Top Three Things To Prepare For Your Next Interview

The interview room is yours. You are telling your stories, not bending to what you think they want to hear. Tell your stories. An interview is a chance for you to show case the best you.

 

The common thing I hear teachers say is that they need to know how to sell themselves. Yes, that is a skill, but here is a reframe.

 

It’s not about what they think of you, it’s about what you think of yourself.

 

If you know, deep down, you can do this job, then go into the interview with that mindset, instead of wanting to sell yourself or convince the panel you are the best person for the job. Prepare ahead of time so that you are armed with what, you know, are you best stories that showcase your leadership capability and weave them into your interview.

 

Here are the top three things to prepare for your next interview.

 

Know Your Strengths As A Leader

 

Being able to articulate what your strengths is important. It’s almost like a cheat sheet for those interviewing you.

 

If you know your strength is creating strategies to solve problems, they that will be your default.

If your strength is building relationships, they know you'll lean on that early in the role.

 

There are many places you can get clues from about what you are good at as a leader.

• Take note of things you love to do. When time doesn't matter. The things you'll always make time to do because you love doing that job.
• Feedback from others telling you what you're good at.
• A self-assessment tool such as AITSL Principal Standards.
• Personality assessment tool such as Myers Briggs.
• 360 Feedback Tool.

 

Try to keep your key strengths down to just the very top three. Yes, you can do lots of things well. You are an amazing educator, after all. By keeping your strengths narrow, you'll be able to speak to them a lot more specifically.

 

 

Know Your Values

 

What you value will influence all your decisions. It is the measuring stick we unconsciously or consciously use when we are faced with difficult decisions and conversations.

 

I suggest knowing your top three values. Some people talk about having personal values and professional values. I think that because you are the same human no matter where you are, it's really the three things you base all your decisions around. You can easily weave these into interview questions, and they are a great way to, again, help the panel see who you are.

 

Some people say that your values change over time. I believe that when you are to speak about your values, they develop over time. You are a lifelong learner. You'll always be developing yourself professionally and personally. This means, your values will naturally mature too.

 

Do not let that stop you though. Articulate your values now. They may or may not be forever, but they are for right now and it's you, right now, that is applying for this role.

 

You Get To Choose What to Talk About

Although there will be questions that you are presented, you get to decide which story to use as an example of your leadership capability. You are the one speaking so you control the narrative. If you know this one leadership story really shows off many sides of you and demonstrates your strengths and values, the weave that story into one of the questions as your example.

 

Don't make yourself fit their questions, make their question fit you.

 

By having an assortment of examples, both large scale and small scale, you'll be able to choose what you speak about. I wrote more about how to prepare yourself with prewritten stories here  and how to structure your interview responses

If you'd like further support with preparing for your next interview, reach out to book a free 30 minute chat to discuss your interview preparation needs.