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Here, we’re going to run through some of the preparations you can take before your sitting your interview.
Research the School
Before your interview starts, you should have found out what type of school and class you’re interviewing for.
As mentioned in our TEFL course, not all schools offer the same types of class. You’ll find cram-schools, business English classes for adults, public high schools, and kindergarten classes. With each of these, recruiters will be looking for slightly different traits – for example, people who are good with kids, people who can demonstrate some basic knowledge of different exams which exist, or people who can bring a background of professional work experience to their class.
Similarly, different schools will have different structures. If you’re teaching at chain school then they’ll likely have an established teaching method which they’ll want new teachers to adapt to. Smaller schools might have fewer resources, and may be looking for teachers who can work more independently.
By first researching the school, you’ll be able to make some notes of key aspects which might be good to mention during your interview.
Check out these two scenarios below. First consider which traits would be good to highlight, then click on the boxes to reveal our suggestions:
Chain school
Preparing students for examinationsKey points:
– Mention “Looking to join an established organization.”
– Mention “Experience working with a regional department/franchise”
– Research exams in XXX location.
Independent School
Teaching kindergarten classKey points:
– Mention “Great with children.”
– Mention “Looking forward to bringing my creativity to the lessons”
– Mention “Able to make my own flashcards and class materials”
Prepare for Questions
It’s also good to consider what questions you’re likely to be asked during the interview. We’ve split these down to the following three categories below, and included some examples.
What do you know about (destination country/region)?
Here you can demonstrate some knowledge about the country you’re wanting to teach in. This will show the interviewer that you’re prepared for life over there.
Do you have experience with traveling overseas?
If you’ve been abroad before then tell the interviewer what skills you learned, and what you enjoyed about it.
What other languages can you speak?
If you can speak another language – or studied at any point then tell them about what you learned through this experience. Interviewers will be looking to see if you can apply experiences here to your own classes.
What makes a great English teacher?
Interviewers will be looking for qualities such as ‘patient’, ‘prepared’, ‘creative’, ‘positive’, and skills such as ‘being able to prepare lesson plans for specific objectives’. You could also consider which teachers you learned the most from at high school, and what made them so effective.
How can you check that your class understands something you’ve just taught them?
CCQs! Interviewers will be looking to see that you have learned ways of testing students outside of simply having them sit examinations. CCQs and analysis through activities are both strong techniques to use.
How do you plan to manage and discipline your class?
Think back to the discipline and classroom management techniques from your TEFL course. When answering a question like this, it’s always a good to open by considering the context of the class, for example, “For a class such as this, with young learners, these techniques could be useful…”
What is your motivation for teaching English?
Interviewers here will be looking for some genuine interest in the subject, rather than “I want to save money” or “I want to live overseas”.
Are you technology proficient?
With this question, the interviewers will likely be wanting to see that you will be able to operate electronic classroom aids – such as projectors, and can use computers to create basic powerpoint slides, flashcards, or writing exercises.
What are your strengths and weaknesses.
If you’re applying for your first teaching position, then this type of question could be a good opportunity to confront the elephant in the room. You could choose to acknowledge that one of your weaknesses may be that this will be your first teaching positions, but that your strengths based on education, work, and TEFL training experiences have prepared you well to take on this challenge.
Take your time and try to answer honestly. If you aren’t a good fit for the company, it’s better to know before you land in that country. You could also try looking online at ESL forums, many of them will have information on common interview questions and suggested answers.
Be Prepared for a Panel
As a final piece of preparation, you should be open to the possibility that your interview might be conducted in front of several people – not just the recruiter who you’ve been talking with.
Schools sometimes do this as a way of seeing how you react to pressure and how well you speak to a group. While it might be daunting if you weren’t expecting it, it’s actually good practice for when you’re standing in front of a class. Just remember to look at whoever is speaking, but address your answer to everyone in the group so they don’t feel as if you’re excluding or ignoring them.