School job interview question - “tell me about yourself”

[Rocketearth]

“Tell me about yourself”

Has anyone been asked this question if they’ve applied for an office school job? (Non-teaching only).

I have an interview this week working as part of the Exams team and am studying Q&A’s in preparation for it.

DH is a CEO who recruits various positions for three schools and says he’s never asked this question, or hears of it being used in school interviews.
(he’s also never heard of candidates taking notes to refer during an interview- he thinks that’s very odd and wouldn’t be impressed. I think it’s odd too but I guess we’re old-fashioned!).

I’m trying to cover all areas and having a hard time with this question which is quite typical in the private sector.

No idea whether it would get used, but I’d just summarise my working life. Maybe add any particular working passions.

I use it in very interview I hold as a ice breaker. It gets people talking and more relaxed before we move into the proper questions.

I would just say a little about yourself and then focus it more of your career history to date. Talk briefly about what you did in each role and why you moved to your next job.
If they want any more details about you like hobbies etc they can ask.

I too think it would be odd to take in notes to refer to during the interview. What is on these notes ?
As an interviewer I would think that somewhat odd.

The "Tell me about yourself" I would assume is to help the candidate relax. It isn't a trick question.
There are no 'set' questions that every school will ask, particularly not for non-teaching roles. It is up to the interviewing panel (within non-discriminatory rules of course).

For any school job interview I'd make sure I'd know about safeguarding - don't need to know specifics but you do need to have an understanding of what safeguarding is in schools and how it is the responsibility of all adults to follow up on safeguarding concerns. Admittedly I've only been for teaching interviews but I have always had more than one safeguarding question at each one and although they're simple to answer it's worth being prepared for.

I’ve had this question before a few times. I do a quick summary of what’s on my CV (not reading it, just covering the same sort of stuff - recent roles, what I enjoy about them, what I’m hoping to get out of a new job).

I have used it as a warm up, to get them to settle in and relax. We would be looking for your career to date and not anything to personal - unless you do volunteering or something that could have transferable skills.

For exams roles - organisation skills and prioritising are key and working under pressure. If you have example around those this may help. There may be specific exam related scenarios eg what would you do if a candidate left the room without warning.

I have interviewed for years and have no issues with notes, if it helps them to relax knowing they are there (just not pages and pages you are flicking through!)

@GravityFalls

For any school job interview I'd make sure I'd know about safeguarding - don't need to know specifics but you do need to have an understanding of what safeguarding is in schools and how it is the responsibility of all adults to follow up on safeguarding concerns. Admittedly I've only been for teaching interviews but I have always had more than one safeguarding question at each one and although they're simple to answer it's worth being prepared for.

I agree - Safeguarding is a key area. Their policy should be on their website.

Just having a lunch break before continuing with interviews. I ask candidates to tell me what interested them in the role they are interviewing for that day. It's an ice breaker and there's no scores to it.
I don't mind notes at all. I think it can show a level of preparation and research. If you've got bullet points on say the organisation strategic plan or you've jotted down your STAR answers to make sure you hit each point then I'd far rather that than a waffler who never gets to the actual answer. Candidates might also note down their questions for the panel that they want to ask. I've been asked this week about specific points in relation to a policy change and then another candidate asked about how the organisation dealt with errors and mistakes and what was our culture around owning mistakes.

It's a fairly routine opener - I'm surprised your CEO dh hasn't heard it being used or used it himself. Maybe he's not quite as experienced an interviewer as he thinks

A brief summary of your experience to date, career ambition and how it relates to this position is all that is needed.

I'm not in a school but education related. Safeguarding and following process/policy/statutory duties are major parts of the role and I'm always happy to discuss these/take questions from candidates about them and really pleased if they bring them up.

I know a business owner who asks this and especially the women of a certain age will answer “married, kids age & ” .this gives her an inclination to whether they will bugger off on maternity leave in a while and leave her looking for someone else soon or whether her phone will ring every day with a kid sick in school.

Working for a huge establishment or government etc would be fine for cover but a small, very successful business....... well I imagine this is why she would ask.

But good luck anyway!

I work in health care, we were told when preparing for interviews that we should talk about our professional experience. In your circumstances I’d say about my experience and focus on relevant transferable skills.

Focus on the highlights of you and who you are that they might be interested in -

Quick run through of your career keep to the highlights. Don't run through every job as it can get tedious, but explain significant changes such as why you choose to move from (for example) being a pilot to a midwife.....

Any particular strengths (I have had a passion throughout my working life for process improvement/engaging people/mentoring/bringing people together in a team/making everyone has fun while they do a great job or whatever one thing floats your boat, might be relevant and you can genuinely pull off without sounding cliché)

A tiny bit of personnel at the end (I am a social butterfly and love spending time with people, especially my close friends or I love the freedom of the outdoors, there is nothing better to me than packing a flask, a snack and taking my partner/friends/dog for a walk up Ben Lomond).

My school had just sent out invitations for a similar job. If they ask that question it will be as an opener, to get a general idea about you. I would summarise your previous roles and highlight any particular skills that link to to job description, you can always go over skills again when answering specific questions but at least you've hit the highlights.

Aim to come across comfortable and confident, but not cocky!

We always ask that as an opening question to get the candidate talking and hopefully help them to relax. I am expecting/hoping to hear about their professional experience, why they applied for the job, what their skills are etc. Not interested in marital status/dependents etc!

Maybe he's not quite as experienced an interviewer as he thinks

^

Or maybe he realises that it's a potentially loaded question?

It’s a very common interview question

If you change the question to 'Why should we give you the job?' you can think of answers that highlight your strengths, experience, skills and personality. Which makes it easy for the interviewer to see you are perfect for the job!

In my last public sector interview I was asked what my friends would say about me