Interviewing the Future Principal of Branham High School
Because of my active and close work with the school principal, I was invited to the process of selecting a new School Principal. The Campbell Union High School District HR Department reached out to me and invited me to be a student rep interviewer. I was one of three Student Representatives chosen to be apart of the interviewing process. We interviewed 3 people in total, and there were 2 panels — I was the only student in our panel, which consisted of our school teachers, admin, and vice principal.
I learned a lot from this process. As an interviewer, I participated through the interviews as a different perspective — the one that is in control of the situation. Usually, I’m on the other side of these situations, so it was definitely a new perspective. I learned that you need to always be confident, and be unapologetic about your views — there’s a difference between being ashamed and openminded. I also learned that for every interview, you should tie every question to a specific example, one that can be easily retold and understood and has a reasoning or a lesson you learned.
Also, do not rush. Take your time on every question and answer them to the best of your ability. People like to hear concrete ideas and examples because we know when you are providing generic key words and phrases that you think we would want to hear. We like to listen to your background and what you have to bring to the position.
At the end of the interview, you should always ask some questions to express interest in the job, such as “What do you expect out of this job?” or “What do you guys want to see in a [position]?” or “What’s the best thing about being part of the community [that you are trying to join]?”
Last but not least, and arguably most important, it’s important to be prepared. There will be a variety of questions, both spanning from general to specific topics (for example, some of the niche questions we asked were “how do you plan on attendance integrity” and “helping english learners”), and you have to practice tying each question to a specific memory. It’s well aware when you try to dodge a question because of lack of preparedness or lack of experience (usually it’s the first when applying for a job as big as this one) and answer through generic key words, so try to tie everything to meaningful examples.
