Added: Over a year ago by Ark Teacher Training
Interviews can be nerve-wracking. “Where do you see yourself in 10 years’ time?” or “Tell us about a time you…” are big questions that can be difficult to answer confidently and coherently off the cuff (not to mention you’re simultaneously trying to demonstrate your skills and what you’d bring to the opportunity!).
But there’s good news: you’re only ever 3 simple steps away from forming clear and impactful answers and ensuring that you shine your brightest in any interview.
Let’s get started…
As an aspiring teacher, you will be all too familiar with the phrase ‘fail to prepare, prepare to fail’, and to prepare for your interview effectively, you need to understand the structure it will follow.
The Ark Teacher Training interview is held virtually with 2 panellists. The interview itself will last approximately one hour, and involves three key stages:
Top tip: Once we’ve introduced ourselves, you’ll deliver your presentation on the attainment gap. We’ll be keeping an eye on the time, so be sure to time yourself before to ensure you are able to stick to the allocated 5 minutes. You also have the option to share your screen if you wish to include accompanying slides or visual elements.
During your 30-minute competency interview, we will ask for examples of times you have met our key competencies. As we’ve already mentioned, preparation is key, so make sure to research our ethos and mission so you can talk about why this resonates with you, as it’s important for our teachers to share our values! Our website is a good place to start, but you can also check out our social media profiles, live events and your candidate information pack.
Top tip: You’ll receive a candidate information pack when you book, so be sure to read this prior to your interview and plan questions to make the most of your time. The pack contains useful information about teaching and the interview, so make the most of it!
Here’s where this 3-step interview technique comes in. There are several methods out there, so feel free to research and find the one that best suits you, but we find the simplest is CAR: Challenge/context, action, result.
Providing you can offer relevant examples using the framework below, you will be well on your way to a model answer that showcases your potential and ticks all the right boxes.
So you can see just how effective this interview technique is, we’ve put together an example response below:
‘Give an example of a time when you have taken the lead in something that didn’t go to plan.’
Think of this as the start of your story. Here you’ll be setting the scene for your response. Summarise the situation for the interviewer; explain what the task was and identify the challenge. Don’t be afraid to get specific – the more detail, the better!
‘I was in my final year at university, and we had to produce a group presentation on statistics for our module. This consisted of working as a group of six and delivering a presentation to our tutor and class. We had one month to complete this but one of our group members was not contributing or responding to email messages. We had started to fall behind as there was a lot to do.’
Expand on how you solved the challenge, and remember: this is all about you. Forget anyone else involved, talk about the actions you took, how you helped others and the skills you used to overcome the challenge – that’s what the interviewer is interested in.
‘I reacted by setting up a group chat with all members so we could update more regularly on our process. I arranged a convenient time for our team to meet face to face and ensured this member would be able to attend. We chatted about why this project was important, motivations and designated specific roles to each team member based on their skills and interests. We all decided we would catch up again the next week. I then messaged the team member prior to our next meet up to see how they were getting on and if they needed any help, to strengthen our relationship. At our next meeting, I ensured we were on track with slides being pulled together and we worked on this together as a team. I arranged to meet in person to practice our presentation a few days before it was due. The team member did not want to talk during the presentation, but we found a short section they were comfortable with and utilised them with one of our real-life examples.’
This is the big finale, your time to shine! Share your success and what you learned. If you can link this back to how it’s relevant to teaching – even better!
‘As I picked this up early, I was able to address this and resolve the issue before this seriously affected our work. We were prepared for our presentation as we had practiced this prior and received a 63 (2:1) for our presentation. We then had a quick catch up after the presentation to discuss what we think went well and what we learned from it. I think I learned how to motivate other people and how to stay positive in difficult times. Communication is key and I think that would translate well to a classroom where a student may not be engaged in the lesson. I learned relationships are crucial to success and I think this is also pivotal for teaching.’
As with most things in life, practice makes perfect. This structure applies to all competency interviews, so look up some example questions and prepare a couple of responses. You can then adapt these answers when you come to do your interview with Ark Teacher Training.
Top tip: It’s handy to prepare a few ‘go-to’ examples that fit with our key competencies, so have a think before the interview.
Following your 30 minute interview, you will have some time to ask any questions you may have about the programme or teaching. We’d always encourage you to have at least one, as this demonstrates your curiosity to learn – a vital key competency.
We’ll then conclude the interview, advise you of the next steps and be in touch within a week to let you know the outcome.
When you break things down and allow yourself time to prepare, the process becomes a lot less daunting. So now you’re equipped with all the know-how to deliver a winning interview, all that’s left to say is best of luck with your application – we hope to see you putting the above into practice at an interview soon!
