Interview Success Tips

The job interview in TEFL/ESL/TESOL is vitally important for so many reasons. You have to prove yourself capable and competent in an increasingly competitive market, you have to find out what kind of establishment your potential employer is, whether or not you can negotiate pay and other conditions, and for many more reasons. As we learn in this article, careful planning and an astute and charismatic approach on the day works wonders. Think now you have applied for a job in a private language institute and have been invited to attend an interview like any other job. So begins the preparation stage to the TEFL/ESL/TSEOL job interview. Getting your appearance, interview answers and interview questions right, through careful preparation, will put you way ahead of the competition. This is when you must invest your time doing your homework. But what do you need to know?

English teaching jobs abroad by their nature represent challenges for companies when trying to recruit teachers. The challenges of long distances are reflected in a variety of job interview formats, which you should make yourself aware of before attendance. Let us identify the three main types of interview and their unique quirks. Firstly, there is the standard face-to-face interview, which is most similar to any other employment type.  Such interviews can be done in your home country and are very common if you are looking for teaching jobs in the country where you want to teach. The majority of advice in this article is primarily concerned with passing this format.

Second, is the group interview. In this format, a group of usually five to twenty people are invited to attend, usually for several hours,an interview and seminar. This format can be challenging as it will be more obvious that you are in competition with other candidates. Also, you will most likely be asked to engage in some teaching or teamwork-related tasks. The main thing to bare in mind in such tasks is how you conduct yourself with your fellow interviewees, rather than how well or quickly you can complete the tasks. Show yourself to be cooperative, a good communicator and conscientious – all necessary charateristics in the classroom.

Thirdly, if you are applying for a teaching job abroad from your home country, be prepared to do a telephone interview. Telephone interviews are rarely popular with candidates, or interviewers surprisingly. The lack of face to face reassurance brings out people’s insecurities and this can result in a generally poorer performance. Other annoyances like time zone differences and potential time lags over the phone also make this format more unpleasant. In response to these difficulties, respond to the interviewer’s ice-breakers, make your own to create an atmosphere of ease, and remain calm throughout.

Let’s assume now you are attending interview format one; a basic face to face meeting with the OS/ADOS of the school you want to work for. Do not overlook cultural differences when considering what to wear when you attend the interview. If you are already in the country where you intend to teach, you can find out the social norms easily enough. However, if you are attending an interview for a job abroad in your home country, do your research. One of the most curious interviews I have ever attended involved a large Japanese company recruiting in the United Kingdom. Upon arriving at the group interview in London, all male candidates not dressed in a suit and tie were politely asked to leave. Female candidates not dressed in a similar level of formality were also cut. On this occasion, like any other when I am not sure about appropriacy, always be too formal rather than too casual.

It is not an inevitability that you will be asked questions related to English grammar, but if it is your first job or you have less than the golden two years experience, spend time before the interview brushing up on your grammar. As the TEFL/ESL/TESOL market place becomes saturated with more candidates and qualifications like the CELTA/Trinity TESOL become the norm, not the exception, it is vital you do not embarrass yourself in the interview by stumbling over elementary language issues. In no way do you need to know all the intricacies of English, but basic language awareness is essential; after all how can you teach something which you don’t know yourself? As a guide, look at a Pre-Intermediate level course book; the interviewer will not ask advanced language questions, so do not worry. From my experience, prepare yourself to explain the difference between the past simple (I went) and the present perfect  (I have gone), the rules of comparative or superlative adjectives (taller, the tallest), what modal verbs are (must, can) and what gerunds are (swimming, being late) and more.

The job interview is now in a few days time and it is essential that you prepare your ideas to a range of open questions the interviewer will ask you. TEFL/ESL/TESOL job interviews, I believe, are easier than other interviews to pass in this respect, as there really are only a limited range of questions you should expect to be asked. It is advisable to prepare ideas, not wholly scripted answers to the following (question advice in brackets):

Why do you want to work for us? (Impress them with your knowledge of the company). Why have you become an English teacher? (Mention your love of teaching and learning; not travelling – your employer doesn’t want to think you will get up and leave through your contract!) What work experience (in TEFL/ESL/TESOL) do you have? (If this is your first job, explain how your previous work experience relates to teaching and learning). What were the challenges/difficulties you faced on CELTA/Trinity TESOL/ your last teaching job? (Make sure you spin this so it appears you reflected on your teaching practice and grew as a teacher). What English course books have you taught from/ What did you think of them? (Identify a book you liked and say how it helped your students learn) How long do you want to work for us/in TEFL/ESL/TESOL? (It is advisable not to mention English teaching as a stop gap or just an excuse to get out of your home country. Give the impression you’re in it for the medium to long haul).

Naturally, there are quite a few other questions that could be asked – the above is supposed to serve only as a guide. Remember to always try and put a positive presentation on any teaching practice or experience you have had. Never appear disgruntled with a previous employer or ex-colleague and do not bad mouth a society you have lived in.

Interviewers such as DOSs and ADOSs do not expect the interview process to be a one-way street so neither should you. In actual fact, I think TEFL/ESL/TESOL job interviews involve as much assessment of the school as the school does of you. Unfortunately, experience teaching and working within TEFL/ESL/TESOL best draws out the questions and issues you want answered. If you have never worked in teaching English, just try and think what will most impinge on/benefit your daily working life. Here are some essential things to find out about:

Do I have to work split shifts? (never popular with teachers) Do I have to travel from class to class? (seldom paid) How will the school support me If I am teaching children? (the best schools work very closely with parents and teachers – the worst, not at all) How are student levels determined? (hopefully, through a comprehensive test administered by a native speaker) What are the procedures for cover and overtime? (how easily can you get cover if you are ill and can you get extra hours if you want to?) What materials (books, stationery etc)/resources (photocopier, printer etc) have you got? What are the opportunities for promotion/pay rises? (it is reasonable to ask) What are the opportunities for professional development? (can the company help make you a better teacher?)

Obviously, there are a lot of issues which you may want to raise in the interview, but try not turn the meeting into you interviewing the school! Hopefully, the interviewer should assuage your fears and provide answers that demonstrate the school is committed to academic quality, job satisfaction amongst teachers, and administrative competency. Alarm bells should ring if the interviewer dodges the issues above or provides unsatisfactory answers.

If you have impressed the interviewer, and have conversely been impressed by the interviewer’s responses to your questions, it is time to think about acceptance. You may have been to several interviews at the same time and are wondering which one to accept. I would recommend weighing up the pros and cons of each job very carefully and remember that it is not always salary that affects job satisfaction. Is $50 a month more really worth it for a poorly administered school that prioritises money over student/teacher welfare. The interviewer may ask for your acceptance on the day. If that is the case, it is not unreasonable to ask for thinking time of a day or two – you are committing yourself to a year or more abroad and the interviewer should understand that.

In conclusion, with thorough preparation, being formally dressed, and having a charismatic performance on the day, you should land that dream TEFL/ESL/TESOL job easily. Schools are always looking for teachers and it’s often the case that there are too many jobs to choose from. Use the interview as an opportunity to suss out the employer. Speak to other teachers and go round the premises. On a final note, learn from every TEFL/ESL.TESOL job interview – write down what went well and what you could improve upon so you can raise your game up a level next time. Good luck!

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Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the meat and potatoes of businesses hoping to make it on the internet, but did you realise that SEO can also be the key to wildly increasing the number of international school recruiters who see your eResume?

Let’s face it, the reality of job-hunting in the 21st Century is that digital is the way to go… We search for jobs online, we submit our resumes online, are interviewed via Skype over the internet and accept contracts that are delivered electronically too.

In this article I want to clue you in to a little known technique that is crucial when you are submitting your resume to a website or an electronic database, use keywords. Simple isn’t it? But very few of your competitors know about this, and that’s to your direct benefit because optimising your resume for the search terms recruiters will be using to find you will put your resume smack in the middle of their desk.

Here’s what to do:

Include specific education related nouns in your resume because keywords are noun-based. Some examples are: classroom management, curriculum design, student motivation, student assessment, student organisation, class project, extra curricular activity.

Include specific subject related nouns in your resume.

Include qualification specific nouns in your resume.

Include experience specific nouns in your resume. Some examples are: GCSE teaching experience, examination board marking, moderating experience. Remember to include terms that would be of interest to a British, American or IB school if that’s where you experience lies or that’s where you want to go.

Look at job descriptions and job advertisements for ideas of keywords. Imagine that you’re the recruiter and make a list of keywords you’d use when searching a database for someone with your qualifications.

Attempt to position these keywords towards the top of your resume.

Here’s what not to do:

Lose sight of the fact that you’re preparing your resume to attract the interest of a human being.

Check that your resume is attractive, well-laid out and reads well.

Over use any single keyword or phrase as this can result in that keyword or phrase being disregarded.

The pros and cons of posting your resume online:

At the end of the day, international recruiters are busy people who don’t spend hours trawling the internet in an attempt to find staff. Therefore, submitting your resume to resume bulletin boards is going to be a waste of time.

So why go to the effort of optimising your resume for online use? There are a number of industry specific websites on the internet where international school vacancies are posted. If you submit your resume to these sites, there’s a reasonable chance that recruiters may run a quick search when they’re posting the job adverts, provided the advertisement is not being posted by a personal assistant. And so, submitting an optimised resume will pay off in this situation.

Also, one of the services the international teaching job fair organisers offer schools’ recruiters is the ability to search a database of candidates’ resumes. To search the databases the recruiters enter subject specific, qualification specific and, experience specific keywords.

At the very least this exercise will result in you identifying areas in your experience and qualifications that will attract recruiters. You can then use these either when you optimise you resume ready to post online, or you can use them when you write your cover letter to catch the eye of recruiters who ‘skim’ the majority of cover letters prior to deleting them.

Good luck on your job-hunt!

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If you have read any of the articles I have written prior to this, or The Complete Guide to Securing a Job at an International School, you will know I’m a proponent of spreading yourself around in order to secure a teaching position in an international school. This is the approach that I have used successfully and I still believe it is an excellent strategy for kicking off your international teaching career. However, I thought I’d better write an article on strategies for educators who are looking for their second or third overseas teaching position. Those international educators with some overseas work experience under their wing may choose to use this longer-term strategy to secure their next teaching position.

Once you’ve been working in the international education sector for a while, you’ll soon come to realise there are international schools and then there are ‘international schools’. Some international schools are international in name only, some schools have student bodies that are populated heavily with the children of privileged, local families, so that you end up teaching in what is essentially an English Speaking School.

Teachers love to talk! In fact, one of the reasons I accepted the position I currently hold is because teachers I met at the international teaching job fair I attended recommended the school to me. I now keep a list of schools that have great reputations, and another list of schools that I know I definitely don’t want to work in. I base my list on what I’ve heard from teachers that I work with or meet at professional development events.

Once you have identified which schools will suit your needs by talking to colleagues, peers and doing some research, you’ll need a strategy for landing a great teaching position with them.

First Contact Plus

I have dubbed this strategy ‘First Contact Plus’ because the first contact you make with a school you want to work for may not result in employment being offered. The key to this strategy is persistence and making yourself known.

This strategy comes into its own when you do not have a fixed time-frame in which you need to see results. It might take years for this strategy to pay off. I know of one colleague who has been using this strategy to woo a particularly desirable school for several years, and only this year have there been any real rewards.

How does the strategy work? Well, it starts by you sending your application pack to the recruiter in question when the recruiting season starts. Do not wait for your desired school to post vacancies. You are not applying for a job, what you are trying to do is become known to the recruiter. You do not include a letter of application with your pack, you write a personalised letter of introduction.

Follow this up with a phone call a week later, asking the recruiter if they received your application pack and making enquiries about the school’s recruitment process. Should be a vacancy that would suit your credentials and experience, press for an interview

If you should attend an international teacher recruitment fair that season, introduce yourself personally to the recruiter attending the fair to represent your favoured school. You must introduce yourself regardless of whether there is a position open that you could fill, or not. When you meet the recruiter, remind them about yourself and offer your regrets that there is not a suitable vacancy this season that you could fill. Clearly let the recruiter know that you find the idea of working at their school desirable and ask if you can stay in touch with the view to seeking employment in the future. When you get their permission to stay in touch you can email them without it being considered SPAM.

This completes the ‘First Contact’ part of the strategy. Next, the ‘Plus’.

Once you have made contact with the recruiter you need to remain in the front of their mind. Be warned, this does not mean stalking the recruiter, but rather building a relationship with them so that you are at the top of the list when a suitable vacancy eventuates. Each season send your application pack to the recruiter, send them Christmas cards if appropriate, let them know of any professional development, positions of responsibility or other additions to your resume. Whenever you are attending a recruitment event, meet and greet the recruiter in person. If you are holidaying near the school when they are in session, then request to visit.

You can see why this is an advanced, long-term strategy for landing the perfect job teaching overseas. It takes some effort and you will need to have access to the job fairs etc. However, the results can be well-worth the effort you put into it. First Contact Plus is a strategy that puts a spin on a marketing strategy called ‘relationship marketing’ where companies attempt to build a sustainable competitive advantage by nurturing a relationship with suppliers and customers alike.

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You will be surprised at the number of teaching job interviews you will be invited to attend at an international recruitment job fair. You may be worried because you have sent out your resume to all the recruiters on the job fair organizer’s list of schools that have vacancies in your teaching area and yet you have received no responses, or only automated responses.

Trust me, this is not a problem!

You will probably find that when you arrive for the orientation session and check your mailbox that you have received a number of interview invitations from those very same recruiters that have not sent you a personal response to your initial attempts to make contact.

One colleague of mine said she received interview invitations from 26 schools at the last job fair she attended. Another reported that she’d spent hours sending out her resume to different international school recruiters and received a very disappointing response pre-job fair; however she also received an astounding number of interview requests at the job fair.

So, what does this mean to you? You will need to be prepared with a mechanism to quickly and easily turn down interview requests because the chances are you will be invited to interview with schools that you have no interest in teaching for.

One way to prepare for this contingency is to prepare ‘thanks but no thanks’ notes ahead of the job fair. You can then fill in the blanks on the refusal letter and either pass it on to the recruiters at the sign up session on the first morning of the fair, put it in the recruiter’s mailbox, or slip it under the door of their hotel room.

When you are preparing your application packs to take with you to the teaching job fair you simply prepare and print some copies of your refusal letter and take them with you to the fair.

A major problem with this plan occurs if you have not prepared enough of the notes, as my colleague experienced when she received interview invitations from 26 schools, of which she was only interested in two! What do you do then? You will have to resort to hand-written notes.

Another option is to take along a pad of Post-It notes. Post-It notes can be stuck to hotel room doors or on to the recruiter’s table at the sign-up session. A bonus to using this method is that your note will not be accidentally mixed in among other papers because it is both sticky and colourful.

Before you turn down interview requests you need to consider how much practice you have had recently with job interviews. Do you feel confident? Going to job interviews with schools you are not very interested in teaching for will give you an opportunity to practise rusty interview technique in preparation for the schools you really are interested in. Additionally, through interviewing with these recruiters you may discover that an international school you were not very interested in is actually the perfect place for you to move to.

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