I don’t hire program knowledge or the best rehearsed answers. I hire people.

I recently had the privilege of doing mock interviews for student teachers at a local college. I so appreciate the opportunity to help them showcase their best selves during an interview.

Here is the one thing I want them to walk away with:

I don’t hire program knowledge or the best rehearsed answers. I hire people.

People who love children. Who want to inspire a love for learning. Who find joy in the mundane. Who are open and vulnerable and are learners themselves. Who are passionate and creative. Who want to empower children to be passionate and creative learners themselves. Who show children how to look at the world with wonder.

I hire people who see problems and come up with solutions. Who persist until the problem is solved. Who are open to others’ ideas. Who can set aside their own agenda and emotions to help the person right in front of them.

So, tell me about that. Tell me stories that show me your heart. Tell me what excites you. What fuels your soul? What fills your heart with joy?

Don’t tell me a rehearsed answer that sounds like all the other rehearsed answers I hear. There is so much you learn on the job, you don’t need to know it all before you are even hired.

But.

You do need to open your heart and let your students in. You do need to innovate so your students can achieve things they didn’t know they were capable of. You do need to light a spark for learning in your students that never goes out. You need to find your smile on days that are really hard. You need to let others help you.

Tell me about that.

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart. -Helen Keller

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