This is the latest in the Mosaic Fit series of School interview skills, Oxbridge interview skills and job interview skills.
Our School Interview tips
You must dress well. So, research what’s acceptable in such interviews will get the job done.
Be on time. It is also important to always be on time. Student punctuality is always taken into account. Travel delays may, or may not be taken into account. So allowing extra time time for any possible delays. Not matter how unlikely.
Researching your selected school. Spend a reasonable amount of time studying and understanding how old the school is, its alumni list, etc. Then create a list of school interview questions.
School Interview skills
Be alert to the school environment and what is happening in the interview.
Showcasing your mature social skills. Although, to be honest, maturity cannot be showcased. Still what any stdent applicant can do is to reflect a mature outlook in their interview question responses.
Be genuine. Act throughout your school interview as naturally as possible. The interviewers will quickly understand if you are being truthful.
School Interview tips
Be polite. It is always important to be polite with the people who are interviewing you, no matter what. So, do address the interviewer by their name. Do shake their hand. Do thank them for providing you with this ‘great interview opportunity’.
Which interview questions are most likely to be asked?
Each interview usually has a unique set of questions. You might be asked a wide variety of questions. Still, these interview questions are particularly common;
- What is your greatest weakness, or what are your weaknesses?
- Which subject do you enjoy the most, and which one do you want the least and why?
- How do you spend your free time?
- If your friends were to describe you, then how would they do it?
- What have you read recently, and what did you most like about it?
- What has been your biggest challenge to date?
- According to you, what is the definition of a good teacher?
- What extra achievement would you like to achieve in school?
- Why are you applying to this school?
Related Schools content
- Top performing London schools
- School league tables
- Child Strengths Guide
- KS1 skills
- KS2 practice
- SATs past papers
- Admissions tests
- Watson Glaser
Secondary Interview Tips
If you are in primary school and are willing to apply to the top secondary schools in your country, then you must be aware of certain tips and tricks that will assist you in acing the interview. Some of them have already been discussed above, and below are some unique ones that will help you get your ideal school seat.
Practice as much as possible
Experts think that students should be practising their interviews in the presence of an adult, where the former will play the role of the school authority. The goal will always be to provide answers that are informative and rich with context, and also, the conversation should never stop, and it should always go on.
There is a wrong misconception that the interviewers are trying to stump the child. However, that is never the case. The goal of an interviewer is always to get the most honest answer out of an applicant, and they have to be a little cutthroat.
Furthermore, primary school students can also have mock interviews with someone from a second-grade class. The higher-grade students will be able to provide certain guidelines on how the interview looks or what the interviewer is trying to get out of the students. There will be certain do’s and don’ts that the students will advise their primary graders.
The students can also be a part of the meetings with the admission administration, where they give out some important information regarding the interview process and the selection criteria. Having all of this information will be useful to the students only.
Work on your self-Presentation
it is always important to present yourself in the most impressive way possible. The first impressions are always about the presentations, which the teachers will remember for a longer period of time. Even if the interviewers forget what a particular student answered, they will always remember the tone used during the interview. For the 20-30 minutes of the interview, the spotlight will always be on the student; making the most of that time should be the goal.
Dressing the right way has been discussed previously. However, students will not get the uniform of their dream school while sitting for the interview. They can wear their old uniform to represent their current school and look as formal as possible. Some students always do something distracting, such as cracking knuckles, tapping their feet, etc. All of this will need to be dealt with as in an interview, such things will not be appreciated and might also build a wrong impression of the student, resulting in rejection.
Interview DON’Ts
So, just like there are certain things that a student should abstain from doing, most of which are related to the verbal presentation. For example, in the US, certain topics need to be avoided at a thanksgiving table, but a few things need to be avoided while giving an interview.
For example, making bad remarks about the seating arrangements, the weather, or even the long line that the students had to wait to appear for the interview. In short, the school administration will not prefer someone who complains a lot. It will make the student look like a negative person in front of the teachers and might form the wrong idea about the person.
Providing Child with an Agenda– Brainstorming different discussion topics before the interview will help the child to gain confidence. The discussion topics need to be tailored as per the interests of the child but it is important to keep the discussion around the activities offered by the school. It will help the child to have better grasp on their strengths and showcasing them in the interview.
Preparing for the Parent Interview– It is often observed that parents so much engaged in understanding the interview performance of their child. As a result, they do not give much importance to prepare for their own interview. On various occasions, admission officers have a meeting with parents for around 10-25 minutes to understand their child and behaviour. It is crucial for parents to be honest to officers while answering about their children.
If the student is making sure they are following all of the points discussed here, then it will be like a walk in the park for the applicant to ace the interview.