Interview questions

It's the time of the year for hiring new library media specialists.

 (A little advice for job hunters.)

Find below the general list of interview questions we use in the Mankato Schools...

1. Tell us a little about yourself. (Classroom teaching experience?)
2. What do you consider the most important job of a media specialist?
3. If I were to visit your last school, how would the students describe you?
4. How would the other teachers describe you?
5. What should be the relationship between the media specialist and the school principal?
6. Describe one of your successful teaching lessons.
7. How do you help apprehensive adults overcome their nervousness about technology?
8. Describe what computer platforms you are comfortable with and what software you could teach. What is your experience with the Internet?
9. What is the last new skill or new piece of technology or software you learned? When was that, and how did you go about learning it?
10. What kind of atmosphere would you like to create in your media center?
11. Describe a project or program that you have administered about which you feel proud.
12. What experience do you have in seeking grants to help in the purchase of media center resources?
13. How will you demonstrate that the media program is having a positive impact on student achievement in the school?
14. What strategies would you employ to improve student reading skills?
15. What is your philosophy regarding the filtering of internet sites?
16. If you were the one selecting a media specialist, what professional and personal qualities would you look for?
17. What kind of changes do you feel will happen in schools and in media centers in the coming years?
18. Do you have questions for us?

Another interesting set of questions:

1. What your job will be like ideally in five years? Answer honestly in ways that both fit your teaching style and personality as well as what you think is best for the students and teachers you serve. How will the media center be different than what it is now? What new resources and services might it offer? How will the skills you teach be different? How will the methods use to teach them be different? Under what conditions would a child come to the media center?
2.  How would students describe your job? Why would they come to you for help?
3. How would teachers describe your job? Why would they come to you for help?
4. How would the principal describe your job? Why would he/she come to you for help?
5. What kinds of things would you be doing that no one else in the building could do?

Add your favorite (or least favorite) interview questions. Any that truly stumped you?

Comments

[Jeff Utecht]

A great set of questions. Thanks for sharing!

[Lazygal]

As a librarian, the question that stumped me most was "Which do you think work best: rectangle or round tables?".

In my previous "lives", I think it was "Where do you draw the line between immoral and illegal?"

[Christopher Harris]

What blogs do you read?

Describe a creative solution you devised to solve a complex problem you faced.

[demetri]

great questions!

What do you want students to learn and know how to do?

Can you describe some of the elements of inquiry or problem/project-based-learning?

[Margaret]

Going for a job in a Library -

Interviewer: (putting a paper clip on the table in front of me) In one minute tell me how many different uses you can put this to.

Serious question. It wasn't a joke.

[MS]

Thanks for this.

Add some questions about collaboration with other staff such as:

Please describe a recent experience in which you collaborated with a classroom teacher?

[NJLibrarian]

Since I was a one-person-show at my school library, while I was interviewing, my stumper was, "What roles would you give your library support staff?"