Job Interview from Hell

[mexasia]

I applied for a teaching position that requires that you be a Native English speaker, 5 years of teaching English, an undergraduate degree, and 120h TESOL cert. I meet all the requirements and have a MA degree.

I suspect that there were some office politics at work -- the hiring decision maker may have issues with the staff member that recommended me for the position.

I just want to get people's feedback on the questions which is for an institution that is training young guys for a trade in a government company -- the ESL training is a prescribed curriculum with limited ability for variation by each teacher.

After I gave a brief resume of my academic and professional experience, the interview essentially became an oral exam in pedagogy -- which I think is beyond the scope of someone who has been asked to have a 120h cert.

1. The first question became a discussion on whether the example he gave was an error or a mistake. (I have since discovered that there is a distinction between the two in ESL theory. Incidentally, the teacher who recommended me for the position did not know the answer to the question either.)

2. Case Study: You are the (example) Listening Director and you have "an anal teacher who marks a student's exam at a 2 and a lax teacher who marks a student as a 5 -- both teachers understand the rubrics, what do you do?"

3. One of the questions was "what are three indicators that you have had a successful writing class?" -- he said I came up with 2. Perhaps my TESOL taken 10 years ago was deficient but can anyone recommend good sources for ESL Pedagogy theory.

He also wanted to discuss my "pedagogical paradigm". I would like some advice on how to prepare for this type of interview.

Thanks in advance! :(

[Susan]

I'm afraid this is the way of the world: sometimes you go for a job interview where the interviewers already know who they wish (or don't wish) to hire. Unfair, I know, but not unknown.

Some of the questions are certainly odd. Number 2 seems like a question for a management post. Number 3 and your final comment seem to be basic teaching knowledge. Number 1: I studied the distiniction between an error and a mistake on my certificate course but not all certs are the same and I did mine in 1990.

It's so difficult to prepare for interviews; they can throw almost any question at you. It all comes down to your experience and studies.