Toughest Interview Questions You've Ever Been Asked

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Mac1030
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Toughest Interview Questions You've Ever Been Asked

Post by Mac1030 »

I was prepping recently with an older friend who is an excellent science teacher with both IB/AP experience, has a PhD in his teaching subject and a master's in SPED, coaches several sports, and has an Ivy League university background . He told me he once walked into an interview where they told him his CV and accomplishments were impressive but his competition was no different. They then asked what made him a better teacher in a field packed with talent. My friend said the question caught him off guard but he did alright as he landed the job offer.

So what are the toughest questions you've ever been asked at an interview?
adminpaul
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Post by adminpaul »

fine dude
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Post by fine dude »

I interviewed with some top flight IB schools in south-east Asia and western Europe and here are some questions from those interviews:
1. Name one thing that you like about IB and one you don't.
2. How does learning happen in your class?
3. What is your favorite lesson and why?
4. If you accidentally misled students in a lesson, how would you go about correcting it?
5. If two of your students forgot to bring laptops to your class, how would you include them in your lessons?
6. What are some advantages of using a Macbook than a PC in your class?
7. How would you use a social learning network to help differentiate a lesson?
9. What is your advice to a gifted student who wants to do further studies in your subject over the summer?
10. Our school publishes a quarterly journal in your subject area. What would be your contribution?
11. Name one learning blog that you follow and what insights did you gain from it?
12. How would you handle a parent who will continuously blame you for his child's poor achievement?
13. If the school is closed for a week due to a natural disturbance, how would you communicate with your students?
14. Which of these is important to a student, knowledge or understanding?

Hope that helps.
dover2013
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Post by dover2013 »

The hardest question is always the one that catches you off guard. Often, it's the interviewer who screws it up by establishing a relationship with the interviewee and then asking something out of left field that is intended to catch the "candidate" out - all rather childish really. The question referred to in the OP is the easiest question in the world to answer for a good teacher - maybe he thought he had the job before he had the interview and he was being checked to see that he didn't have two heads or an axe up his sleeve? Been there - been totally flummoxed by a question and then thought half an hour later, "s*** why didn't I say xyz, it's flinking obvious?" And next time some head or principal or whoever is on the freebie trip to London, Bangkok or San Francisco or wherever asks the same question, you nail it and they snap you up.

I like a lot of the questions in fine dude's posts though - not one of them has a single correct answer. Asked naturally, as part of a conversation that involves a skilled interviewer, they are excellent.
National
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Post by National »

Hardest question I was ever asked was in an interview as a couple and the interviewer asked what one thing the other did as a teacher that we didn't agree with. How do you answer that? I totally messed up the answer, but we still got the job.
Mac1030
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Post by Mac1030 »

Thank you National, dover2013, admin, and fine dude! Your responses were helpful!
Dawson
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Re: Toughest Interview Questions You've Ever Been Asked

Post by Dawson »

The toughest question I was asked was what recent professional development I had taken that would help me in the position. I know that's an easy question right? Well, they had done their research on my CV and said "other than ____" (the things I had mentioned) what had I done recently that would be helpful. So they completely taken out what I had written down. I stammered through my reply and still referred to what was on my CV because I couldn't think of anything else. That completely perplexed me because I just wanted to expand on my CV answers and obviously I ended up not getting the job, but it definitely taught me to have more to talk about than just the highlighted parts on your CV. It was a good learning experience and now I know you should be able to talk about trends in education that you would like to take some courses in.
klooste
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Re: Toughest Interview Questions You've Ever Been Asked

Post by klooste »

Hardest I ever for asked: if we talked to your worst enemy, what would they say about you? Why?
sassylassie
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Re: Toughest Interview Questions You've Ever Been Asked

Post by sassylassie »

Awhile ago I was interviewing for a position teaching grade 4 at a small school in a small town in my home country. The students, staff, and admin were all roughly 98% caucasian, as am I. I was asked how I would respond to a parent's accusation of racism.

I really had a hard time answering as I couldn't imagine a grade 4 classroom in a small town in the middle of nowhere as being bastion of racism. Parents or other community members? Yes. Ultra-liberal, open-minded me, who has been exposed to all kinds of lifestyles all over the world? Haha. No.

I guess that question wasn't so much 'tough' as it was odd and seemingly out-of-place.
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