Job Discussion Forums

william wallace · Joined: 14 May 2003 Posts: 2869 Location: in between

nothing to say

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

William,
It sounds to me the problem is the jobs you were applying for and how they were conducted, not the fact there was a demo. I have done a few demos in my days and they sounded nothing like that.

My last demo lesson was 6 years ago (Cdn college). I was told the level of the students and I could teach them anything I wanted, as long as it was suitable for their level. This was a real class of students, not people pretending to be students. The demo was to be 30 minutes aqnd they wanted a lesson plan of it ahead of time. I was also given an opportunity to observe the class ahead of time, to get a feel for their level and acquaint myself with them. I took that opportunity and developed a bit of rapport with them and the teacher whose class I was going to take over for the 30 minutes.
Two people observed my demo lesson, both were dept or asst dept heads of the college and they knew their stuff. By the way, I got the job.

So in my opinion and experiences, demo lessons per se are not a waste of time. The way they are conducted could be, as it sounds from your examples.

Eva Pilot · Posted: Sun May 21, 2006 8:08 am Post subject:

I enjoy the demo lesson.

I took it as my chance to let someone see a little bit of what I can do on the fly, and as a chance to make the interviewer smile.

I'm no genius but I have good improv skills, and I think that may come in handy, especially if something unforeseen comes up.

The demo lesson for me was about perfoming in a pressure situation, as every candidate was required to perform one.

I'd like to think I passed it too, as I got the job.