Interviewing prospective candidates

In education, as in other professions, one key to hiring the right person for a position is asking the best interview questions.  Are you using the same tired question list as you used ten years ago to hire the best people for your school district? I hope not.  But if so, I am sharing some of the best interview questions that I have found to help school district leaders determine the best candidate for a position.

I have to be honest.  I have a love/hate relationship with interviewing prospective candidates for a position.  Sometimes the process can be boring and tedious, and I begin thinking about all the other things I need to do.  

Some of these less than stellar interviews were with people who I knew were dynamic and smart people.  More importantly, I knew these people would be a good fit for the district. But after a lackluster interview, it is hard to convince others that this candidate is the best choice.

Other interviews, though, are lively and interesting.  In fact, a good interview can be quite enjoyable.

Ask the best interview questions

So how can you do your part as a district administrator to ensure that the interview provides the team with knowledge they need to make a good decision about the candidate AND is enjoyable to all involved?  Asking better interview questions is key!

Many districts have used the same list of questions for decades, or someone hastily scrawled some questions just before the interview begins.  Neither way is going to result in a productive and enjoyable interview.

New Roles Need New Questions

One reason that the same tired old question list won’t work any longer is because often the roles we are trying to fill have changed even if the titles have remained the same.  

The teacher role provides a good example.  The type of teacher I want to hire today is different from the type of teacher I needed ten or fifteen years ago.  Back then, if a teacher candidate liked technology, we felt like that was something extra that she was bringing to the district.  

Today, not only do we need teachers who are comfortable with technology, but they need to be adept at integrating it into their classrooms in authentic ways.

Think about how so many positions in K-12 education have changed over the past several years.  Technology is an area that has seen tremendous change – both on the instructional side and the infrastructure side.  The expertise and attitudes needed in these positions have changed as the demands in the field have changed. Expertise is certainly needed, but the right candidate also needs to be an innovative thinker and able to manage multiple projects.

Before developing better interview questions, you must determine exactly what you need this person to do, what knowledge and skills he should have.  Re-visiting the job description is a must. Once you’ve done that, then developing the questions from there should not be a huge challenge.

Freshen Up Your Interview Questions

I recently read Dona DeZube’s article, Are Your Interview Questions Soggy or Fresh?  I must admit that my team was guilty of asking some of the soggy and cliched questions that she identified.  DeZube provides some great alternatives to these tried, but not so true, questions. Use her suggestions to gather the information that will indicate how well the candidate might perform in the role.

I especially like how she tweaks the “tell me about a challenge you’ve overcome” question.  What we really want to know is how a person might handle the type of challenges that the she is likely to face in the position.  So we should give her an example of a challenge that she might face, and ask how she would handle it.

For example, you might ask a potential instructional coach how they would handle a teacher who refuses to utilize student data when planning.  

Or you might ask an IT Director candidate how they would handle requests from and provide support to teachers, especially those who are innovators with technology.

Authentic Questions

Both of these examples involve authentic situations that the candidate is likely to encounter in the position.  Pay close attention to the answers the candidates provide to these types of questions. Their answer can tell the interview team what their level of expertise is, how current they are on the research in the field, how creative they are, what their leadership style is, and how well they know the district – its culture as well as its initiatives.

Be careful of how you weight the various skills that a person brings to the table.  Again, this is a decision that is best made by the interview team BEFORE interviewing the first candidate.  For example, is expertise more important that collaboration skills for the position? If you choose someone with the best technical skill, but few collaboration skills, you are setting yourself up for disappointment if the position requires a great deal of teamwork.

Think about a teacher position.  Yes, as educators, we want teachers with a great deal of expertise in delivering curriculum and instruction.  However, teachers must also be good collaborators in order to be effective within their department or grade block PLC.  

Without collaboration skills, this teacher will hinder the school’s or district’s forward progress if they do not attend meetings or don’t contribute in a positive way when attending.

The same idea is true when hiring administrators, whether principals or central office administrators.  Much of my work in the central office involves and relies on teams. So when I am hiring a director, for example, I want someone with great skill in the area (e.g., knowledge of Special Education programs and law, technical expertise in Information Technologies) of responsibility, but I also need someone who knows how to work as a member of a team.  

I also find it helpful to know if a prospective hire can fulfil various roles on the team.  Not everyone is comfortable in the role of team leader, but can the candidate lead the team, if necessary?  

Sample Questions For Best Interviews

I’ve listed a few questions below that could be useful in interviewing applicants.  These questions provide the candidate with the opportunity to discuss areas that will be important in fulfilling the responsibilities of the role.  More importantly, the applicant’s answers give you insight into whether or not the candidate will be a good fit for your district.

For central office administrators:

1. Tell us about a collaborative project that you were involved in.  What was your role? What made it successful/unsuccessful?
2. How would you go about pulling together a team for a new project (or use a specific district project like a 1:1 initiative)?
3. Our school district’s vision is ___________.  How would you provide leadership for your department to support that vision?
4. Our major initiative is ____________.  What do you know about it, and how will you support the initiative?  

For teachers:

1. What is your experience with ____________ (district’s major initiative)?  How would you implement it in your classroom?
2. Tell us about a time when you unsuccessfully integrated technology into a lesson.  What did you learn?
3. What does a high functioning department/grade block look like?  How do you view your role in your department/grade block?
4. What topic or area in education interests you most now?  How are you exploring it?

Better Interview Questions, Better Hiring Decisions

These are not the only questions to ask the candidate, of course.  You (or your Human Resources department) have your list of questions that cover specific job-related items that you need to ask during the interview.  But save some time during the interview to incorporate these four questions above and gain insight into how this candidate sees herself fitting into the district or school and to see if she has the attitudes that will mesh well with your district.  

And be sure to check the district list of questions against DeZube’s list of soggy vs. fresh list.  You might find that your list is soggy, but you might also discover that your list pretty dang fresh.

What questions have you found most useful (or least helpful) during interviews?  Let me know in the comments section.

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