10 Confidence Tips for STAR Leadership Interviews

Stories are very powerful. I first became interested in people's stories when I became a coach. And I realised that the stories that we told ourselves have direct results in the kinds of opportunities that we have and the kind of results that we get. So there's a huge mindset associated with storytelling, the STAR technique, and the empowering beliefs that we have about ourselves.  The STAR technique is a framework that you can use to frame your answers and your stories in interviews in an empowering and clear way. 

Leadership interviews are competency-based interviews and teaching interviews are competency-based. based interviews. That means that the job of the interview panel is to check that you are competent. The way that you will show them that you're competent isby showing them that you have already done that task that they are questioning you about.

Add your career stories to your content bucket. Using a growth mindset - pick and select the most interesting and impressive stories that you have from your career as they seem like the most appropriate fit for the question.

Here are 10 confidence tips for the star leadership interviews.

1. Understand the STAR method.  The situation is the S. e.g. I did have a tricky situation with a colleague. You're telling them straight out that you agree that you have that competency and then you move into your task and your action. That's the body of the STAR technique where you're explaining the different steps that you took to develop that competency and resolve the situation or frame the competency in that story.  R stands for Result.  Here you’ll show that as a teacher you're a reflective practitioner and you're thinking back over the benefits or the reasons why it was a good idea that you've developed that competency or that you dealt with the situation. So getting to know the starting technique is very important. 

2. Reflect on your achievements. Your achievements would be very helpful to frame your result in the STAR technique and also to build your confidence. It is really important to look back on your career today. Get your blinkers on. Remember the fact that you've had many, many successes in your teaching career to date. It could be individual students. It could be situations that you dealt with very effectively. It could be resolving something in a very effective way. Write down these achievements. That will build your confidence - reflecting on them in advance of your interview.

3. Practice out loud. This cannot be underestimated in terms of preparing for your interview and making sure that you have prepared from all angles. Many teachers come to me saying I have read through my notes. I've done my research. Often a very important practice that's neglected is practising out loud. Find a person who is good at interviews, who is good at helping teachers see their blind spots when it comes to preparing interview answers. You’ll want to sound natural. You want to sound like the information hasn't come across as rehearsed. You certainly don't want to sound like you're reading anything out that there's vocal variety in there, that Make sure that there's a smile in your voice as you're talking to the interview panel.

4. Prepare for common questions. There will be common themes in terms of the Looking at our School document that I would always prepare with my clients. These are, for example, inclusion, effective teaching and learning, can you tell us of a time that you created a culture of collaboration, innovation and creativity in teaching and learning? My clients will take out a story from their career that showcases that they have done those, that they have developed that competency and done those things. Interview questions I would also prepare include strengths and weaknesses questions. The aim of that is to help my clients develop self-awareness and come to terms with what makes them unique. 

Free Interview Reflection Tool: I have a very useful tool called the secret career stories which outlines the 16 LAOS stories. Designed for my one-to-one clients, where they have space to focus on what's important - you can download it here.

5. Highlight your strengths.  To do confident interviews you will need to know what is different about you than the teacher next door.  It shows a great sense of self-awareness and communication skills when you can articulate and show them that you've thought about this and the impact that it has on your students, on your school community and really shows that you have come to terms with what you know that you can bring to their school. Common strengths that teachers come up with include I'm hardworking, I'm passionate and I'm experienced.  You'll want to make sure that you don't use those because the teacher after you in the interview may be using exactly the same ones.

6. Stay positive Interviews can be tiring, they can be time-consuming, and the energy drops and dips. And it's very hard to come across as positive and as excited about this opportunity. From the other side of things -their school is very important to them. This position is very important to them. So you must come across as positive and enthusiastic and excited.

7. Visualise success. It's very important to use techniques perhaps you've never used before. And a technique like visualizing success before using a wide variety of tools and techniques is a great idea. NLP gives us a lot of ideas and things that we can do to prepare most positively and confidently as possible. In your mind, sit in that interview seat, closing your eyes, feeling the feelings that you'd like to feel in that interview setting, watching how you are creating rapport with the interviewers, how they're responding positively to the words that you're saying,  listening to the words that you're saying, and feeling the wonderful feelings that you're going to feel in that interview situation itself. Repeat what you’ll see, hear and feel over and over before the interview. 

8. 8. Dress for success. This is a very common interview, er, a very common question around interview time is what to wear.  My tip for dressing for success is to remain comfortable. To make sure that you're, you're feeling good in your body, in what you're wearing, in the shoes that you're wearing, so that you can perform and you can let the smile on your face sell yourself as best as possible. So that's the first tip. Make sure that you are feeling comfortable. I used to wear uncomfortable things to interviews. High heel shoes that were uncomfortable. Uncomfortable suits - because I thought that that's what people wore. But it is very, very important because the smile on your face and the comfort that you feel is going to be your best selling point.  The second tip is to think of the setting itself, what are the interviewers going to be wearing and mirror what they are going to be wearing. So if they're going to be wearing suits and they're taking things very seriously and they're creating, setting the tone in terms of their expectations, Then it's a good idea to feel that you are,  um, treating the situation in the same way.

9. Manage Your Nerves. Interviews are very important opportunities for you and you need to acknowledge that the nerves will be there with you. Your little Inner Gremlin will be there with you - sitting on your shoulder. Tell them that they can come, they can join, but you're not going to listen to them. They're there to keep you safe, but at the same time, you want to go forward with your aspirations and your drive to make a change in your life.  To manage nerves, you can also do things like affirmations, you can go for a walk etc.  Think when you are feeling relaxed, what is it that you're doing and repeat the same patterns, the same strategies, whether it's talking with a friend. For everyone, it might be slightly different. In the run-up to your interview do something that replicates that calm feeling.

10. Seek feedback and improve.  I've lost count of the number of teachers who come to me and have tried to do interviews alone, and they haven't received effective feedback or pointers that would allow them to grow. When my clients attend mock interviews, they get effective, honest and impartial feedback. After the session, they know exactly what to do, what's positive, and what they can do to improve. Anytime that you can reach out to someone whose advice you admire and value - will be an important step in the right direction for your career.

It’s a very important thing to leave space in your life and your career for mock interviews to prepare well in advance. If you want to begin the process of preparing for interviews - The Secret Career Stories Freebie will focus your preparation and save you lots of time! Download it here.