ESL job interview question: Discuss a time when you used poor judgement or made a poor decision in the classroom? How would you or how did you resolve the issue?

Recommended answer 1:

Children always argue about friends not sharing supplies. Then I made a decision to not allow supply sharing (their own school supplies twistables, colored pencils etc.). Later I discovered that this sent the wrong message (and kids started not sharing other things as well). So rather than banning school supply sharing, I decided to allow them to share but began stressing kindness and sharing in the form of character education. I then saw that the kids shared better and were learning important life skills at the same time.

Or: 

Recommended answer 2:

During my 1-st grade student teaching, I gave a girl several chances to correct her behaviour during a group activity. When she didn't "shape up" I had her leave the group activity and put her head down on her desk. She just bawled with her head down. I realized that wasn't the best way to handle her misbehaviour. When time permitted, I pulled her aside and apologized to her and explained why I was frustrated.  She gave me a hug and we discussed ideas of how to help her stay on track the next time we had a group activity. It was a good learning experience for both of us. When the event was over I reflected on my actions and what steps I would take with future similar situations to prevent the situation and behaviour [your aim is to convey that you know you are human and make mistakes, you admit your mistakes, reflect on them, and try to improve your teaching from the experience].



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ESL job interview question: What are the most important issues facing your profession today?

Recommended answers:

There are so many more things we have to do besides teaching. The major issues are state testing, childhood obesity, drugs, multiculturalism, broken families, budget cuts, etc.

Or:

For me, it is children's lack of motivation and lack of interest in education. This is more of a problem in the upper grade, but for some reason, many lose their interest by the time they get into 3-rd or 4-th grade. There is something wrong if teenagers, who are normally interested in the world, lose interest in learning.


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ESL job interview question: How would you get subject matter across to the ESL students? What strategies would you use?

Recommended answer:

You could say that you make your lessons more visual (use animations, pictures, concept maps, etc.) and would make sure you would teach important vocabulary along with whatever material is being covered.


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ESL job interview question: What would you never want to do as a teacher, and why?

Recommended answers:

I would never want to yell at my students. I also would not want to think that there was nothing more for me to learn from my students.

Or:

I just finished student teaching in a school where I saw several teachers yell at the students. I also grew up going to the schools in the same town. I was so disappointed to the point where I have started writing a letter of complaint. I just think it is so hurtful to yell at a student. I understand everyone gets frustrated but it is better to take a deep breath. When the teacher yells, the teacher loses control and that is not a good thing. 


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ESL job interview question: Name three reasons why you became a teacher

Recommended answers:

I not only have three reasons but I have a long passionate story to go with it.

(1) Just like some kids dreamed of being a fire-fighter or nurse, I dreamed of being a teacher because I felt it was the most important profession.

(2) I really have a passion for learning and would like to pass that on to others.

(3) I love children and that fact along with my skills, attributes and personality make teaching the perfect profession for me.

Or:

For the reasons I became a teacher I think I would say something like this:

(1) The first reason I became a teacher is that I love children and enjoy working with children. I feel that everyone who goes into teaching needs to love children.

(2) In my view, variety is the spice of life. As a teacher I really feel as if every day is a different day, while in many other jobs every day is the same. Every day in a teacher's life is unique. There are different challenges to face and new decisions to be made. 

(3) My third reason is that I love to learn and help others to learn. As a teacher I am constantly learning and helping my students to learn and see the "light bulb" go off in their heads as they finally understand something that they have been trying to understand for a while.


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ESL job interview question: Tell me about a time that you misjudged a person

Recommended answer:

There was a long-time teacher at a school who was very gruff when he spoke to me. At first, I went out of my way to get his approval. Then I realized that he was compounding the problem. So I observed how he interacted with other teachers and discovered I wasn't alone. He was gruff with most people. I quit trying to gain his approval and, in the process, found out had learned his behavior from a former principal he had had whom he admired. 

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ESL job interview question: Describe yourself as a teacher in three negative adjectives.

Recommended answers:

The adjectives should not be so much negative that you would not get the job, for example: 

perfectionist (see the negative side of it? And also positive?), 
fast (it is not always good to be too fast but in many cases it is OK to be fast) 
workaholic (not enough time for leisure, although it is good for an employer if you work much); 
emotional (you can elaborate: being too much emotional makes my life more complicated), 
straightforward (i.e. perhaps too open too simple for some people) and
indecisive (if an urgent action has to be taken I usually tell a superior before I take an action).  

You can think of a few suitable ‘negative’ adjectives which describe you as an ESL teacher. Write them down. Prepare to explain them and give examples with each of them. Also, prepare a few ‘negative’ adjectives that describe you as a person.



ESL job interview question: 
What are your weaknesses?


Job interview question: 
What color is your brain?


Job interview question: 
What is your English teaching philosophy?


Job interview question: 
What is the purpose for using KWL charts?


Job interview question: 
What are the duties and responsibilities of a teacher?


Job interview question: 
What ESL activities in small classes would you suggest?


Job interview question: 
How do you know if you met objectives? 


Job interview question: 
What are the advantages and the disadvantages of the communicative language teaching method?


Job interview question: 
If I walked into your classroom, what would I see going on?


Job interview question: 
What are your classroom rules? 


Job interview question: 
How do you know how long to spend on your objectives?


Job interview question: 
What are the most important issues facing your profession today?


Job interview question: 
Describe yourself as a teacher in three negative adjectives.


Job interview question: 
What types of teachers do you know?


Job interview question: 
What are the signs of a poor teacher?

ESL job interview question: What do you want from this position?

Recommended answer:

Describe your ideal job and include a few descriptive adjectives that summarize the institution, the job and yourself. Be realistic and brief. Do not mention salary, unless you are asked a direct question about it.