Assistant Principal Mock Interview

Master 40 Assistant Principal interview questions covering discipline, instructional leadership, and school operations.

Question 1 of 40

Why do you want a career as an 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.

The interviewer wants to know that this is a long-term career move for you. It is a good idea to tell the interviewer that you want to create a structure for the school and the environment where students succeed.

Tell the interviewer that you enjoy working under the leadership of the principal and are eager to work on curriculum endeavors. Get excited about tackling areas for improvement, and most importantly, express that you desire to see the upcoming generations be set up for success. Be passionate, and share that you hope you can continue to make your community proud of what the school is achieving.

Rachelle Enns

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 want to improve the structure of the school holistically, from staff relationship to classes implementation and professional development."

Rachelle Enns

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 am excited at the thought of playing a more inspirational role in the lives of the students and teachers. In this fast-paced educational environment, I want to encourage them to be more curious and open-minded."

Rachelle Enns

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 worked as a teacher for the past ten years. Throughout that time, I have had a personal relationship with the students, leading them, motivating them, and helping them. I am ready to do more than teach. My career aspirations involve leading and guiding children to do their best!"

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Anonymous Answer

I have been teaching for 30 years, and I want to impact children outside of the classroom. I feel that I come with the necessary skills that will enable me to work with curriculum, discipline, instruction.

Lauren's Feedback

Great, solid response. You outline your qualifications and the broader impact you can make with this advance. Think about the specific ways you want to inform curricula, discipline, and instruction, because you will likely be asked.

Think about your response to potential follow-up questions:
"What skills are useful when informing curricula, discipline, and instruction?"
"What discipline style would you use at our school?"
"What are some of the prevailing issues you would like to impact if hired at our school?"

Anonymous Answer

I have been a teacher for ten years. I have taken every leadership position that was put in front of me as preparation for becoming an administrator. I understand classroom dynamics and how important relationship building is between children and teachers. It's important for teachers to empower children, engage them, and make them feel valued for their contributions. My career aspirations are to lead children and teachers to do their best.

Alexandra's Feedback

Great answer! Your passion shows through in this answer.

Anonymous Answer

I believe I am ready for this position. I've been influential in the lives of so many students over the past 19 years, leading, guiding, and supporting them. I am now ready to do more than just teach.

Rachelle's Feedback

Good answer! You show wonderful career progression and a true desire to grow.

Anonymous Answer

As an Assistant Headteacher, I will be involved in supporting the headteacher in realizing the strategic vision of the school. Inspiring young people, motivating them to learn; regardless of background is a real motivator for me. I am also a member of the local community, my children are growing up in this area and currently attend a feeder primary school. I want to invest in the future young adults who will walk the streets, socialize and shape the community that we live in for the better. As an assistant headteacher, I will contribute to the team which drives this school forward by contributing to the shaping of a structure that allows students to succeed.

Stephanie's Feedback

Great response--your commitment to young people and to your local community is definitely evident here!

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40Assistant Principal Interview Questions & Answers

Career Goals

1.Why do you want a career as an assistant principal?

Compatibility

2.Why should we hire you for our school?

Performance Based

3.What is the most difficult situation you have had to face? How did you tackle it?

Job Satisfaction

4.What do you like about your present job?

Teamwork

5.Describe how you work with others.

Leadership

6.Do you consider yourself a leader?

Problem Solving

7.How do you decide what gets top priority when scheduling your time?

Communication

8.How do you get a peer or colleague to accept one of your ideas?

Behavioral

9.What would you change about yourself to make you a better assistant principal?

Behavioral

10.As an assistant principal, what do you believe is your best asset?

Career Goals

11.What makes you passionate about being an assistant principal?

Behavioral

12.What three words would your students use to describe you?

Leadership

13.How would you describe your leadership style?

Competency

14.Who are the stakeholders in each child's education? Do any of these have a higher priority than the others?

Teamwork

15.When have you worked with teachers to create a higher standard or a better way of teaching?

Experience

16.When have you made a difficult decision in regards to education? What were the risks of your decision? What was the final impact?

Accomplishment

17.What programs or projects have you been responsible for implementing at your current position?

Operational

18.What do you envision for our school if you were an assistant principal here?

Compatibility

19.What do you know about our school and school district?

Operational

20.What strategies would you use to achieve higher student performance at our school?

Diligence

21.How do you stay current on new teaching trends and techniques?

Accomplishment

22.What improvements in the classroom have you made with teachers?

Discovery

23.How important is a student-centered classroom for you?

Problem Solving

24.How would you help us reach the point where students look forward to being in the classroom and are fully engaged?

Career Goals

25.Where do you see yourself five years from now?

Behavioral

26.Who would you say inspires you?

Behavioral

27.Tell me about yourself.

Stress

28.Tell me about your ability to handle stress and work under pressure.

Direct

29.When would you be available to start?

Ask The Interviewer

30.What questions do you have for me?

Performance Based

31.Tell me about your participation in extracurricular activities.

Conflict

32.Describe an occasion where you mediated a dispute between two students.

Conflict

33.How would you handle an aggressive parent who had an issue with a teacher?

Critical Thinking

34.Have you ever had to manage a medical emergency in the classroom?

Diversity

35.This school represents a different community and demographic than your prior experience. How comfortable are you working around children and their parents who are from different backgrounds than you are accustomed to?

Problem Solving

36.Tell me about a time you needed to address several issues demanding your attention at the same time, all with an equal level of urgency.

37.How do you go about building relationships with students who are frequent disrupters?

Problem Solving

38.If you witnessed a student being bullied by another student, how would you address the situation?

Leadership

39.How would you handle a teacher discipline situation?

Accomplishment

Assistant Principal Mock Interview

Why do you want a career as an assistant principal?

40Assistant Principal Interview Questions & Answers

1.Why do you want a career as an assistant principal?

2.Why should we hire you for our school?

3.What is the most difficult situation you have had to face? How did you tackle it?

4.What do you like about your present job?

5.Describe how you work with others.

6.Do you consider yourself a leader?

7.How do you decide what gets top priority when scheduling your time?

8.How do you get a peer or colleague to accept one of your ideas?

9.What would you change about yourself to make you a better assistant principal?

10.As an assistant principal, what do you believe is your best asset?

11.What makes you passionate about being an assistant principal?

12.What three words would your students use to describe you?

13.How would you describe your leadership style?

14.Who are the stakeholders in each child's education? Do any of these have a higher priority than the others?

15.When have you worked with teachers to create a higher standard or a better way of teaching?

16.When have you made a difficult decision in regards to education? What were the risks of your decision? What was the final impact?

17.What programs or projects have you been responsible for implementing at your current position?

18.What do you envision for our school if you were an assistant principal here?

19.What do you know about our school and school district?

20.What strategies would you use to achieve higher student performance at our school?

21.How do you stay current on new teaching trends and techniques?

22.What improvements in the classroom have you made with teachers?

23.How important is a student-centered classroom for you?

24.How would you help us reach the point where students look forward to being in the classroom and are fully engaged?

25.Where do you see yourself five years from now?

26.Who would you say inspires you?

27.Tell me about yourself.

28.Tell me about your ability to handle stress and work under pressure.

29.When would you be available to start?

30.What questions do you have for me?

31.Tell me about your participation in extracurricular activities.

32.Describe an occasion where you mediated a dispute between two students.

33.How would you handle an aggressive parent who had an issue with a teacher?

34.Have you ever had to manage a medical emergency in the classroom?

35.This school represents a different community and demographic than your prior experience. How comfortable are you working around children and their parents who are from different backgrounds than you are accustomed to?

36.Tell me about a time you needed to address several issues demanding your attention at the same time, all with an equal level of urgency.

37.How do you go about building relationships with students who are frequent disrupters?

38.If you witnessed a student being bullied by another student, how would you address the situation?

39.How would you handle a teacher discipline situation?

40.What has been the proudest moment of your career?