Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mmarshalynne]

I have had power points provided to me with interview questions. Quite frankly, I can't believe many of these questions would be asked at a high school interview. A few of the questions are as follows:

"What is the transportation like in your country?"
"What is the best city?"
"Is a computer helpful?"
"What is the worst experience in your life? How did you handle it?"
"What is the most meaningful present you have ever received?"

I have suggested to my students that they should be prepared to answer questions about (1) why they chose to apply at the high school of their choice; (2) their plans for their future; (3) current events that have recently been in the paper such as melamine; and (4) the person who has most influenced them in their life and the ways that person has influenced them. I hope that I am leading them in the right direction.

My understanding is that these students are interviewed by an English teacher and one native teacher. I am sure there are people on this site who have valuable insight here. Anyone who has actual knowledge of the types of questions that are asked, please give me some guidance. I have some great students, but many are very shy. I would like to prepare them as well as I can.

[Bread]

[Kimchieluver]

[mmarshalynne]

I was given a list of 50 questions. I would estimate that about 10% of the questions would tend to invoke an emotional response. I was hoping that these were poorly drafted questions by someone who is not knowledgeable about the high school interviewing experience. I personally don't think a 14-year-old student should be asked such questions. I'm wondering if these are types of questions that are asked.

I have instructed my students that if they get such a question, to answer with an event that they don't find upsetting. I have suggested that a good response might be to talk about an occasion where although they studied hard, they received a poor grade, and as a result became more dedicated to their studying.

[Mr. Pink]

I am guessing this is for a foreign language high school?

Questions generally asked are to provoke though, sometimes critical thinking, and to test how well they can speck English.

Here are some I have asked in the past:

What do you hope to accomplish if you are accepted into this school, academically, socially, and emotionally?

Which person has most influenced you, and why?

Tell about an experience which had a large impact upon your life.

What is your favorite holiday of the year, and why?

If you could be any profession, which would you choose and why?

Which country outside Korea, which you have never visited would you like to visit? Give at least 5 reasons why.

What is the most expensive thing you have ever purchased? How much did it cost and why did you buy it?

What is the most useless thing you have ever purchased? How was it useless and why did you buy it?

What is the most useful thing you have ever purchased? How was it useful and why did you buy it?





I had a list of about 15 questions that I would alternate though. Are you preparing students for these tests at a hawgwon?

At my old FLHS we had 3 different rooms for the kids to test in, 1 room had 2 foreign teachers and 2 Korean teachers and we would each ask a different type of question. The ones above is what the foreign teachers would ask. The Korean teachers would have had the student read a small paragraph right there in front of us, and then ask them questions about it.

In another room, it would be 2-3 Korean teachers and they would ask various questions...not sure what they were testing.

Then in another room another 2-3 Korean teachers and they would ask questions in Korean, stuff about the students personality - to feel if they would fit into the school.

Each team's score would be worth a certain %. The one with the foreign teachers was worth quite a bit - like 40% or something like that.

Anyways I hope this helps.