[0:10]This is Anna. Anna is a teacher and she's applying for a new job. Luckily for Anna, life coach Gladin is by her side to guide her through the process. Anna, you're your own worst enemy, you know, girl. This is not the best way to do an application form. When you look at an application form, there are standard parts to it, that is all the, if you like, administration. So they're just dates and where you were and when you were there. But in fact, the key to a successful application form is to go and get the job spec, put it next to you, and then start to think about the experiences that you've had that will demonstrate to the people reading the application that you've actually got the right experience for the right job.
[1:08]Oh, well done, Anna. Actually, she's getting this one right. She's gone onto the website. Now, that's a great place to start, because you have to do your research. But you know, there's also more to research than just getting out on the website. Who do you know? Who can you talk to? Perhaps you know someone who's actually taught at that school. Perhaps you know a parent who's actually at that school. What do they think of the school? What are the challenges there? Because the information that you find out may well help you to craft your answers in such a way that you show yourself to be knowledgeable about the school and the kinds of challenges it has.
[2:32]Oh, no, you don't, Hannah. You're not doing this. This is a fantastic outfit. And I'd love to wear it, except I'd like to wear it to a party, or clubbing, or doing something else, but not going to an interview. Because when you go to an interview, you need to project a certain image. You need to look professional. You need to look crisp. You need to look like someone who means business and knows how to come across appropriately. This ain't going to do it. Wear something that gives you that kind of an image. The other thing is that of course, at an interview panel, you have different people. You have the head teacher, you have someone from the school governors, and parents particularly can be very, very picky. So, for example, make sure your shoes have had a polish before you go in. Don't just assume that because I know what I'm doing, people will actually judge me on what I say. Believe it or not, you only get one chance to make a first impression.
[4:00]Oh, Anna, what am I going to do with you? This is not the time to be panicking over your A to Z. You don't know where you are. You're now worried that you're going to be late for your interview. And by the time you get there, you're going to be flustered, woman. So I tell you what, what you should be doing is at a minimum of the day before, sit down, plan your route, know where you're going to go, and then on the day of the interview, plan to arrive a minimum of a half an hour early. That way, you can always sit down somewhere and have a cup of coffee, but when you walk in, you're going to be composed, not
[5:09]You can actually calm yourself down. Now, let's think about this logically. While you're sitting in the waiting room, you're still on show to other people. You don't want them to see you as somebody who's really anxious. It gives them the wrong impression about you. After all, if you look that nervous, are you really up for the job? But there are some things that she can do for herself. The first one is to get rid of some of those stress hormones that are pumping around her system. And a way to do that is to sit back in your chair, and just to take in a deep breath through your nose, and then to let it out slowly through your mouth. And as you do that, you just make a conscious decision to relax your tummy. Now, what that will do is it will calm down the stress hormones in your body and therefore give you a fighting chance of getting in there in a more relaxed frame of mind. Now, you can support that with the way that you think because we know from cognitive psychology that the thought process that you have actually affect the way that you feel. So if Anna is sitting here and she's reminding herself that she's done very well to get to the interview in the first place and be selected. And that she actually has a lot of the skills, and because she's done her research, she can go back to that part of the process where she reminds herself how she matches up to the job description. That way, she's going to be in a much better position when she actually
[7:05]So what is Anna doing? I imagine that at this point in time, our interviewers are not particularly impressed with the way that she's entered the room. She is disorganized. She hasn't looked at our interview. She's made no eye contact whatsoever. She hasn't given them the impression that she's a professional person who can stay calm in a crisis. Now, let's be fair, any job that you go into into teaching, that's one of the things that people are going to want you to do. So I think it's time for Anna to do it again, but this time, walk in calmly, make eye contact, and offer your hand. Good afternoon. Hello. I'm Muhammad, the chair and this is our governess. Hello, nice to meet you. Thank you.
[7:58]So can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background? Oh, I don't really know what to say. Um, um, Oh, this is another one for Anna, isn't it? I mean, this is a pretty standard question that you can guarantee is going to come up at every interview. In the same way as we talked about a job spec and how with a job spec, you have to look at that and then look at your own experience and match it up. There are certain key questions such as, tell me about yourself, or for example, you know, what sorts of challenges have you faced and how have you overcome them? So there will always be some very standard questions that you need to prepare for before you go in there. So it might be a good idea to write them down on a piece of paper, practice them in your head, and then you can look at your panel and you can give confident, succinct answers. Because at the moment, I think our interviewers are really wondering about Anna. Can you tell us about a critical incident you experienced and how you handled it? There are many, many critical incidents that I have handled. Now, where do I start? Which one do I tell you about? Uh, I'll tell you the one about five years ago, maybe six years ago, when I had a people in my kick off big time. I do not know what started it, because I thought I was doing an absolutely fantastic lesson. Oh, Lord, everybody But unfortunately, this child decided he had had enough. How did I handle this situation? I told the child to take time out and to walk outside and to just calm down. He didn't do it. Now, the crisis became much bigger crisis. Oh, without I think Tara, Muhammad and I have just about lost the will to live with our answer. What was Anna up to? She was convoluted. She didn't just have one critical incident. She had about three or four, and she certainly hadn't listened to the question that was being asked of her, or thought about, why are they asking this of me? What do they really want me to illustrate? After all, when you go in for a job, people want examples of what you have done. They're probably going to want to know, particularly in the teaching profession, an incident about managing, say, a challenging child and their behavior. They may want to know something about the teams that I've been in and maybe how we've handled change or how I work as part of a team. So you need to have some of these critical incidents put down for yourself. They're only examples, examples of how you handle situations. That way, if you have those kind of examples and you listen to the question that's being asked, you can simply choose the right example for the right question. And you can talk about it authoritatively and succinctly. And that's what's going to impress the interviewer. Well, at this point, I went over to the child, got down on my knees, and very calmly said to the child, I wouldn't mind actually if you could please leave the room. Um, actually, what was the question again?
[11:28]So when you're asked a question, one of the important things to remember is that the question has a beginning, a middle, and an end. And so, what you need to do is to listen to the question that's being asked, and ensure that your answer has a beginning, a middle, and an end. And that's how I successfully managed the situation in a critical condition. I hope that's answered your question adequately. Well, I think that concludes our interview. It was very nice to meet you. Thank you for coming. Thank you for coming. Thank you, and I'm so sorry, but you must think me a right idiot. Well, if they didn't before, they certainly do now. What a way to end an interview. Anna is leaving them on a negative note. And so what's going to happen the minute she leaves the room? They're going to say, go right one there. That's for sure. So, one of the things that Anna needs to do is to get up at the end of the interview. Shake hands with both individuals and say thank you, and I'm very much looking forward to hearing from you. And then leave the room in a calm and confident manner. It was very nice to meet you. Thank you for coming. Thank you for coming. Thank you, and it's been a pleasure to meet you. And thank you.
[13:15]So what have we learned about successful interviewing? We've learned you need to do your research. You need to think about your application form. Make sure you arrive looking smart and professional. Get there early and when you're there, answer the questions and answer them succinctly.
