Possible Interview Questions

Following are a list of questions commonly asked by potential employers. Review this list and pre-plan possible responses. This will help you feel at ease during the interview.

General Questions

• Tell me about yourself.
• What school activities have you participated in? Why?
• If you have not been active on campus, why not?
• Have you held any leadership roles? If so, what were they and what did you learn from these experiences?
• Why/how did you choose Albion College?
• What is your major? Why/how did you choose that major? If you were to start over, would you choose it again? Why/why not?
• What were you favorite/least favorite classes? Why?
• Do you feel you have done the best scholastic work you are capable of? Why/why not?
• What is the single most important statement you would make about your experiences at Albion College?
• What are your greatest strengths/weaknesses? What are you doing to improve any weaknesses?
• What personal characteristics do you think are necessary for success in this field?
• How do you work under pressure? Can you give me an example?
• Give me an example of when you worked as a team leader/player.
• What is the toughest group you've had to get cooperation from?
• Tell me about your past work experiences. What did you like most and least about these jobs?
• Have you ever been a member of a group where members did not get along or work well together? What did you learn from this experience?
• What interests you about this position/organization?
• Describe a situation that required you to do many things at once. How did you handle this?
• What are two or three things that are most important for you to have in a job/position?
• Describe a major problem you've encountered. How did you handle this?
• Describe a project or idea you initiated.
• Describe an unpopular decision you made. What was the result?
• What do you consider to be your most significant accomplishment? Why?
• Describe the relationship you think should exist between a supervisor and supervisee.
• What type of work environment do you prefer?
• What do you know about this organization?
• Tell me about something creative you've done in a past job.
• If you were hiring someone for this position, what qualities would you look for in a candidate?
• Why should we hire you?

Questions commonly asked of teacher candidates

• What is your philosophy of education?
• What issues in education are of greatest concern to you? Why?
• Describe the role of the teacher in the learning process.
• What is the role of the teacher in the community?
• How would you individualize instruction in your classroom?
• Why do you want to teach?
• What special abilities do you have that would benefit your students?
• What prompted you to go into the field of education?
• Describe your grading style. Do you grade on ability or effort? Why?
• Tell me about your student teaching experience.
• How do you feel about observations by supervisors or principals?
• Are you interested in working with students in extracurricular activities? Why/why not? Which activities?
• What subject areas most interest you?
• How do you think children learn?
• What magazines, periodicals, books have you read recently related to education?
• What is your philosophy of classroom management? Give me an example of how you handled a discipline problem during your student teaching.
• What are your thoughts on teaching a split grade?
• Give me an example of a time where you contributed to a project.
• What did you find most beneficial in your student teaching experience?