interview

BIGGEST INTERVIEWING MISTAKES OF SCHOOL LEADERS

I’ve coached hundreds of school leaders through their interviewing process and analyzed how and why they fell short. Let me share several of the most common mistakes interviewees make and how to begin to avoid these blunders.

DON’T TALK TOO MUCH—most candidates just talk too much and talk themselves out of a job. Keep your answers to two minutes. If interviewers want more, they will ask you to elaborate. Avoid repeating yourself and going off on unrelated tangents. And make sure you answer the question.
DON’T SOUND LIKE THE OTHER CANDIDATES—ninety percent of your interviews will begin with “Tell us about yourself”. Most interviewees respond by walking through the highlights of their resume. BORING! They’ve already reviewed your resume. Be different and stand out from the rest of the field. Introduce yourself in interesting ways. They want to know who you are and what you stand for.
AVOID BUZZWORDS—education is filled with jargon and terminologies. Candidates think that by using big words they’ll sound more professional. Interviewing committees are made up of parents, staff members, and teachers. They are laymen and practitioners who may not be familiar with all the buzzwords, and will be put off by your highfalutin, pretentious vocabulary.
DON’T COME OFF AS ARROGANT—successful candidates must come off as likeable. People are put off by an arrogant personality. Don’t be that someone who boasts and is full of himself. The opposite of boastful is modest, humble. Let your accomplishments speak for you.
DON’T MIS-READ YOUR AUDIENCE—watch the body language of your audience, particularly nodding heads signaling approval and shaking of heads sideways indicating disapproval. If you sense negative reactions, then deftly clarify or re-direct your answer. If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.
NEVER BE UNPREPARED—do your homework prior to the interview. Find out about the status of the district and the school. What are the demographics? What are the student achievement levels? What are their strengths and needs? What are their points of pride? A frequent question is “what do you know about us”? This is your opportunity to demonstrate that you’ve done your homework.
DON’T BE A MISFIT—candidates who appear to be a “good fit” for the school-community get the job. Therefore, scope out the values of the community. Are they proud of their winning athletic teams? Do they tout their students’ academic successes? Do they authentically celebrate the diversity within their community? Do they take pride in the physical appearance of their facilities? Are there significant opportunities for community involvement? A good candidate must demonstrate that you resonate with those values and are a good fit.
DON’T CREATE A STERILE IMAGE OF YOURSELF—those responsible for making personnel decisions crave candidates who excite them. They want to like you; trust you; relate to you; be comfortable with you. Therefore, your challenge is to present yourself not only professionally, but socially and emotionally. Authentically reveal yourself to them as a real person.

How you go about presenting yourself during interviews is complex and nuanced. You need strategies as to how to navigate this tricky terrain. It can years of trial and error, resulting in rejections, before you address these and other missteps. I know the terrain. Let me guide you as your coach.

WHAT DOES SCHOOL LEADERSHIP COACHING CONSIST OF?

Recently, a suburban school district posted an ad for an assistant principal. The district attracted more than 150 applicants, met with 18 for a screening interview, and then had a hiring committee interview 8 semi-finalists. At about the same time, the Kentucky Derby had 19 horses “Run for the Roses.” Those horses had the benefit of the best trainers in the world to prepare them. Trying to get a leadership job is very much like a horse race.

How much of an investment does a serious candidate make in just getting certified as a leader? There are application fees, tuition, books, commuting costs and time. That can easily add up to more than $20,000. Getting the job can get you a 10% raise in salary. Does spending a few hundred dollars for a coach make sense to you?

Being a well-prepared competitive candidate is the difference between playing a good game of checkers and being a fine chess player. A good coach will prepare you to hone your resume and cover letter; confidently present yourself during an interview; tell a compelling story about why you are the right match for the job; anticipate and prepare impressive and unique responses to interviewers’ questions; strategize your narrative; and how to read body language. Yes, coaching does work. Those who receive coaching and mentoring do so confidentially.

The right school leadership coach has walked the walk. He or she has a diverse and well-positioned network of former clients and colleagues; knows the schools and districts, and the inside stories of what they need and want. You will be guided on how to fashion your approach to the special needs and wants of the specific school and district. People who play horses get lots of tips—some good, some shaky. Practically everyone gets, and oftentimes uses, tips on how to invest, restaurants to dine, and places to shop. A tip, of course, is only an opinion. Most of us have been disappointed with tips. But good preparation goes far beyond informal “tips.” Good preparation often requires a good coach who teaches you actionable strategies based on thoughtful analysis of tried and tested practices in getting school leadership jobs.

A good coach or mentor gives you feedback on your interviews and assists you in closing the deal and negotiating your contract. The difference between a coach and a mentor is that coaches are experienced professionals, while mentors are well-intentioned friends and colleagues whose experiences and insights may be limited. Like any good service, you should not expect coaching to come free of charge; however, the cost of coaching is much more modest than you think. Getting a good leadership job is a lifetime gain that requires a modest short-term investment. But remember: the best investment you can ever make is in yourself. All of these “investments” increase your chances of winning that position. In some respects, it is a game of probability. All things being equal, my experience has taught me that the best prepared candidate has the best chance of landing that job.

If you are serious about your future as a leader, then getting job coaching is a great investment. If you are not getting interviews, consider seeking feedback on your resume from someone who has done hiring. The purpose of your resume and cover letter is to get you an interview. If you happen to be getting interviews but are not moving along to the next step in the process, then you need help in interviewing strategies.

You should feel comfortable in relating to a coach and sharing your life story, your strengths and self-perceived insecurities. A good coach will help you craft your message, teach you strategies, help build your self-confidence, give you model responses, role-play both sides of the table with you, and offer honest and constructive feedback. Coaching is, pure and simple, a vital critical investment you can make in yourself.

ARE YOU PREPARED TO BE A COMPETITIVE CANDIDATE?

Assume that you are a well-qualified applicant who is applying for a mid-level leadership position and are 1 out of a total of 150 applicants. Assume that there are 10 other candidates who are at least as equally qualified. Therefore, you need to be better prepared than the rest of the field in order to out-compete them. What must you know and do so you stand out from rest of the candidates? Consider the following:

Do you know how to strategically organize and design a resume that gets the reviewers’ attention?
Do you know how to differentiate yourself in your response to the inevitable question, “Tell us about yourself”?
Do you know the best order in which to be interviewed and how to get, like in a horse race, the best “post position”?
Do you know what to do in order to accurately anticipate most of the questions you’ll be asked?
Do you know long to take in answering a question?
Do you know how to read the “body language” of the interviewers?
Do you know what questions to ask at the conclusion of your interview?
Do you know how to frame a final statement at the conclusion of an interview?
Do you have a strategy as to how to present yourself as someone who is likeable and a good fit for the school-community?
Do you know how to adjust your interviewing approach as you move from screening to committee to leadership to Board interviews?
Do you know how to create an entry plan in anticipation to getting the job, and how to go about creating your priorities?
Do you know how to “close the deal” if you are a finalist”?
Do you know how to negotiate the best deal for yourself if you’re offered the job?
Do you how to make a good impression during your first 100 days?

There are many other things that you must know in order to be a highly competitive candidate. I have coached 100’s of my clients get their dream jobs. Let me help you, too.

The Interview Process in Four Stages: Making Adjustments

Most interview processes have four stages: the screening interview, a committee interview, a small group interview with some Central Office administrators, and an interview with the Superintendent which may include the Board. The nature of each step is different, calling for different interviewing strategies. How you make adjustments to your approach of interviewing at each stage of the process is critical to your success in getting to the next step. You can compare the four-step process to the four quarters of a football game. A successful team makes adjustments each quarter; that means they change their game plan.

In interviewing, each step is different with regard to the duration of the interview, the cast of characters you meet, the nature of the questions that are asked, the questions that you might ask, and what the interviewers are looking for.

Step 1–Screening interviews usually run 10 to 15 minutes. Typically, there are about three people who will be interviewing about 12 to 18 candidates. Let’s assume you are a candidate for an assistant principal position; you will probably meet the principal, an assistant principal and a teacher (usually an officer in the Teachers’ Union). Their goal is to get an impression of you to determine whether or not you’d be a good fit. Likely, they’ll probably ask you: “Tell us about yourself”; “What do you know about us?”; “Why do you want to be a leader?” They’ll only have time for about 4 or 5 questions.

Step 2–The committee interview team may vary in size from about 6 to 10, depending on the time of year. After schools close in late June, fewer teachers and parents are available. They will probably speak to 6 to 8 candidates for about 30 minutes each. Be prepared to wait because it’s difficult for a large group to stay on time. Oftentimes, the committee will receive a list of suggested questions, and each member will be asked to choose a question. The senior members usually will go last. Expect that they will turn up the heat by getting specific, following up on your previous answers, and picking over your resume. You should also be prepared to solve an open-ended scenario, or even role play how you’d deal with a challenging problem.

Step3–If you make it to the next step, they’ll be down to 3 or 4 candidates. Expect to meet with Central Office people for about 45 minutes. They will pick apart your resume and challenge your judgment. Example questions might include: “Why did you leave…?”; “How would you deal with a veteran teacher who is not responsive to your suggestions? “; “What if you disagree with your supervisor’s decision?”

Step 4–The final step may be with the Superintendent, or even the Board. I call this “closing the deal”. Don’t be surprised if the Superintendent does more of the talking. She/he may want to give you some background and share some of potential problems with which you’ll be faced. Try to make the interaction into more of a conversation rather than an interrogation. Expect that you’ll be asked about how you’d deal with these problems. They will probably ask you about how you spend your first two months on the job, and how you’d go about setting your priorities. Be prepared at the end of this interview to ask one or two of your questions of them. I also suggest that you prepare a closing statement.

Each step in the process has its own inherent challenges. You have to be prepared to make strategic adjustments. I cannot over-emphasize the importance of having a good coach along the way to help you strategize and make those adjustments. As any experienced football or basketball coach would tell you, don’t expect what works in the first quarter will necessarily work in the next quarter.

Dr. Aronstein is a career coach who assists his clients prepare for interviews and in the preparation of their resumes. Find out more about Larry Aronstein and read his blogs on http://www.Larryaronstein.com.

YOUR CANDIDACY: WHAT ARE THEY REALLY LOOKING FOR AND HOW DO YOU PRESENT YOURSELF?

As a candidate, everything you write and say contribute to building your narrative; the story you tell about yourself. This includes your resume and cover letter, how you present yourself in person or virtually, your answers to the interviewers’ questions, the questions you ask, your letters of reference, and what your references say about you. It’s about developing a picture of yourself, creating a chemistry, demonstrating you are a good match, an easy good fit for what they’re really looking for, and what their community wants.

Creating an attractive narrative requires many strategies for each unique position. However, the commonalities out-weigh the differences. Before describing some of the strategies that go into building your narrative, we first must understand what the interviewers are really looking for.

What They Really Want

They want to know who you are, and what you’ve accomplished.
They want to like you. Too often interviews are sterile; you must create an emotional and compelling context through your story telling.
They want to be assured that you share their values and aspirations.
They want to see that you look and act the role.
They want to be sure that you’ll easily fit in and not cause conflict.
You need to come across as humble, self-effacing, sincere, direct, plain spoken, good humored, and authentic.

If this is what the interviewers want, then how do you go about creating a narrative and presenting yourself as that candidate? What strategies should you employee?

Useful Strategies

Find out everything you can about the school-community from a variety of sources. How many students do they have; what are the demographics; what are they proud of; who are their leaders; what is their reputation; what is their fiscal and physical status.
Figure out what they really want you to do. Do not solely rely upon their job description—that’s what they think they want; it may not be what they really want. Do they want a change agent? Are they happy with their current status?
What problems do they have? Speak to how you have addressed similar problems and solved them.
Analyze your resume, particularly your accomplishments, and emphasize those aspects that they are looking for and that are consistent with their values as a community, and their needs. It is not enough to assert, “I’m creative and hardworking”. Provide specific and vivid examples of your accomplishments, both professional and personal. Quantify your accomplishments whenever possible.
Elude to some personal information, which is not on your resume and which they can’t ask you about. If you are married and a parent, let them know. School people love family-oriented candidates who can relate to children and parents.

The tactics as to how you go about carrying out these strategies requires careful planning and practice. However, the reward of moving through the steps of your candidacy and winning the job will be worth all of the effort.

Dr. Larry Aronstein is an experienced career coach who assists school leaders, aspiring leaders, and teachers in their resume and interviewing preparation. Find out more at www.larryaronstein.com. Contact him at larryaronstein@yahoo.com

larry aronstein

Larry Aronstein is an educational career coach and consultant who assists school leaders, aspiring leaders, and teachers in developing resumes and preparing them for interviews.