Job Discussion Forums

[dghjarrett]

Hi everyone,

I have an interview with the British Council in a couple of weeks and wanted to know if anyone had any hints / tips / advice. Any standard questions that are asked etc??

Thanks,

Daniel

[nomad soul]

For which country?

[dghjarrett]

Hong Kong

[Teacher in Rome]

I had an interview with them, ooh, about 20 years ago! Of very little use to you now, but it would be interesting to hear how you get on. Back then they had little work for general English (adult) and more for business and YL.

In any case, go super prepared:

- find out everything you can about how they operate (what courses they offer, what they're currently looking for)
- try to map your skills to their needs (though you already did this for your CV, right?)
- go armed with examples of how you've done well in similar situations to those you'd find working for them (obviously this depends on the courses they offer, but everything from classroom management, colleague / peer relationships, curriculum development, exam preparation and success rates etc)
- show interest in them and their "mission" and find ways you could add value to those. Could you trial their materials, volunteer for extras, and so on
- show understanding of the role and what it involves. Many of their roles (at the time I was there) were part-time, but even for these, if you show commitment and an enthusiasm to succeed with them, you're a good candidate. What's your attitude to professional development (what seminars / conferences have you been to recently; what blogs / books do you read; how do you apply all this to your teaching).
- show cultural awareness. I loved HK for its dynamism, entrepreneurial drive, and (general) positive attitude to education. I didn't like the cram schools and reliance on rote learning. This was a challenge in some classrooms.
- read up on the HK Education system so you have an idea of how the BC fits in / serves a need. What's the provision for English teaching, what are the major initiatives? I bet you anything the BC has had some involvement if not with the HK Ed Dept, then with the IofE, for example. Find out what those are...
- prepare questions for your interviewers. Especially about the sort of classes you can expect, but also the more wide-ranging ones about policy / development / chances for promotion (??) / exciting new developments for the BC in HK.

Best of luck - would be really interested to hear how it goes!

[crewmeal1]

This is what happened to me 6 years ago when I applied to teach in Syria, and yes I got the position.

"Tell us about a lesson that went really well and why do you think it went well"
"Tell us about a lesson that you could have improved on"
"What more could you do to help a student who was falling behind in your class"

There are lots more questions based on classroom management and competencies. Have a look at this site, read learn and inwardly digest:

http://www.britishcouncil.org/teacherrecruitment-recruitment-policy-competencies.htm

Good luck

[purple_piano]

They do a behavioural competencies interview. Check the competencies in the job description that you applied for. Then have answers ready that show how you have demonstated these competencies in the past. (Do a websearch for British Council Behavioural Competencies for detailed breakdowns)

Think about the problem, what you did to solve it and how/why you were successful. Think about specific learners and how you adapted your teaching to suit them.

Are you having a telephone interview? Remember to smile while you are speaking, it makes you feel better and naturally makes your voice sound more confident and clear.

Good Luck!

[sharter]

Remember the first rule of TEFL; the longer the application form, recruitment process and job description, the lower the wages and crapper the gig.

BC Warsaw aside......do they pay good money anywhere these days? And, is that application form really necessary? It's all BS.

It's been 15 years since I worked on one of their capers. Anal is not the word!

[spanglish]

I found it to be all about being a good story teller and then deriving meaning and lessons from those stories that directly relate to a given competency. Not all that complicated really.

The BC is the best employer in Colombia and I suspect in all of Latin America.

[oxi]

I agree with purple-piano and crewmeal1. I would agree with Teacher in Rome for jobs in general, but surprisingly, the BC don't ask much about that kind of thing.

Google around and you might get something like this:-

http://www.britishcouncil.org/thailand-teacher-applicant-guidance.pdf

In short, interview questions are largely based on getting more info about what you wrote in the application. Keep in mind the 'STAR' thing:-

[dghjarrett]

Thanks to everyone for the advice