I have recently had the opportunity to participate in the interview process for a new assistant principal. Not only was I able to gleam valuable observations and experience of the process itself but I also began to analyze the interviewees and why our panel preferred one candidate over another. Overwhelmingly we all agreed that authenticity was crucial to a prospective candidate. For those we interviewed who were perceived as inauthentic or merely looking for a job and not the right fit, the reaction was immediate from the panel when deliberating after each interview- not a good fit for our school. This lead me to further think about authenticity and how I can ensure that when my time comes to interview for assistant principal positions that I am authentic. I think it boils down to understanding our strengths and building upon those. Some candidates tried to be a jack of all trades, so to speak, and painted themselves as good at everything- not authentic....honesty and the ability to recognize areas of strength are crucial. Recognizing that we are not super humans, when asked what our areas of growth are, to be honest and not feel that it decreases our value by being able to acknowledge areas of growth. As an interviewee attempting to analyze the climate and culture of the school to see if it is a good fit for my personality and areas of strength is also a must. In order to be truly authentic, you cannot be a chameleon- there are some settings in which your leadership traits will be better accentuated and you will be able to provide better leadership. Another take away was to avoid catch phrases like, "Servant Leader" and sighting Strength Finders results without being able to site real life examples to support the results. As we interviewed candidate after candidate and they used the same phrasing it became glaringly obvious that someone had trained them on what to say and it came across as very inauthentic and unoriginal. It called me to question how they might respond in real life situations when catch phrases are not there to relay on and you have to critically think and react. Moreover, it made me question who they really were, as a person, and why they were relaying on these catch phrases to get them through the interview.
I'm wondering if others have had experiences with interviewing in the school and if so, what your take aways were? Do you have anything valuable you can share with us?
I think the same hold true for teaching candidates. Sitting in on the Job Fair and listening to prospective teachers answering questions, I had the same revelation. Being able to speak from your resume and relate it to authentic experiences is important. I think sometime catch phrases are so ingrained into us, as educators, that if we are not trained on "how to interview" many will have simpler interview experiences as you observed.
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