Interview Questions for SI Leader Applicants
PRESTBY_TONY
Dear Colleagues
As this is the “interview season” for SI leaders, I like to review our applicant interview questions. I have been using some standard background interview questions, but I find them dull and they don’t elicit what I hope for. I probe and have tried some friendly follow-up questions, but often the students I think answer what they think they think the interview panel wants to hear (which could just be the nature of interviews!). If any of you would be able to share your interview questions, I would really be interested to see what you ask your candidates and maybe incorporate something new into the questions that we ask our applicants this year.
Thanks so much,
Tony
Tony Prestby, Ed.D.
Director of Supplemental Instruction and Tutoring Programs
Santa Monica College
1900 Pico Boulevard, Letters & Sciences 134
Santa Monica CA 90405-1628
(310) 434-4271 – Direct Line
(310) 434-4387 – Fax
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Zywicki, Craig M [D S O]
- Ask the basic questions as short answer questions within the application. (Which helps with pre-interview screening as well.)
- Create better questions.
- Convert the interview into a discussion about SI, rather than a basic question-answer format.
- An introduction to the interview and what we hope to accomplish.
- Prompting interviewees to ask questions about SI and the position, then answering them. If you do this, you’ll notice whether people are listening to you (gives you a sense of how they would listen to students in sessions), and they will then give you better responses during the rest of the interview.
- Asking a question.
- Interviewee responds.
- Follow-up with more information about what the question means for a goal of the program, or why the question/answer matters to us. This often turns into a discussion.
- Repeat 3-4-5 until all questions asked.
- Offering another opportunity to answer more questions.
Craig Zywicki
Program Coordinator, Academic Success Center
Sent: Monday, July 14, 2014 12:50 PM
To: SI...@LISTSERV.UMKC.EDU
Subject: Interview Questions for SI Leader Applicants
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Swartzendruber, Ethel S
Tony,
Here are the interview questions we use. This is the latest version.
Faculty are invited to sit in on these interviews and take part in asking these questions. Their participation is helpful in several ways, the most obvious being that they can see what we’re looking for (empathy, creativity, inclusivity etc) in addition to helping assess the student’s ability to explain subject matter clearly and cohesively. We usually have one seasoned leader sit in on these in addition to the supervisors and faculty member.
Ethel
Ethel Swartzendruber
Senior Assistant Director
Coordinator of Supplemental Instruction
Student Success at Purdue
Main Office: 765-494-9328
Fax: 765-496-6752
From: Supplemental Instruction Discussion List [mailto:SI...@LISTSERV.UMKC.EDU]
On Behalf Of PRESTBY_TONY
Sent: Monday, July 14, 2014 1:50 PM
To: SI...@LISTSERV.UMKC.EDU
Subject: Interview Questions for SI Leader Applicants
Dear Colleagues
As this is the “interview season” for SI leaders, I like to review our applicant interview questions. I have been using some standard background interview questions, but I find them dull and they don’t elicit what I hope for. I probe and have tried some friendly follow-up questions, but often the students I think answer what they think they think the interview panel wants to hear (which could just be the nature of interviews!). If any of you would be able to share your interview questions, I would really be interested to see what you ask your candidates and maybe incorporate something new into the questions that we ask our applicants this year.
Thanks so much,
Tony
Tony Prestby, Ed.D.
Director of Supplemental Instruction and Tutoring Programs
Santa Monica College
1900 Pico Boulevard, Letters & Sciences 134
Santa Monica CA 90405-1628
(310) 434-4271 – Direct Line
(310) 434-4387 – Fax
To search past discussions on the SI-Net, visit our archive at http://groups.google.com/group/si-net
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Rebecca....@rcc.edu
Hello Tony,
That is a very good question and I am interested as well what others ask. Here is what we ask:
1. In what subject area are you interested in being an SI? Please explain why.
2. Please tell the committee why you think you are qualified to be an SI Leader.
3. As you know, SI Leaders are considered “role-models.” How would you go about instilling into your students the qualities you possess?
4. Pretend we are students, and address one of the special topics listed below for the content area with which you are most comfortable. Choose one that you believe best demonstrates your abilities.
I hope this helps.
Rebecca Moon-Stone
Supplemental Instructional Coordinator
Academic Support MLK 311
From: Supplemental Instruction Discussion List [mailto:SI...@LISTSERV.UMKC.EDU] On Behalf Of PRESTBY_TONY
Sent: Monday, July 14, 2014 10:50 AM
To: SI...@LISTSERV.UMKC.EDU
Subject: [External Sender] Interview Questions for SI Leader Applicants
Dear Colleagues
As this is the “interview season” for SI leaders, I like to review our applicant interview questions. I have been using some standard background interview questions, but I find them dull and they don’t elicit what I hope for. I probe and have tried some friendly follow-up questions, but often the students I think answer what they think they think the interview panel wants to hear (which could just be the nature of interviews!). If any of you would be able to share your interview questions, I would really be interested to see what you ask your candidates and maybe incorporate something new into the questions that we ask our applicants this year.
Thanks so much,
Tony
Tony Prestby, Ed.D.
Director of Supplemental Instruction and Tutoring Programs
Santa Monica College
1900 Pico Boulevard, Letters & Sciences 134
Santa Monica CA 90405-1628
(310) 434-4271 – Direct Line
(310) 434-4387 – Fax
To search past discussions on the SI-Net, visit our archive at http://groups.google.com/group/si-net
To add or remove from this mailing list, please go to <http://listserv.umkc.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=SINET&A=1> or send an email message to the address list...@listserv.umkc.edu, with the text SIGNOFF SINET in the body of the message.
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Barrueta, Luis
Hi Tony,
The first thing I do is to accept the application AND unofficial transcripts from the candidates to get a feel for the candidates’ scholastic pattern and their ability to follow directions while effectively communicating on paper.
The second thing I do is that I give every candidate a test in the subject matter that they want to lead. An “A” on their transcripts does not automatically equate to an “A” in their brain at the time of applying to be a leader. Students ‘forget’ and/or become rusty in course content at varying degrees….some years later, some weeks later. No assumptions should be made here. The 10-15 question test is created by the instructor that the SI support will be provided for. If the candidates do well in the test they move to the next phase.
I use the questions that the candidates answered in the application to initiate the first part of the interview. I ask them to ‘elaborate’ on some of their answers (at random). This gives me a feel for consistency in their answers, both written and verbal. Integrity, motivation, and commitment levels could be discerned as well. It also leads to a natural dialogue that opens up other questions. I also ask them something unrelated to the job like asking them about how their weekend went, seen any good movies lately, or if they have been (in this case) watching the world cup, etc… This gives me an idea of how personable the candidates are and how well they can articulate themselves. Moving the questions away from the job tends to put them more at ease and less nervous in the interview. It will also give me some insight into how they will interact with students and with their SI professors. If the candidates get through interview part 1, they move on to the final part, the ‘board’ interview.
The board interview is where we simulate an SI session. This is a CRITICAL step that should not be missed. The candidate along with one or two veteran leaders and myself will go into a classroom and role play. The candidate is the leader, and we are the students. For math we put a relevant problem on the board and have the candidate take us through the steps in solving the problem. All other subjects require that the candidate complete a session plan and hold a 15 minute SI session in a classroom. This gives us a perfect look at whether the candidate can articulate his knowledge in an effective way to his audience (the students).
There have been many 4.0 GPA candidates who got an “A” in their class that I did not hire because when it came to the “board” interview they froze, could not articulate the steps effectively, had very confusing explanations, or where not effective in engaging us as students.
Regards,
Luis Barrueta, M.S. | Supplemental Instruction (SI) Coordinator
___________________________________________________________________________
SI – Empowering Students to Become Successful Learners
"Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I will remember. Involve me and I will understand."
El Camino College
16007 Crenshaw Blvd.
Torrance, CA 90506
MBA Building Room 329
phone 310.660.3612
From: Supplemental Instruction Discussion List [mailto:SI...@LISTSERV.UMKC.EDU] On Behalf Of PRESTBY_TONY
Sent: Monday, July 14, 2014 10:50 AM
To: SI...@LISTSERV.UMKC.EDU
Subject: [BULK] Interview Questions for SI Leader Applicants
Importance: Low
Dear Colleagues
As this is the “interview season” for SI leaders, I like to review our applicant interview questions. I have been using some standard background interview questions, but I find them dull and they don’t elicit what I hope for. I probe and have tried some friendly follow-up questions, but often the students I think answer what they think they think the interview panel wants to hear (which could just be the nature of interviews!). If any of you would be able to share your interview questions, I would really be interested to see what you ask your candidates and maybe incorporate something new into the questions that we ask our applicants this year.
Thanks so much,
Tony
Tony Prestby, Ed.D.
Director of Supplemental Instruction and Tutoring Programs
Santa Monica College
1900 Pico Boulevard, Letters & Sciences 134
Santa Monica CA 90405-1628
(310) 434-4271 – Direct Line
(310) 434-4387 – Fax
To search past discussions on the SI-Net, visit our archive at http://groups.google.com/group/si-net
To add or remove from this mailing list, please go to <http://listserv.umkc.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=SINET&A=1> or send an email message to the address list...@listserv.umkc.edu, with the text SIGNOFF SINET in the body of the message.
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