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Interviewing for the Principalship:
Tips from Principals

Interviewing for a principalship can be a grueling process. But aspiring principals can relieve some of the pain by heeding advice from experienced principals who have been there, done that. In this article, our “Principal Files” principals share their best advice -- to help pave the road for the principals who will follow in their footsteps and fill their shoes. Included: Practice interview questions, sound advice, plus a few surprises that might be encountered along the way.

What do you remember most about the process of interviewing for your current job? Was it the time you spent preparing yourself? The people you met along the way? A specific question you were asked?

Or was the process so grueling that you’ve simply blocked it out of your mind?

If you’re a school leader who can recall the process, every aspiring principal awaits your advice. In order to help those principals who hope to follow in your footsteps and fill your shoes, we have asked members of our Principal Files team to reflect on some of the questions they were asked during the interview process. The hope is that these questions will shed a little light on the process and help prepare principals-to-be for the challenges of interviewing.

DO YOUR RESEARCH

Honored in December as Jamaica’s principal of the year [read the news story], O’Neil Ankle recently reflected on the interview process that earned him the job as principal at Green Park Primary and Junior High School in Clarendon. Without a doubt, Ankle told Education World, he earned the job with his answer to one question posed during the interview process:

What plans do you have on the table for making this institution a better one?

“I particularly enjoyed that question, since I went into the interview prepared for it,” Ankle said. “When the question was asked, I pulled from my briefcase my summary of a development plan for the institution.”

While every principal-to-be might not do that amount of preparation, “doing your research” is key to being able to answer questions that will almost certainly be asked, Ankle explained.

Ankle’s summary identified the schools strengths and weaknesses and offered a plan to grow the school. “I had plans for making the school more secure [perimeter fencing], improving students’ literacy and numeracy skills, lifting staff morale, making the school environment a literacy-rich one, making technology a part of the teaching-learning experience, and developing a library and resource unit,” he said.

Join the Conversation: Memorable Questions As you think about the questions you were asked during the process of interviewing for your current school leadership position, which question stands out? Was the question one that… --- really challenged your critical thinking skills? --- caught you totally by surprise? --- was asked with humor? --- helped the search team “separate the men from the boys”? --- put you on the spot? --- blew your chance for the job you didn’t get? --- taught you a lesson you will never forget? Aspiring principals everywhere will thank you for sharing that question and your thoughts about it. By taking time to share, you will be helping those who will fill your shoes in the years ahead to prepare for the challenging interview process. Click to join the conversation.

If a principal candidate is going to shine during the interview process, that candidate must “know the school that you are going into and go to the interview with a plan of action,” Ankle concluded.

John Durkee, principal at Marcellus (New York) High School, agrees that researching the district and the school is a key to winning the job.

“I have often been told that my answer to the question So, tell us a little about us? clinched the job for me,” he told Education World.

“I had done my homework on the district. I had checked test scores. And I called people I knew who lived and worked there to get a sense of what it felt like to work there.

“The more I learned, the more I knew that Marcellus was the right place for me.”

As a principal to be, Durkee thinks that “interviewing the district” to be sure it is the right fit is as important as giving the right answers to questions that are asked during the interview process.

“The potential for error in choosing a job in the wrong district, or choosing the wrong job, can have lasting consequences,” he said.

QUESTIONS TO EXPECT

Christine Waler has been a principal for seven years. While she doesn’t recall many of the specific questions she was asked back then, “I do remember that most were in a behavioral format. I was asked to ‘tell about a time when…’ rather than ‘tell what you would do if…’”

It is fairly easy to anticipate some general areas of questioning, added Waler, who is principal at Prince Philip Public School in St, Catharines, Ontario (Canada).

“You can probably anticipate a question about what you bring to the position or why and how you are ready for the role,” said Waler. “You can anticipate a question about conflict with a parent, a colleague, or a student. You can expect a question on instructional leadership. You can expect a question on school safety…”

Waler advises candidates to treat those anticipated questions like essay questions. “Never jump right into your answer,” she suggests. “Start off with a ‘motherhood statement’ of some kind. For example, if the question is about school safety, your opening line might be The safety of students is my first concern, as children can only achieve within a safe school environment…

“After offering that opening statement, then get into the specifics of your answer.

“Finally, when you’ve finished answering, close with a wrap-up statement such as Being proactive and having systems in place to address potential safety concerns ensures that all students can learn in a safe environment.”

“Try to do a mock interview with a trusted colleague. Videotape that interview if you can. You will learn a great deal.”

Candidates might even prepare for these “standard questions” by writing out their responses as essays, Waler suggests. Better yet, “Try to do a mock interview with a trusted colleague. Videotape that interview if you can. You will learn a great deal.”

When Lolli Haws was interviewing for her first principalship, she made a point of being prepared to answer the questions she could predict. Right at the top of that list was a question that goes something like this: What can you tell us about yourself and your experiences that makes you a good candidate for this position?

“They already have your application, resume, and letters of recommendation, so there is no need to repeat that information,” said Haws, who is principal at Oakridge Elementary School in Arlington, Virginia. “It really helps to have a thoughtfully prepared opening statement with strong words that characterized yourself as highly motivated for student success, an organized and effective leader, or someone in active pursuit of excellence on behalf of children... to weave into your brief ‘here’s who I am’ opening remarks.”

In addition, Haws thinks it pays to prepare in advance a response to another predictable question that candidates usually hear at the end of an interview: Is there anything else about yourself you'd like to tell us or ask us?

“You can fall flat when you don't have more to say that summarizes your strengths and your interest in the position and convinces them that you are the one,” said Haws.

“And, always have a few good questions to ask the team like… What is the school's primary focus or goal right now? or What are your school's greatest strengths? or Who would the ideal principal be for this school?”

“Having those prepared answers -- and questions -- always made me ‘one of two finalists’ in every job for which I interviewed,” added Haws. “I just had to wait for the right school to find me -- and that did happen!”

EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED

If there is one more predictable thing about the interview process, it is that for every question that is expected there is one that will blindside you. Those “surprise questions” that come from out of the blue are often aimed at truly revealing what is in your mind and heart. And your responses to those questions can make or break the interview.

“I went into interviews fully prepared to talk about student achievement, being an instructional leader, and my management skills,” said principal Deborah Harbin. “But I was not prepared when they asked me What prepared you to be in charge of a $4 million dollar facility?

Harbin isn’t sure why she hadn’t expected that question, because “the responsibility of managing a building is a big one.”

Getting to Know The “Real Person When she was interviewing for a position on the school leadership team at John F. Kennedy Middle School in Enfield, Connecticut, Sarah Collins found herself in a situation for which she had not planned. She’d been through the first round of interviews in a traditional setting. When she was called back for a second interview with the principal and an assistant principal, “the setting was much, much less formal -- more of a bantering of sorts.” “It was basically a chance for them to get to know me without the formality, to make sure I was a good fit for the team. Which makes total sense, of course. But I wasn't prepared for that. It took me by surprise. In that situation, I found it best to be honest, upfront, and to try not to be ‘showy’.” Collins wasn’t sure if she had set the right tone but she must have, because she got the job. “I now make sure to incorporate an ‘informal’ piece whenever I am hiring teachers, such as taking a promising candidate on a tour JFK… It's important to see someone from that side, to see the real person.”

Today, as principal of Duryea Elementary School in Katy, Texas, Harbin feels fortunate to have a wonderful maintenance department, “but I never walk my building without paper and pencil in hand,” she said. “Many times I come back with a list of ‘little things’ that need the attention of someone who can make repairs.”

It’s a sign of how far she has come in her understanding of the importance of facility management that “I also keep a tool box in my office so I can repair some things myself!”

Teri Stokes, principal at Weatherly Heights Elementary School in Huntsville, Alabama, thought she went into her first interviews well prepared. She had studied up for questions related to finance, in particular. She was familiar with the missions and goals of the district and the school too. But, in the end, “I was asked more about human relations and discipline aspects of the job and less about things such as finance,” she said.

The most unusual question Stokes ever heard was one she has never been asked. One of her colleagues was once asked, If you could be any color, what color would you be and why?

Stokes wonders if the interviewer had gone to some kind of personality workshop shortly before the interview, “but as we thought more about the question, it became clear that your response to why you chose the color may be pretty relevant to the kind of person you are.”

When Les Potter showed up for an interview one day, he was feeling confident and well prepared. He had resumes, artifacts, and portfolios to share with the interviewers. He was familiar with the school and the district. He had been a principal before, so he was not nervous. He welcomed the opportunity to discuss the principalship with the committee.

But Potter was not prepared for what he found in the interview room. It wasn’t the fact that there were 20 interviewers there -- including teachers, assistant principals, students, parents, and community members. Nor was he surprised by the parent’s question about whether he would back a parent in a dispute with a teacher or the teacher’s question about whether he would back teachers in disputes parents. And he had even anticipated the student’s question about cafeteria food. None of that surprised Potter, who had worked in 17 schools in seven states.

“When I first walked into the interview room, I introduced myself, shook hands, and handed out my resumes,” recalled Potter. “Then I asked where they wanted me to sit…”

Potter was taken back that he would be expected to do the entire interview standing up.

With so many people involved, that interview dragged on and on, Potter standing the entire time.

“To this day, I don’t know why it was important for me to stand throughout the interview, but it certainly was the most unusual thing I was ever asked to do.”

Few principals are likely to get the surprise that La’Keldra Pride faced when she interviewed for the principalship of her school, Green Hill Elementary School in Sardis, Mississippi.

“Think of the former principals you have worked for and tell about something that you have learned from each of them.”

Pride had not yet cranked up her search for an admin position. She had applied to be assistant principal at her school, where she was a sixth grade reading and language arts teacher, but she wasn’t looking beyond that. Then one day, totally unexpected, she got a call to get over to the superintendents office.

“My first thought was What have I done?” Pride told Education World. “However, upon arriving I learned that I was about to interview with an educational consultant working with our district and an administrator from the district. Without any hesitation, they fired question after question.”

The question that stood out from all the others was Think of the former principals you have worked for and tell about something you learned from each of them.

“I had worked under five different principals with five different leadership styles, but I had never really considered what I learned from them,” explained Pride, “but that question enabled me to see that I did learn something from each of them.

“That question and my response have helped me to become a better administrator and a better person.”

In the end, Pride did not get the assistant principalship.

Instead, she was hired to be the school principal!

One more lesson in always expect the unexpected!

CONTINUED…

Click here to read more from our “Principal Files” principals.