Assistant Principal Mock Interview
Master 40 Assistant Principal interview questions covering discipline, instructional leadership, and school operations.
Question 9 of 40
What would you change about yourself to make you a better assistant principal?
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Community Answers
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
This question holds two purposes. First, the interviewer wants to see that you understand everyone has room for improvement. Second, this item provides insight into who you are as a person. Pick a quality that is not essential to your success in the role. We all have something to improve on, so don't be afraid to tell the interviewer what you would change.
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"I would make myself a super-speed reader to breeze through my emails quicker each day, giving me more time to interact with my students and teachers."
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"I would become more mindful of getting to know the students and teachers personally. I tend to dive into work so deep that I could better remind myself that some play at work is alright, too."
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"I would facilitate more harmony between the teachers. We see each other for many hours a day, but maybe we don't even know the most basic things about each other. I'd organize get-togethers, parties, or even workshops to get teachers more involved in each others' lives. These efforts would create a stronger workplace support system."
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Anonymous Answer
I would try and build positive relationships with both teachers and students by making myself more accessible. I would like to be present at the morning line-up to meet and greet the students and teachers or visit classrooms as often as I can.
Rachelle's Feedback
This is a nice suggestion and a great start to being the best Assistant Principal you can be.
Anonymous Answer
Establishing more personal connections with all my coworkers would be something I would like to change about myself. Being focused on completing jobs and tasks can prevent me from being more accessible to everyone in the building.
Cindy's Feedback
You have the beginnings of a great answer here. Take a look at the revision below as a potential template.
"I am a very goal-oriented person, and sometimes I am so focused on completing tasks that I don't make myself as accessible as I could to others. This sometimes interferes with one of my greatest values and what I think of as a key to success, and that's maintaining a connection with my coworkers. I actively work on keeping a balance between focus on end results and maintaining relationships."
Anonymous Answer
I am passionate about developing new projects that will have great outcomes for students and can be impatient. As a result, I can lose myself in developing a project to a high level of detail and in my head move it quite far along. However, the result is that I don't always take everyone along with me. I am now trying to consciously slow down and explain every step to those around me so that they are involved in the process and understand how we will achieve our aim.
Stephanie's Feedback
This response comes across as authentic and self-reflective. Because this is very general, I am wondering if you have a specific example you can provide? When have you recently slowed down a process, explained the steps, and involved others in the process? What was the result?
Anonymous Answer
Having looked carefully at the leadership style that I adopt, I know that I am a transformational leader which means I like to focus on the bigger picture and build upon a shared vision. However, this also means I can be fearful of stepping out of the box for fear of my ideas not being accepted. I have already built on this and I feel that being part of an executive leadership team that already has leaders I can connect with openly, will help me to do this.
Stephanie's Feedback
Your response shows a deep level of self-awareness and the ability to reflect, which is awesome. You mention a fear of stepping outside of the box, but add that you've "built on this." Can you share a few words about you've pushed yourself to grow and develop in this area, using a specific example, if possible?
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