When TEFL interview questions are not an option

When you’ve been in the profession for a few years you might find yourself going for a big job in a location like the Gulf, and, more often than not, the actual selection process goes through a recruitment agency operating far away from your potential employer. You probably won’t want to screw up your chance at the big time, so try to make sure your interview goes well. Look at the following list of reasons (which I obtained via the hook or by crook technique) why teacher job candidates most often shoot themselves in the foot during the interview. Before you read any further, try to put them in order of importance, i.e. the one that most causes you not to get that job:

1. The candidate doesn’t ask questions
2. There is condemnation of their past employer
3. The candidate has an inability to take criticism
4. The candidate has poor personal appearance
5. The candidate appears indecisive, cynical and lazy
6. The candidate is an overbearing, overly aggressive, know-it-all
7. The candidate arrived late to the interview
8. There is a failure to look at interviewer while interviewing
9. The candidate is unable to express themselves clearly
10. There is an overemphasis on money

Take a minute to put them in the order you think would most turn off the recruiter. Now, look at the list below which ranks which factors were actually the biggest reasons why candidates were rejected:

1. The candidate doesn’t ask questions
2. There is condemnation of their past employer
3. The candidate has an inability to take criticism
4. The candidate has poor personal appearance
5. The candidate appears indecisive, cynical and lazy
6. The candidate is an overbearing, overly aggressive, know-it-all
7. The candidate arrived late to the interview
8. There is a failure to look at interviewer while interviewing
9. The candidate is unable to express themselves clearly
10. There is an overemphasis on money

So, are you surprised that they were already in order? That’s right, boys and girls, your job interview, if you’re lucky, will get to the ‘do you have any questions?’ stage, and what you do now controls whether or not you get an offer. Your résumé undoubtedly gets you in the door, but whether you leave as a job seeker or an employee depends on the way you conduct yourself during the interview.

Many candidates, possibly even you are among them, think that when the interviewer says, ‘now then, do you have any questions for us?’ it’s a polite signal that the interview is about to be over and they are winding down. Honestly, they, possibly even you are among them, couldn’t be more mistaken. This question really signals phase two, the important phase, of the interview. Everything that came before was mainly just an aperitif. I am reliably informed that recruiters are unanimous on this point: Job seekers who fail to ask at least a couple of intelligent questions are destined to remain job seekers. My boss has even told me that I got my current job on the strength of the questions I asked at the interview. If you don’t ask questions, you give the following impressions of who you are and what your personal philosophy is:

• You think this job is either unimportant or trivial.
• You’re uncomfortable in asserting yourself.
• You’re not an intelligent candidate.
• You’re easily intimidated.
• You’re bored or, even worse, boring.

Quite clearly, none of these factors work in your favour. Of course, not any old codswallop questions will do. If you don’t think about the questions in advance, you run the risk of missing a critical opportunity by not asking intelligent questions or by sticking your foot in your mouth by asking stupid ones. Good questions show the interviewer that you are interested in the job. Great questions tell the interviewer that you are a force to be reckoned with. I’ll be following up this with a few suggestions in the near future, so stop by again if this sounds of interest to you.

Basically, asking the right questions is your chance to show that you are the best candidate for the teaching job by showing off five different impressions of who you are:

• Interest: You have taken the trouble to investigate the job.
• Intelligence: You really understand the requirements of the job.
• Confidence: You have everything it takes to do to the job.
• Personal appeal: You are the type of person who will fit in well.
• Assertiveness: You ask for the job.

Of course, there is a sixth objective for your asking critical questions: to help you assess whether or not you really want the job. The job interview is a two-way process. You get to assess the quality of the organization as much as the organization gets to assess your credentials. The other important thing is to avoid ‘What do I get?’ questions until after you actually get a job offer, or at very least a very strong expression of interest. ‘What do I get?’ questions are anything that refers to what you, the candidate, receives rather than what you, the candidate, offers. Remember this; you have two roles in the interview: buying into the school and selling yourself as a potential member of the organization. Remember: when the interviewer says, ‘do you have any questions?’ it’s not just a polite signal that the interview is about to be over, here’s when your work begins.

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