My job as an LSA involves two primary elements; my role supporting individual students and my role supporting the English department. This means that most of my time is spent well inside of my core area of competence (as a Literature graduate) and some of it is spent well outside of it; today for instance I supported three students in a Spanish lesson (a language which, up until today, I did not speak a word of).
If you’re thinking of applying for a position as a teaching assistant in either a primary or secondary school, you may find that it is a competitive field.
If you want to boost your chances of securing an interview and winning the position for yourself, you need to make sure that you can bring something really special to the post and stand out from the competition.
Here are five suggestions for ways that you can improve your chances at your next TA interview.
If you are preparing for an interview for a teaching assistant position, it is important to know what to expect.
You may already have read some sample interview questions for teaching assistants and begun to think about your responses, however, it is also important to know what mistakes to avoid too.
Here are some of the things that you should never do at a TA interview.
1. Don’t criticise your previous school During your interview process, you must never say anything negative about your previous or current school, no matter how tempted you may be to do so.
Like any other job interview, a teaching assistant interview requires careful preparation, thorough research and the ability to persuade the interview panel that you are the right candidate for the job.
During the interview, members of the panel will be asking questions similar to the teaching assistant interview questions below to assess your personality, skills and abilities, and although there are no word for word answers to fit every question, there are some general tips and tricks you could use to help improve your chances of answering them appropriately.
If you have been offered an interview for a teaching assistant position, you will probably be wondering what sorts of questions are likely to crop up. Possibly the most common teaching assistant interview question is the classic: Why do you want to become a teaching assistant?
The interview panel wants to know that you have a genuine interest in the role, and this is your opportunity to show your passion and dedication.
If you’re applying for a teaching assistant position, you may be looking for guidance on what to expect at the interview, or advice about how to prepare for teaching assistant interview tasks that you are likely to be set.
There are several types of task that you may be asked to execute, depending on the type of school, and the ages and abilities that you may be working with.
Here are some of the most common teaching assistant interview tasks that you may encounter.