Interviews

I love the HR part of my job. I enjoy sitting down with prospective employees and trying to gain an understanding of their philosophy and thoughts on education. I enjoy asking questions that I remember having been asked of me throughout my career as an educator.

One of my favorite questions is, “Are you a risk taker?” I want to try and delve into what makes these people tick and whether they are going to want to try new things or are they going to wait until they are told to do so. I want to hire people who are not afraid to take some chances in the classroom, walking a little closer to the edge. The old saying goes, “if you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got.” Take a chance, remember, the curriculum is a living, breathing object where you should take notes and remember what works and what doesn't work from year to year.

My other favorite question is, “How competitive are you?” I want competitive people. People that are not going to allow a student to fail, will bow their necks and get after it concerning the student and their achievement. We've all heard the term, “failure is not an option.” I want our teachers to take that stand with every kid in their classroom. If it takes a little extra on your part, get it done because after all, isn't that why we do what we do? I don't know of a teacher who wakes up in the morning and says that they hope to fail five kids that day. We all should wake up in the morning and say we want to save five kids that day.

Even though it's been a while for me, I enjoy interviewing as well. I enjoy listening to the questions, how different people put different spins on subjects. But the part I enjoy the most is being able to verbalize my beliefs and values about school and education in general. It is reaffirming to be able to vocalize what is important to you. I have thought about the idea of putting our administrative team through interviews again for that very reason. What is it you truly believe in, how do you treat people, what's a good reading program look like, are you a risk taker and give examples, how competitive are you? I think it would be good for everyone, veteran teachers, administrators, board members and everyone affilitated with the school to go through this process again. Thinking something and saying it out loud are two completely different scenarios. You can think a good game, but if you say it out loud to another person, you become accountable to that person to follow through. Something to think about on this beautiful Saturday morning. Have a great day. Thanks.