Introduction
Preparation is key for an assistant teacher interview. If you are well prepared, it can help you to increase your chances of being offered the role. However, if you do not prepare properly or get nervous during the interview process, then this could have negative effects on your chance of getting hired as a teacher assistant. These are some tips to help you in preparing for a teaching assistant interview:
1. Do your homework.
- Research the school, the teachers and the students. The more you know about them, the better prepared you’ll be for your assistant teacher Find out about the role, as well as what you can expect from this position at this particular school.
- Make sure to find out more about the ethos of both your future coworkers and employer: What do they value? How do they expect people to behave? Who are their role models? How does this organisation help its staff grow professionally?
Learn all that’s possible about these topics by looking at school websites and asking current or former employees (if possible) to provide information on how things work there. Asking questions is always recommended!
2. Find positive rapport with your interviewer
Let’s face it, the interview is a big deal for both parties involved. You want to ensure that you have a good time and show them how much fun you are to work with while they assess whether or not they think you are qualified enough to help them in their classroom. There are several ways in which you can create a friendly atmosphere during an interview:
- Be friendly and polite
- Be genuine and honest
- Be yourself—you don’t need to pretend to know everything about teaching or even know anything about teaching at all (everyone has to learn on the job). Just be confident in your abilities and let those shine through!
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3. Make them remember you
- Be Tactful: It’s important not only to be honest but tactful as well; if asked about any weaknesses or shortcomings in your experience or education, take the opportunity to explain what steps have been taken towards resolving them (if applicable).
- Be punctual! Nothing screams unprofessional more than showing up late for an interview—so make sure that doesn’t happen by arriving at least 15 minutes early just so there aren’t any delays on either end of things!
Pro-tip: Even when you don’t know the answer to a question, try your best to sound like you do and present it in a way that makes it seem like this is something you’ve done for years.
4. Show how well-prepared you are
- Be prepared to answer questions about your resume. This means knowing what it is, why you’re applying for this position, and how it can help the interviewer understand your qualifications.
- Be prepared to answer questions about your past work experience. How many jobs have you had? What kinds of tasks were required of you at each job? Were there any skills or abilities that were particularly important in those jobs that would be relevant here? What did you like or dislike about them? Why did they lead up to this point in your career, and how do they demonstrate that preparation for this role?
- Be prepared to answer questions about your education. Your degree(s) may not seem as relevant as other things on a teaching assistant’s resume but if there are specific topics covered in classes or labs, then bring them up briefly: “I took a class on X because of Y.”
You can also check out this amazing Masterclass on How should teachers prepare for interviews? and learn from International mentor Dr Michael Bartlett to ace your interview.
5. Explain to the interviewer exactly what you would bring to the role and how it can benefit their teaching assistant job role?
Have a list of all the skills and qualifications that make you a good candidate for the job prepared ahead of time so that when they do ask questions of this nature, there will be no hesitation on your part when answering them. You might be asked to explain:
- Explain how you would benefit the school
- Explain how you would benefit the teacher
- Explain how you would benefit the students
- Explain how you would benefit the school as a whole
6. Try not to be nervous!
There is no need to worry about your interview. Don’t let the stress get in the way of your preparation, and be confident that you can do this!
Bring some copies of your resume with you because, most likely, they won’t have one on file for reference unless it has been requested by them already, which means this is probably not an open-ended position but rather something which has already been advertised, so having a copy could help seal the deal if everything goes well during this initial meeting!
Practising answering questions in front of a mirror or with someone else will help alleviate any nervousness
Conclusion
We hope you found this article useful, and if you have any additional questions about teaching assistant interviews, please feel free to contact us here.
