, you can always go back and listen to previous episodes. Even if you’re like starting now like most of the episodes unless they’re about a holiday or something you can check out past ones too. So scroll through see what other ones some interesting to you for sure. Okay, another one called so much useful advice from H Dec. Targ says I really appreciate the wide variety of useful tips and ideas as well as the encouragement and positivity of this podcast. short, concise episodes are easy to listen to while driving, walking, working out, etc. I love that about podcasts too. I always listen to mine. While I’m like doing the dishes or something, then another one called encouragement for educators from encouragement for educators says this podcast is a great resource for educators, the episodes are encouraging and help take some of the stress out of teaching by offering support and ideas. So I really appreciate those of you who take the time to leave those reviews. If you haven’t yet, and you’re enjoying the show, I would love if you would do that. And if you do, I want to make it worth your time like it somebody to take like two minutes of your time to quickly go on and do that. But then if you take a screenshot, take that screenshot before you hit submit on Apple podcasts. Because sometimes there’s a delay, I mean, pretty much always there’s a delay between when a review is submitted and when it appears. So take that screenshot, and then email it to Hello at wife, teacher mommy.com. And we will send you something as a thank you for your time. So be sure to do that. Leave a review, we’ll make it worth your time. Okay, so let’s dive into talking about teacher job interviews. This is another episode that I really hope will help you if you are preparing for a job interview. Or if you’re just like, oh, like I want to be prepared for if I do later, you’re maybe trying to decide this is the time of year where this topic comes up a lot because a lot of you who are new teachers who might be finishing up your student teaching and you’re trying to get that first job or you’re also basically everybody who’s a teacher, you’re like, am I gonna renew this next year? I’m like, is this where I want to be? Or do I want to be somewhere else? Do I need to change and I’m going to move or whatever. So this might be the time where you’re evaluating if you want to do interviews, so this is a good time to listen to this episode. Now when I was preparing for this actually one of my awesome team members Megan, I asked her to find out kind of what people exactly are needing help with and she went and found these questions but like many teachers are typing into Google because is what we do when we’re trying to figure out what teachers are homeschool parents. Obviously, this one’s for teachers. But what you want to hear is we look what are people searching for it because that means that there are a lot of people looking for this information and that there’s maybe a gap that we need to fill the questions that we found are how do I prepare for a teacher interview? How can I impress during my teacher interview? How do I introduce myself in a teacher interview? What teachers should not do in an interview? How do I sell myself as a teacher? And how do I nail my teaching interview? So basically, I’m going to go through and I’m going to answer those questions for you today. Okay, so first, part one is how to prepare for a teacher interview. Now, I want to start by sharing a story of a recent experience of mine, because Job interviews are kind of like those things, where you get cut, like you don’t have them super often, it’s like an interview or like a test or something, we often the nerves come up. And when those come up, we don’t always show up as our best selves, we’re like, Oh, I wish I would have done this, I wish it would have done that or whatever. Now, I recently certified as a life coach, if you’ve been listening, you know this. And if you if you haven’t, no problem, either. Obviously, to finish my certification, we had to do a final certification call, which is really you just got on with an instructor and you coach them just like they were a client or whatever. And I love coaching clients, I love coaching all of you all of the members who are in the membership and doing coaching, I’m excited to do it to educate, rejuvenate this year and such. But I signed up for a practice call before my final call. And it was with the same person who I would be with for the final call at but I hadn’t had her before. So I was like really nervous. I was like this person is judging me on my coaching. And I like showed out I was really nervous. And I did not do my best. I know for certain it was not my best coaching that I’ve done. And after I got off that practice call, I had about 20 minutes in between. And I wanted to evaluate like, Okay, that was not the result I want, like what we talked about a lot in our coaching is we talked about, like, you know, the five parts of the model, which are circumstances, thoughts, feelings, actions, and results. And I decided, well, the result I want is to certify as a coach, in order to do that, I need to pass all the coaching criteria, and I want to feel confident in myself as I’m doing it. So in the result line, I put the I wanted to certify as a coach, which obviously meant that I had to pass all that certification criteria, then I kind of worked backwards, my okay, if I want to be able to do that, what are all the things they need to do. And literally what I did, I got out a piece of paper, I physically did this, I listed every single thing that I would need to do and every single thing I would need to not to do in order to pass that test. And then I asked myself, okay, if I want to do these things, and I want to not do these things, how do I need to be feeling. And I was like, I need to feel confident I need to be confident in my abilities to do these things and then not feel like those nerves. So I do the other things that I don’t want to do. And in order to feel confident was like, Okay, what do I need to be thinking about myself in order to feel competent. And what I came up with as a thought is, I am an amazing coach. So if I just remember, I have an amazing coach, then I feel confident, then I do all the things I need to do and I certify as a coach, now you could take it and do the same thing. So if you want the result to be, I get this teaching job, or even I nail my teaching interview, whether you get the job or not, we’re going to talk about that at the end of this episode too. What are all the things you need to do in order to nail your interview? That is where you list all the actions you will take. So these are the things I will do. But then also think what are the things you will not do? Those are actions as well. So in order to do the certain things, and then not do the other things you don’t want to do? How do you need to feel confident is likely good emotion and might be something else though? What do you want to feel? And then what do you need to think to feel that way to do those things to get the result you want. So really work backwards, and do that mindset work ahead of time. Now, one thing that might help you to kind of calm those nerves too, and come up with a thought that might serve you best is remember that those on the other side might be feeling nervous, too. Like I interview people for wife, teacher, mommy, there’s usually teachers coming in to interview to be a curriculum designer, or you know, people from marketing or whatever. And a lot of times, I’m nervous for the interview too. And I’m not the one being interviewed. So just remember is humans on the other side, if that helps kind of humanize it, like you know, they’re just other people. And they want to see at the same time if you’re a right fit, as you see if there are a right fit, like kind of thinking about it as you’re evaluating them as well. And you’re just kind of getting together and talking about this. So kind of just mentally prepare yourself for all of that. Okay, so now that you’ve done that, what are the things that we need to do? What are those actions that we need to take in order to nail that interview? Now that’s going to be the bulk of this episode today. The big number one thing is research that school specifically Okay, so like its mission statement, the demographics of the school, any educational programs, they have curriculum that they use, like this demonstrates your interest in the school and shows that you’re not just like, Oh, I’m just trying to get a teaching job absolutely anywhere, but you’re like I actually have a vested interest in working for you and even if you are applying other places, that’s okay. You just need to show that As the ones who are applying to you are genuinely interested in working there, you want to know like their school policies, any lingo or buzzwords, like every school kind of has their thing that is like they’re focused on. And you can usually go to their website and kind of like, scroll through and said, What differentiates this school from like the other schools I’m applying to or other schools I’m looking at, and what do I like about it? How can I like bring that into the interview. Another way you can do this is by thoroughly reviewing the job description. Because a lot of times that will even show you the skills qualifications experience they’re looking for, and you can highlight the way you fit those. Also, sometimes there are little things in there like that. Or even maybe like they’re like, I want to see if they noticed that or whatever. Like I do this, when I’m interviewing, I want to see people’s attention to detail, show that you have that attention to detail that really does help when you’re interviewing for a position of any kind, whether it’s teaching or just some sort of other job showing that you fully read the job description, you

Kelsey

understand what it is you’re applying for, and, you know, hoping to sign up for it right. Another thing you can do is bring an up to date teaching portfolio. So one of the teachers in our Facebook group shared how this helped her she said that my portfolio while my principal, I had a black binder with all my stuff in it labeled in different categories. I had a student examples to show her with student growth for my internship, she’s a first year teacher. And she said to make sure you mentioned how much you love the kids and care about them. Flexibility is important. So I think that portfolio and how she showed that and how she showed like she can be flexible and how much he loves the kids. And she was able to get that job, but it was her first job. So I mean, remember, everybody has that first job at some point. So if you’re like, Oh, I’m new, are they going to, like meet like, yes, there’s somebody you will find the right fit, right. Another thing to do is prepare answers to common questions. And some of the ones that might come up or will likely come up are why you want to work for that school and district. Again, that’s like doing your research like showing like you want to work for them, specifically, your teaching philosophy, how you teach, this is important for them to know be honest about that. Your classroom management procedures, why you decided to become a teacher, your strengths and weaknesses as a teacher and as an employer, myself, I really liked to hear like something honest about that. Like not just like, you know, a lot of times people say like, oh to a weakness, that’s not really a weakness or completely unrelated to the job. That’s actually not what most employers want to hear. They want to hear like, what’s something they might want to know? But then what are you doing about it? So if you can kind of be like, Oh, this is my weakness, but this is what I’m doing about it. So I can turn it into a strength and that shows initiative, and it shows like, Oh, this is something we thought we might need to train them in, but they’re already working on it. They’re already on it. So I think that that is an awesome way to answer that question. Also how you evaluate students utilizing and interpreting student data, running small groups, how well you collaborate with other teachers because they’re not only interviewing you to like teach those kids but also to collaborate with other teachers and be a team player. ways you differentiate your instruction to reach all the learners This is more important now than ever with COVID how you utilize technology in your classroom what you know about technology that can be like you know a huge advantage and how you will contribute to the school community what you bring to the table, so be prepared for answers to all of those questions. We will get right back to the show in just a moment. But since you’re listening to this episode, I bet you will also love our summer event. Educate and rejuvenate happening on June 27 and 28th 2023. With your ticket purchase, you’ll get live keynotes with Joe Dombrowski, aka Mr. De and Christina Kuzmich to laugh and feel inspired, you would normally pay up to $75 Just to see one of these keynotes, you’ll also get a full speaker lineup with over 70 incredible speakers with a teacher track and apparent track so you can choose your own adventure and these sessions are pre recorded to do on your own time, you’ll have 10 full days to enjoy the pre recorded sessions with a general admission ticket, so you don’t need to feel rushed. You’ll also get live live coaching with me and certified coach Christie Nichols, we have both been certified by the Life Coach School so you’ll know you’re in good hands, you’ll also get a step at workout with Brianna Smith, the co founder of step fitness, and a yoga slash meditation with Lizzie Langston, from the postpartum coach to jumpstart each day, you’ll also get a certificate of completion for the credit hours completed. So you might be able to use this as PD credit. All of this is just $19 it is a total steal. So go to educate and rejuvenate.com to grab your ticket today. Okay, part two, how to introduce yourself in a teacher interview. So you want to dress professionally. But also wear something you feel fabulous and comfortable wearing. I feel like this is really important because when you feel good about what you’re wearing, you will present yourself in a more confident way. And obviously it’s about our thoughts, right we can control it no matter what we’re wearing, but it’s easier. We want to make it as easy as possible for ourselves, right? I usually like to get something new whether it’s even just it doesn’t have to be a whole outfit that new shoes or new blazer or new blouse or new dress, whatever feels good to you. And that can just help you be confident because the way you introduce yourself. It’s not just when you tell them your name. It is your presence. When you walk into the room. It’s what you’re wearing. It’s your body language setting up straight away. Can eye contact and the way you can do these things and avoid things such as like avoiding hesitations, or like, you know, speaking too loud or too soft or too fast, the way you can avoid doing those, those are like when you’re feeling nervous. So if you’re feeling confident, you’re going to present yourself with that arrow confidence, which is really going to help you. So really just the big thing is working on that confidence in yourself. And I would recommend checking out Episode 67, how to be confident as a teacher. For more on this, please, please do if you’re planning a job interview, finish this episode, but then go and listen to that one. And that I talked about two types of confidence, self confidence and confidence in your external abilities. And developing both of those will be really helpful in your job interview. Okay, part three, is how to impress in your teaching job interview. So to impress them and be like, oh, you should definitely pick me, you want to really give us specific examples about you and your experience, such as sharing stories of successful lessons you’ve taught and how it made a big different spirits, students showing your creativity and how you’re different than other teachers, they may be interviewing your approach to classroom management, or how you’ve differentiated instructions, like share specific examples. And like basically success stories or like testimonials for like, what you have to offer specifically, also play on your strengths. So like if you’re really good at technology, or if you can do art or music, or you have special endorsements or qualifications that others might not have, make sure to bring those up. Because sometimes there might be something that isn’t even listed on the description. But like when somebody’s like, Oh, I’m good at this. And that kind of like triggers like, ooh, that might be helpful. Like I’ve had this happen when I interview people like, like, oh, like I have experience with like audio editing, or whatever. I’m like, oh, that could be helpful for like my podcast, or whatever. That was like a real experience from like somebody I hired on my team. And, yeah, so it’s just like the different things that can be super helpful for a school, make sure you bring that up. Also, make sure to ask thoughtful questions that have to do with the school and be an active listener also. So you might like you’d like have some questions prepared. But also like, you know, as you have your interview, be conversational, like, listen to what they’re saying, like if they mentioned, oh, and we’re doing this program, or whatever be like, Oh, what’s that, like, oh, and I can help with that in this way, or whatever. Like, you might find other opportunities while you’re sitting down. So don’t be like to rehearse to where you feel like you can’t also like, go off them have an active conversation, because then they’ll see that you’re a collaborator, and you’re coming to this table, like, oh, I have ideas, but also I’m willing to listen to you and adjust according to that. And you really want to focus on being enthusiastic and positive about what you have to offer. And that will just, you know, really help part for how to sell yourself as a teacher. So again, kind of what we’re talking about already is highlighting your strengths and skills. But another thing you can do, to really sell yourself as a teacher is be like, show how passionate you are about the art, the science of teaching, it really is both it’s an art and a science, and show that you are there for the long haul. Like you are excited about teaching, there’s so much turnover in teaching right now teachers are getting burned out. So share your vision for your classroom, how it’s going to be how you see yourself being a team player on the team, how you’re going to also make sure that you don’t burn out in the process and that you’re going to be there for a while for them that is really reassuring to them if you’re able to do that. Because if they know like, Okay, this is someone I can count on, that’s really going to build their confidence and potentially hiring you for the position. You also want to make sure you’re being authentic and honest and personable in your interview. So you make sure that they’re seeing you as like, not just like a piece of paper, but like a person who like they are excited about working with. Remember to just be yourself and your passion will come through, think about the things you are passionate about what teaching what you’re excited about what the programs they have to offer and your experiences, you will do awesome. One thing one of our Facebook group members said that I thought was really helpful is remember to be yourself and your passion will come through, think about the things that you’re passionate about. And definitely research the programs and talk about the experiences you are part of in student teaching. Classroom management and discipline are always big questions, you will do great. And that’s just important to remember that you will do great. So let’s move on to the next part. Part Five, what you should not do in an interview. Well, the first thing is not speaking negatively about previous employers or colleagues because one that can that’s just unprofessional to begin with. But two, it can make it look like you’re difficult to work with because they might be like, Oh, well, what’s the story on the other side? And they might also wonder like, are you going to turn around and do that to us. So just don’t do that. If you have anything negative to say just don’t say it right?

Kelsey

Just focus on the positive. Also avoid like not being prepared, not knowing anything about the school basically the opposite of all the things you’ve said you want to be prepared. You want to know about the school and show that you are genuinely interested in working for them. Another thing is failing to follow up afterwards. Because that reminds them about you when they’re looking at all these people don’t miss out on the chance to give them another reminder about you and all that you have to offer in a follow up. Another one is not being yourself and like because you want to be yourself you don’t want to like be one person in the interview and then when you have the job you’re somebody else like maybe if you said like oh I’m really good at this, but then you’re actually not like highlight what you are good at and who you really Are because then you’ll know if it’s a good fit. And you’ll know that it’s good fit for you. Because if they hired you based on something that you’re not actually as good at, then you’re not going to enjoy that position because they’re going to have expectations of you that aren’t even actually you. So you want to make sure that you find a fit that’s for you. Okay, so let’s kind of summarize all of that. So how to nail your teaching interview, we want to, you know, work that model backwards, we want to think about that result that we want the actions, we need to take the actions we don’t want to take how we want to feel. So we can do those things the way we want to do it, and what we need to think to feel that way. We want to do our research about the school, knowing their lingo, their buzzwords, the curriculum, they use all those things, bring in teaching portfolio, dress professionally, but comfortably air, have an air of confidence, believe in yourself, play on your strengths, share all the things that you have to offer that other teachers might not, and ask thoughtful questions, make it conversational, make sure that they know that you are a person who can be a team player on their team, and that they can count on you being there. So that kind of sums all of that up. But I also want to mention really quick, what if you don’t get the job after doing all these things? Well, there are a few things that can mean one, it’s just for one, don’t make it about yourself, it doesn’t mean that they even thought necessarily because I can tell you this because I’ve been on the other side doesn’t even mean that they thought the other person was better than you might just be that they had a certain skill set that needed to fit that puzzle and maybe the skill set you have they already kind of had. Because when you’re putting together a team, it’s like putting together the puzzle pieces of everybody’s strengths. Maybe this person just had more of the strengths that they actually they needed more at that specific time, there’s a chance that could even call you up, they might love you and even call you up later, when they have an open position. I have done this before myself on my very small team. Sometimes it’s just not now not never, but also it may not be the right job. Another dream job is out there. So it is great practice that you already did this interview and that you are ready to go for the next one because we learn so much about ourselves from every job interview we do. So when you do this interview, even if you don’t get the job you’re learning and you’re growing and you’re getting ready for that next one where you are going to find that dream job. So when I call this episode, like how to nail your teacher interview and land your dream job. It doesn’t mean that the first minute interview for the first one you even think is your dream job is the dream job will come though if you do all these things. Okay, thank you so much for taking the time to listen today. If you enjoyed this episode, or if you’re enjoying this podcast in general, make sure to leave a review and send a screenshot to Hello at wife, teacher mommy.com And we’ll send you something special. Also make sure to hit subscribe because next week, on Tuesday, I have an interview with our keynote Kristina Kuzmich, she has over almost 3 million Facebook followers she has over had over a billion video views she is a humorous sensation. She is incredible so do not miss that episode. We will chat then

Kelsey

If you enjoyed this podcast be sure to hit subscribe so you don’t miss an episode. And if you’re ready to take the next step, come grab your ticket to join me educate and rejuvenate the education event of the year on June 27 and 28th 2023. This year, we have two incredible live keynotes. Joe Dombroski, aka Mr. D. and best selling author and video creator Christina Kuzmich, we have over 60 incredible speakers speaking on topics such as math, language arts, reading, social emotional learning, classroom management, homeschooling and tackling burnout. We start the day with a workout together each morning. We have panels with the presenters and you’ll even get to join live live coaching with me and even raise your hand if you would like to be coached. Plus, we give away tons of prizes throughout the event too. It is the best PD you could ever attend. And all of this is happening from the comfort of your own home. It’s just $19 per ticket and past attendees have said that this is what finally lit a fire under them to enjoy teaching again and that it was well worth every penny go to educate and rejuvenate.com to learn more about the 2023 events or if you’re listening to this later that link will show you what’s up next is we will continue to do events like this. I hope to see you at educate and rejuvenate.