Check out these tips for interviews for current and future special education teachers!
You applied to all of the jobs for special education teachers in your area (with help from The Best Places to Look for a Job in Special Education) and you got a call back! You officially have your first interview for your dream job….now what?!
Interviewing for a position in special education can be intimidating, especially when it is your first interview. I have learned some tips over the years that I want to share with you today to make sure you are fully prepared to rock it! Here are 5 tips to rock your interview for a Special Education job and get hired!
Tip #1-Do your research
Okay, it’s time to get down to business and really think about how you want your classroom to run, what your behavior plan will look like and how you will communicate with future parents of your students. These will all be questions asked of you at your interview. It can be difficult to think about questions like this when you don’t have your own classroom yet. I have come up with a list of 101 interview questions that could be asked to help prep you for your dream special education job and get hired.
In addition to thinking about how you would answer these types of questions, make sure you research the school or facility that you would possibly be working at. What’s their mission statement? What’s the principal’s name? What’s their mascot? Are they a PBIS School? Any extra information that you can learn about your possible place of employment will only be beneficial to you.
Tip #2-Practice your skills
Now that you have thought of how you might answer some of the questions from the list of 101 Interview Questions, it’s time to practice interviewing. So ask your boyfriend, mom, or best friend to help you prep! Give them the list of questions and have them sit down with you and randomly ask you 5-10 of interview questions from the list. This helps you know what it feels like to answer a question on the spot when you don’t have a lot of time to think about it. This is also good to get feedback from them and make sure you aren’t doing anything strange in the interview. Are your legs jittery, are you saying ‘um’ every third word, are you chewing gum when you shouldn’t be? Tell them to be bold and honest with you to help you best prepare for how the actual day will go.
Tip #3- Be Confident
This tip for interviews is probably even more important than preparing for your interview for a special education job. Yes- I am serious! The people that you are interviewing with do NOT know you. They didn’t watch you student teach, they don’t know that becoming a special education teacher has been a dream of yours since you were 16. They literally just met you. And you have about 45-60 minutes to impress them. So IMPRESS them! Tell them about that compliment that you got from your principal when you student-taught about your classroom management. Explain to them why you are the best person fit for this role and why. Let your excitement and enthusiasm for teaching come forward! Do not hold back.
Pro-tip: At the end of the interview, they will ask if you have any further questions. Ask any questions you have and then re-iterate WHY you would be great for this position and how excited you are about it. That will be the last thing they remember hearing before you exit the interview. You’ve got this!
Tip #4- Follow Up
These days, interviews may be done in-person or over video, due to the current circumstances. However the process goes, that’s fine-just make sure that you follow-up with the person in charge of interviewing. Handwrite a thank-you note and mail it to them the next day or send them a thank-you email. Let them know that you enjoyed meeting them and thank them for the opportunity to interview. Remind them how excited you are to have the opportunity to work there. It’s simple, yet professional and will be appreciated.
Tip #5- Ask for Feedback
If you don’t get the job, do not stress! If it was your very first interview, especially DON’T STRESS! The interview process is always a bit scary but it DOES get easier the more that you do it, and you will get more comfortable. When they call or email to let you know that someone else was chosen, thank them again for their time and letting you know.
If you want feedback to help prepare for your next interview, ask them if they have any feedback for you to help you move forward for other special education jobs. Sometimes it might be something simple like they hired someone with more experience (which is out of your control). Sometimes they may let you know that you didn’t seem to have a solid idea on your plans for classroom management and that worried them. This is information that you could take and adjust to do better in your next interview for a special education job.
I hope these 5 tips for interviews help you to rock your interview for a special education job and get hired! Good luck on the interview process!
P.S. If you are a new special education teacher, I host an online course every summer to help you with your dream self-contained classroom setup! Click here to learn more!!!
