Advice for ESL Job Interviews

Practice Potential Interview Questions

You want to give confident and clear answers to the questions you're asked during the interview. Practicing possible questions is one of the best ways to become more comfortable with the interview process. The Career Center at Virginia Tech provides a list of sample interview questions for teaching jobs. Although the questions were not specifically written with ESL positions in mind, they still offer a useful opportunity to reflect on general classroom practices.

Teachers of any subject matter should have potential answers for questions about classroom management, teaching philosophies, and hypothetical student scenarios. "Things to Say and Do at that First Teaching Job Interview" from ADPRIMA focuses less on specific questions and more on how to make a good impression during an interview. This includes surface aspects like dress and speech, but also touches on content areas teachers should prep themselves for.

In addition to these general teaching areas, ESL teachers should be prepared to answer questions related to these issues:

• ESL degrees and certifications
• Specific ESL experience
• Student language achievements in past classes
• Language learning/acquisition theories
• Use of the target language in the classroom
• Grammar instruction
• Vocabulary instruction
• Authentic language learning
• Balance of reading, writing, and speaking

Learn About the School

One essential piece of advice for ESL job interviews is to learn as much as possible about the school. For teaching jobs in the United States, the National Center for Education Statistics provides a search function allowing you to find basic school demographic information. Most schools have a web presence, and this can be a great starting point to get a feel for a facility.

If you enjoy incorporating technology into your lessons, the quality of the site can be one indicator of how much a school values computer use. You can also gain clues about a district from teacher profiles, photos of students, and daily schedules. However, don't judge an entire school system by its webmaster. Some wonderful schools have mediocre websites.

While gaining an overall impression of a school is important, you should certainly focus on its ESL program. How large is the department? Are ESL teachers placed in charge of a single classroom or do they provide pullout help to students in mainstream classes? If you are teaching at a private language school, check the schedule to see what hours you might be expected to work. You can compare the number of classes to the size of the school to get a feel for an expected student load.

For teaching jobs outside of the United States, don't forget to research the local culture. How are English language skills viewed? Are they essential for a career or still considered a luxury? How is the school system organized? Is learning valued? While most international locales are safe, you should also be aware of government unrest, anti-American movements, and other potential sources of trouble. Consider researching cultural norms for social interactions before entering the interview. For instance, should you offer a handshake to greet your interviewers, or would a handshake be more appropriate?

Asking Questions of the Interviewer

The traditional interview closer, "Do you have any questions for us?" can lead to a panicked "deer in the headlights" feeling. If you've researched the school thoroughly before the interview, however, this can be fertile ground for potential questions. Transitions Abroad offers ten essential questions to ask. Some of them will be useful to ESL teachers in all situations, such as queries about class size and the textbooks used by the program. Others are especially important for teachers interested in teaching at schools outside of the U.S. Before you sign a contract, asking about visa regulations and housing options can be just as important as knowing whether you will have access to a computer lab.

Remember, while the interviewers are deciding if they would like to hire you, you're deciding if this teaching position is right for you.

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