Teacher Assistant interview. advice please.

[mumeeee]

I have an interview fo a TA on Monday. I will be giving individual support to children have a statement of educational needs. These children are in years 3 and 4 and at least one has an autistic spectrum disorder. Please could any one give me any advice on what I should say at the interview.

Have you looked at the TES forums ?

There may be some info on there.

Have you any experience of working with children? Have they given you a job spec? Base your answers around that if you can, bringing your skills and experience back to what they are wanting from a TA.

I had a similar interview 3 weeks ago (and got the job!) They asked me what qualities I thought I could bring to the job. They didn't ask me much specific stuff about the SEN side of things. I showed an interest in the SEN provision at the school and asked them about that.

Good Luck! I really hope you get it!

If you have no particular experience of autistic children , take a look at the NAS website and find out as much as you can.

Heres a link

Maidamess-what answer did you give to that question.
Need to think about good answers as I am applying for jobs too atm.Not TA ones though.

Why do you want the job?
How has your experience prepared you to date?
What do you consider your strengths? Weaknesses?
What would you do if...a child hit another in front of you? Refused to do as you asked?
What do you know about autism?
Do you have any questions you want to ask?

Ask about training.
What exactly will you have to do? (I have had TAs who have, unfairly & with no training, been expected to do speech therapy)
How many kids will you be working with?
How many teachers will you be working with?
What will your other roles be?

I'd try to mention:

• Any experience you already have of working with kids, special needs, autisic spectrum etc
• Willingness to do anything extra
• Talk about being able to use your initiative, do things without being asked etc
• Eagerness to learn/ go on courses etc
• Concerns you have
• Anything special you can bring to the class/ school

ggirls, do you mean "what qualities can you bring to the job?" I said I loved working with children, as I felt I could make a real difference to someone. I said what I lacked in professional experience I more than made up for in enthusiasm. I said I loved working with a team, because I could learn from them, but was equally happy to work solo. Basically I tried to let my personality come across,because I feel lots of people are not very warm in interview situations due to nerves! Show half an ounce of character and you'll be fine!

I interview prospective TAs regularly (secondary, but I'm sure a lot of the issues are similar).
Find out as much info on ASD as possible. Talk about what you know, with examples from your own experience,but also be prepared to admit the areas you aren't knowledgeable about, and make it clear you're up for training.
I always give two scenarios as interview questions eg ' A child refuses to start the task. How do you handle the situation?', 'A child is behaving aggressively towards another child, what do you do?' etc
Important qualities needed are:

• an ability to use your initiative and work independently balanced with an ability to work as part of a team.

-sensitivity to the role of the teacher. You will be working under their management. When you are in the classroom together, will you be comfortable to ask for advice if necessary? How will you work 'with' the teacher? What if a pupil tries to play you and the teacher off against eachother? etc

• sense of humour! Very important.

Lastly, check out whether you are contracted for any after school meetings, what time you need to start in the morning etc. It may sound obvious, but I've employed TAs who have then turned around and said 'oh i can't get in for morning briefing cos i have to dtop my kids at school' etc - drives me MAD!! A good TA is INVALUABLE, so make sure you have your own childcare systems in place. Good luck!!

Good advice inthegutter, that sounded very much like my interview, esp. about working under, but with the teacher.

Thank you everyone. I have worked with children with special needs and have had some experiance with children with Aspergers Syndrome. Also my own daughter has Dyspraxia.So I can relate to my experiandes.
I'll let you know the oucome when I've had my interview.
Thanks again.

I didn't get the job apparently their final decision was between me and another person. The other person got it as she had had slighly more experiance with this age group.
I have another interview next week. This is working with under 5's.

Mummeeee - that bodes really well, that it was between you and just one other. From my own experience of appointing TAs, I'd just like to say that in such a situation, it can be really tough, and often it is just the fact that one person has the edge by having had specific experience with that age group. In fact, it can be really hard when you know full well there are two people being interviewed who could do the job equally well. So, you obviously interviewed well and it was just down to something out of your control ultimately! Good luck for next week.

Thanks inthegutter.