Administrator Interview: Learning from the Experts

I was blown away with the willingness and preparedness the Principle and Vice Principle at Derry Area High School had while sharing advice, tips, and mock interview questions during my administrator interview. Leaving the interview I felt confident and ready to take on another. My two interviewers setup the interview as a combination of formal and informal. When I first sat down they explained the process that was about to happen and discussed my portfolio, which I was clinging to when I walked in.

Tip #1: Portfolio - Do not hand it out, use it and the materials within as a reference. Then pass around individual items, but not the entire binder. Or simplify everything into a ‘one pager’ that can be passed out to everyone. Once we established the proper use of the portfolio, they had a list of mock interview questions that they would ask, I would respond and they would give me feedback.

The topics were as follows:

Never sell yourself short!

• Background information
• Desire for position
• Classroom Management and Organization
• Planning for Instruction
• Implementing Instruction – Engaging students with ‘why’
• Implementing Instruction - Difficult for students to understand and how do you teach it/activity
• Integration of technology – Creating 21^st century learners and leaders 
• Candidate as a person - Strengths and weaknesses

Tip #2: Drive your agriculture experiences home.  After looking at my resume and portfolio, they said it is evident that I have a strong agriculture background, and could bring many relevant perspectives to the agriculture classroom. All those experiences from growing up on a farm, to being active in FFA, to having industry internships are what will set me apart from another candidate. Therefore, I needed to drive that home, so I could effectively share that I can teach from experience rather than a textbook.

Tip #3: A tip that was repeated multiple times was to make sure I knew the district and the community well and integrate that into the conversation and my answers. In turn, another take-away was length of answers. Give appropriate length answers to ensure that I do not "lose" anyone. It’s nice to show that you know what you are talking about, but keep it clear and concise.

When asking questions, I asked two (due to time):

• What are your goals for the program with the new agriculture educator?
• What are your teaching philosophies?

Some general tips they gave with this was to ask questions that are not normally asked. Be specific and genuine in your questions and hope to engage in a conversation that goes further.

If either the Principle or Vice Principle ever read this blog, I would like to thank you for taking the time out of your day to prepare me for all the interviews in my near future.