Interview Monday I'm so Nervous HELP ME Please

[weekendgirl66]

I really really want this Job, It's only temporary, but I'm so so nervous, I'm Sure I'm going to walk into the school and forget My name.
What do I say??
What do I wear??
How can I get confidence between now and Monday??
Oh Hells Bells HELP me please!!

[Ferguson]

Gosh, you are in a state!

I've interviewed many people for office work thirty years ago, and when I moved into Education as an aspiring TA BEEN interviewed several times. I ENJOYED school interviews, as it gave me the opportunity to talk about children and their learning - both things I enjoyed, and felt was an area in which I had something worthwhile to CONTRIBUTE.

If you enjoy working with children, know that they ENJOY you, and believe that you have something useful and worthwhile to offer in a school setting, then what on earth is there to be NERVOUS about? I'm a retired male TA, so don't feel too qualified as to what you should wear, but if you REALLY don't know that for yourself, then perhaps you shouldn't be trying for work in the first place. SMART & TASTEFUL, I would have thought: hopefully not piercings, tattoos etc, unless it's a freaky school.

Do you KNOW you are competent for the position? Have you worked in similar jobs before? Have you any SPECIAL experience or skills to bring to the job: arts & crafts, sport, music, languages, ICT etc?

I started as a 'parent helper', and one of my first Yr1 'readers' turned up in another school SEVENTEEN years later, on Teaching Practice in her final year of Teacher Training! Roles were reversed, as she needed to demonstrate she could direct me as a TA in the classroom. (She coped very well, in a slightly unusual situation, and became a successful teacher).

Relax; and I always feel I'm doing OK if I make the panel laugh a bit! (But don't overdo it).


GOOD LUCK!

[chelsbells]

Marking my place as also have an interview on Monday! Good luck!

[tethersend]

Ok, breathe...

Pretend you are talking about someone else if it helps- this sometimes makes it easier to talk about your strengths.

Pace yourself, speak slowly and clearly and look at each member of the interview panel in turn.

At the end of the interview, when they ask if you've any questions, ask "Is there anything I haven't covered?" This will allow the panel to go 'off script' and ask additional questions or revisit questions you didn't answer well enough.

And good luck

[tethersend]

If you say what the post is, people may be able to give you more detailed advice...

[Primadonnagirl]

Op ..remember this..they are asking questions about YOU..there is only one person in the world who knows all about you and thats YOU..ergo YOU are the subject matter expert in the room and know more than they do...

[weekendgirl66]

Thank you for your advice so far,, I haven't had may interviews ( 2 in my life I'm nearly 50 ) The post is for A TA / Career in Preschool, for which i do have Childcare experience and have a level 3 Qualification with volunteering in school for the last 2 years. I have to do a 10 minute lesson for language development with 6 children based on a story first.

[feelingdizzy]

Remember ,first and foremost they are looking to see if you like children and can engage with them. Be enthusiastic, polite and when working with the children just show you are enjoying it. Seems obvious but after many years in education I am amazed how many people don't seem to like kids.

Good luck, your nerves actually show how much you care.

[weekendgirl66]

Thank you for you very thoughtful advice it is appreciated, i shall spend my weekends swatting wish me luck

[Ferguson]

Me again:

Have you chosen a suitable book, and timed it to take about ten mins? If it has interesting words, like 'opposites', or things that go together; animal babies, animal homes, 'who eats this?' Or 'position', up, down, round, back; 'big, bigger, biggest'. Or Dr Seuss, with 'funny' words. Or make up your own 'nonsense' words.

I had an interview once, had to do a book with Yr6 children: chose Anne Fine's 'Diary of a Killer Cat', a HILARIOUS story - try and read it if you don't already know it; the staff enjoyed it more than the kids did, I think!

Ask appropriate questions of the children, show them pictures and make sure they can all see; involve ones who seem shy, but don't 'pressurize' them. Opportunities for mutual laughter, I would have thought!

ENJOY!

[weekendgirl66]

I went into our local Nursery for the morning on Friday, and they were fab, i used even a small little group to do my story with story sack and it enabled me to realise where i needed to improve, I have been busy timing and looking in the mirror (not a very pleasant thing to do ), I have lots of follow on stuff to show where and how i would follow on, also just going over previous interview questions. And with my written promps for myself I'm just hoping i can pull it off, I shall report back on Monday!! Everything crossed And Thank you lovely people or

[weekendgirl66]

Just thought of a Question I'm not sure how to answer,
"Why do you want to work in this particular School?"

Any advice please??

[saadia]

Have a look at the school website and link your answer to that. My school has a big focus on children's emotional well being so at my interview I talked about how I felt that was really important for learning to take place.

You will get some ideas of the school's ethos from the website and also read the latest Ofsted report for ideas.

[CheckpointCharlie]

Good luck!!!!!!!

You could say you have heard good things about the school and want to join because of that? But YY look at the website and pick something you like the look of, happy children, spacious classrooms, or as above, a point from their latest ofsted.

Be confident, by the sounds of it they are lucky that you are applying g, think of it that way.

[weekendgirl66]

Well I didn't get to the Interview stage after all, I arrived 10 minutes early to be told i had a basic skill test at 8.20 on a Monday Morning, but all was well, then went through to the reception group using my Technics i have practiced and grown in confidence so felt fine. I used a Jack and the beanstalk story sack and Good Looking, good listening and good sitting prompt visual cards, ( with little post it prompts in my book to elevate my nerves. As per my prompts i told the children they were doing good sitting ( bear in mind the resourced i used these are the terms used, then and the end gave them all stickers and told them they were brilliant. My phone call an hour later the feedback was incorrect use of grammar would mean i would not be taken any further. It was certainly a experience and after speaking to numerous teachers and the manager of my local Kindergarden they feel there were other agendas in the matter. Thank you all who posted i shall continue to apply for all jobs available and be more prepared next time.

[Ferguson]

I'm sorry to hear you didn't get offered the job. Keep in touch, and let MNers know when and what you apply for in the future, and we will offer any help or ideas we can, as many of us have been on this journey before.

Cheers

[tiredandsadmum]

So sorry to hear you didn't get the job. You prepared so hard.

"incorrect use of grammar" - can YOU identify what that meant?