When you research the 5 Most Helpful Tips to Prepare for a Job Interview, I would venture to guess that at no point in reading that list you would find tips such as:

1) Ensure that no one else in the family is using the Internet, so that when you share your screen, your presentation doesn’t endlessly loop (even though you have 4 children trying to complete their Learn at Home assignments)

2) Find a quiet space in your home (even though you currently have a 1 year old, a 5 year old and a 10 year old who need you)

3) Create the appearance of a professional setting (even though your current home office is the kitchen table)

4) Practice how to share your screen using TEAMS (even though 2 months ago, your connection to “Teams” was a collection of individuals playing a sport)

5) Situate your screen so that you can be heard and seen by the members of the interview team (even though up to 2 months ago you avoided using your webcam at all costs)

And yet here we are!

I have to tip my hat to each and every educator who gracefully and professionally has ventured into the world of Teams interviews over the past few days.  We’ve had the pleasure of interviewing over 20 candidates for several positions at our school. We created the conditions for them to access a Padlet link for a Photo Elicitation activity, to create a 5 minute presentation demonstrating how they have embraced a Learning For All lens within a specific learning activity and then shift screens as we shared the rest of the interview questions.

I have been so impressed with how our candidates found creative ways to try and recreate a formal interview all the while knowing that their students were trying to reach them in Google Classroom or Brightspace and their own children required their attention.  They had obviously practiced sharing their screen ahead of time, so that they could effortlessly switch from one presentation to the next. They demonstrated incredible powers of focus and intentional conversation.

For many, interviewing for a job can be stressful in the best of situations, but interviewing in the midst of school closures and social distancing could be perceived as an insurmountable obstacle.

Kudos to each and every one of you for successfully not only meeting but exceeding this challenge!

I would love to hear your experiences with job interviews in the time of COVID-19.

Come write with me….