The document provides tips for effective job interviews. It discusses: 1) Preparing for an interview by researching the employer, knowing your strengths and accomplishments, and practicing interview skills. 2) Making a good impression at an interview through proper attire, body language, being prompt, and preparing answers to common questions. 3) Responding to questions by giving specific examples from your experience, having a positive attitude, and discussing lessons learned from challenges.

1. TIPS ON EFFECTIVE JOB
INTERVIEW
MARY QUEEN TAN-BERNARDO
Senior Education Program Specialist
School Management Monitoring & Evaluation Section
School Governance and Operations Division, DepEd-Occidental Mindoro

2. The Job Interview by Definition
Opportunity to present yourself, skill
set, and knowledge to one who can hire
you

3. Keys to the Successful Interview:
Preparation BEFORE the Interview
• Know yourself
• Research the employer
• Practice, Practice, Practice
• Make a good impression

4. Know Yourself
• What do you have to offer?
• Identify 5 – 10 work or school experiences that demonstrate your skills
and accomplishments
• half should be totally positive
• half should be ones that started out negative but had
either a positive result or a good learning experience
• What do you want to do and where do you want to do it?
• How are you perceived by others?

5. Do Your Research
• Research the employer you’re interviewing with
• Conduct informational interviews

6. Practice, Practice, Practice!
• To better prepare yourself for the interview, as well as
assist in conquering pre-interview anxiety, practice is key
• Attend interviewing workshops and view interviewing
videos/DVDs in the Career Center
• Meet with a career counselor for a mock interview
• Practice for the interview with family or friends and
practice, practice, practice

7. Proper Attire • DO:
• Wear conservative attire, such as a dark
colored business suit
• Polish your shoes
• Stick to a low business heel shoe
• Have hair neatly brushed and face shaved
before interview
• Bring a portfolio or briefcase
• DON’T
• Wear bright colored business suits: Black,
Grey, and Pastel colors are most appropriate
• Wear flashy accessories like watches, jewelry,
or excessive amounts of cologne, perfume, or
hair gel
• Wear skirts that reach above the knees
• Wear stiletto heels

8. Keys to the Successful Interview:
DURING the Interview
• Be prompt and
prepared
• Poise and body
language
• Answer the questions
• Closing statements

9. Be Prompt and Prepared
• Arrive 10 to 15 minutes before the scheduled interview time
• Turn the cell phone OFF – vibrations make noise
• Give a firm handshake, make eye contact, and smile when
you are greeted
• Bring extra copies of your resume and a list of references

10. Poise and Body Language
• Many interviewers will assess you based on:
• Appropriate eye contact and posture
• Correctly pronouncing his/her name
• If you talk easily or are overly formal and reserved
• If you seem enthusiastic and confident
• When greeted, introduce yourself and shake interviewer’s hand. Don’t sit until
interviewer is seated
• Never chew gum during an interview
• Most employers agree that the first five minutes of an interview will tell them
the most about a person
• First impressions are important

11. Answering the Questions
• Speak slowly and clearly. Don’t be afraid to pause for a moment to
collect your thoughts
• Listen and understand the interviewer’s questions before responding
thoroughly yet concisely
• Be honest- don’t try to cover up mistakes. Instead, focus on how you
learned from them
• Give positive nonverbal feedback to the interviewer
• Smile, be enthusiastic, showing a positive attitude
• Avoid negative terms and comments when responding to questions.
Stress positives

12. Be Prepared for Behavior-based Questions!
• Describe a time when you were faced with problems or
stresses at work that tested your coping skills. What did
you do?
• Give an example of a time when you had to be relatively
quick in coming to a decision.
• Give me an example of an important goal you had to set
and tell me about your progress in reaching that goal.
• Give me an example of a problem you faced on the job,
and tell me how you solved it.
• Tell me about a situation in the past year in which you
had to deal with a very upset customer or co-worker.

13. Your keys to RESPONDING well to
these types of questions are:
Be specific, not general or vague!
Don’t describe how you would behave.
Describe how you DID behave. If
you later decided you should have
behaved differently, explain this. The
interviewer will see that you learned
something from experience.

14. S.T.A.R approach:
S - Situation. Narrate a particular experience wherein you have exhibited an
exceptional and desirable skill. Be sure to cite important details involved in the
scenario.
T - Task. Describe the tasks involved in the particular situation.
A - Action. List the action plans that you did to address the situation's task.
R - Result. Enumerate the outcome of your action plan; It's better to speak in terms
of quantifiable accomplishments (100% increase in efficiency, etc.).

15. S.T.A.R approach:
• Example:
1. Situation - During my second year of teaching, I became an adviser of the First Year students.
2. Task - I noticed that there have been a lot or recorded tardiness in our section.
3. Action - I introduced a class program to give incentives to early birds as well as a buddy
system wherein responsible students will encourage their struggling classmates come to school
early.
4. Result - For the entire year, there was a 90% decrease in student tardiness in our classroom
and our school's guidance counselor adapted the program which is now being used for all year
levels in our campus.

16. What about Answering Questions?
Your points must be CLEAR, RELEVANT AND
ADEQUATE:
• to enable the interviewer to understand what you are
trying to say; to determine your strengths for that
particular job; and to have sufficient information to
make a good decision.
The interviewer needs to determine if you can do the
job, if you will do the job, and if you fit in. Hiring
the RIGHT person is the goal.

17. Closing Statements
• Be prepared with your closing statement reiterating your
interest and abilities
• Be prepared to ask questions of the interviewer
• The initial interview is NOT the time to ask about
salary
• Thank the interviewer and ask for a business card

18. Sample Interview
Questions

19. The Introduction Questions
• Why are you a good fit for this job and our school district?
• What makes you qualified for this teaching position?
• Tell us a little about your professional experiences.
• Do you have a professional portfolio you would like to share with us?

20. Questions about College and Student Teaching
• How well has your university prepared you for teaching?
• What was the most useful college course you have taken?
• What is the most important thing you learned from your cooperating
teacher?
• What was the most important thing you learned from your overall student
teaching experience?
• Describe your student teaching experience.

21. Personal Information
• Where do you see yourself in ten years?
• What are your three greatest strengths?
• Name three of your weaknesses.
• What is the most satisfying thing about teaching?
• What is the biggest challenge in teaching?

22. • What is your least favorite subject, and age group, to teach?
• Have you ever been a substitute teacher? Describe that experience.
• What type of student were you in high school?
• What are your interests outside of teaching?
• Why do you want to teach in this district?
• Who do you look up to and want to emulate?

23. Interview Questions about Teaching Style
• Would you say that you are a tough teacher?
• Describe an example of when you used positive reinforcement.
• How do you integrate technology into your lessons?
• How do you allow students to express their creativity in your classroom?
• How do you develop self-esteem within students?
• How do you make learning fun?
• Describe a typical lesson.

24. • What are techniques you use to teach besides direct instruction?
• What do you do if the whole class is “not getting it”?
• How closely do you follow your lesson plan?
• What do you put in your learning objectives of your lesson plan?
• Describe the most effective teaching techniques.
• How do you connect your lessons to the “real world”?
• Is it ok for a classroom to be noisy?

25. Teacher Interview Questions About
Differentiating Instruction
• Give an example of how you differentiated instruction in a lesson.
• How do you accommodate gifted student in your class?
• How do you manage students with different reading abilities?
• How do you feel about inclusive classrooms?

26. Questions about Classroom Management
• How do you avoid misbehavior altogether?
• What is the most challenging behavioral situation you have ever dealt with?
How did you react?
• What are your classroom rules?

27. Interview Questions about Teacher
Communication
• Give us examples of how you communicated with other teachers in your
department?
• Give us an example of effective communication with an administrator.
• How do you handle pressure with your boss?

28. The Closing Interview Questions
• Is there anything we have not talked about that you would like to share with
us?
• Do you have any questions for us?

29. What to do after the interview?
• Courteously thank the interviewer(s) for the opportunity to
interview with the agency.
• Extend a handshake and exhibit enthusiasm about the career
opportunity.
• Consider following up with a thank you note or e-mail of
appreciation to the interviewer(s) to further show your
interest.

30. 5 Interview Mistakes you don’t know you’re
making
•Mistake #1:
You didn’t speak directly to the
school culture and needs.

31. Mistake #2:
You weren’t specific enough about
your experiences.

32. Mistake #3:
You sidestepped the “failure”
question.

33. Mistake #4:
You appear “distant” during the
interview.
• To avoid this problem, practice positive body language. Oh, and give yourself a
break if you miss an answer. It’ll be OK, you probably did better than you think.

34. Mistake #5:
You didn’t speak to results. Numbers
matter. They’re attention-getters on the
resume and deal-cinchers in the
interview.

35. Just Remember…
• BE CONFIDENT – Sell Yourself!
• Have FUN and ENJOY the interviewing
process
• When in doubt… MOCK INTERVIEW!