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Illinois School Board Journal
January/February 2005
Candidate prep
Using the interview to your best advantage
by Vivian Gordon
Vivian Gordon is an assistant professor of education at Loyola University in Chicago.
Interviewing for the job of superintendent of schools is just one step in a process designed to unite a school district, a board of education and a new leader in a relationship that will be very important to everyone involved.
Knowing the process and seeing the interview in the larger context can be very important to job seekers.
The first step in the process began when the school board and the community identified the characteristics they value and want most in a new leader. Only after a number of other tasks were accomplished — advertising for the position, checking résumés and the initial candidate screening — are candidates invited for an interview.
Up to the interview point, this process may have involved consultants who met with the district's professional staff and the local community groups to assemble a formal position description, develop brochures and set criteria for screening and interviewing applicants.
These characteristics may have been developed by asking questions like:
In Selecting, Preparing and Developing the School District Superintendent, authors David S.G. Carter, Thomas Glass and Shirley M. Hord say that two themes usually emerge during this process:
Prospective applicants should take a close look at the job description in any brochures or related information describing the position being sought. Then they should make a list of the key words and begin to contemplate the possible criteria and needs the school district is seeking. Only then will candidates have a clearer idea of how the interview may go.
Understand what they want
The accepted norm used to be that many men moved into administration to get out of the classroom. However, the job of superintendent has evolved to a degree that specific measurable competencies are required. In the opinion of one elementary school principal, women are proving to be more organized and harder workers, having managed households and budgets, while also doing a good job of teaching, which requires multiple skill levels to manage tasks and personalities.
A study by education experts Linda Darling-Hammond and Margaret Fong supports this perception. The research indicated women who demonstrated the highest levels of physical well-being and the lowest levels of depression are successful at occupying multiple roles. Career satisfaction was significantly predicted by personality traits called "hardiness" as well as "social support from friends."
A description of successful interviewees by Hord and Nolan Estes confirms this:
"Successful administrative leadership experiences at lower levels are considered along with personal attributes like judgment, personality, character, open mindedness, physical and mental health, poise, intelligence, sense of humor, voice and cultural background."
What do we learn from these initial studies? A successful leader must be organized, hard working, have multiple levels of skill in managing tasks, exude hardiness, good physical and mental health, and have an upbeat personality. If we think about people we know who are successful leaders, they often exude these qualities.
Other contemporary research defines the many tasks required of a successful educational administrator. In a study where questionnaires were send to 132 school superintendents in Washington state, respondents were asked to rank 30 activities in order of importance in their jobs. The top answers were:
Having excellent skills in instructional leadership, curriculum and community relations rated just below these.
This information points to the usefulness, during the interview, of referring to experience in working with school boards; developing goals, philosophies and school policy; working with other administrators; developing budgets; and obtaining funding for needed school efforts. Candidates with experience in these areas should incorporate them into interview answers and be prepared to describe them in detail as examples of the ability to succeed as a superintendent.
Job description guides answers
Once candidates contemplate what the school district may be seeking, they should try to identify the accomplishments that would help address the district's needs. Candidates who make it to the interview stage have passed the screening process. Résumés have been reviewed, and something about it — background or experience — made the district believe that candidate could be a possible match.
Hord and Estes emphasize that selection factors are given a great deal of detailed attention. From the candidate's perspective, knowing something matched what the district identified as qualities and expertise for its next superintendent is helpful in preparing for the interview. Candidates can refer to that initial job description as a guide. Contemplate accomplishments that are brought to the position. Use education and experience as the direction to steer answers that follow with the district's criteria and needs.
Incorporate strengths
While there is limited research on the superintendent's role, two studies rate some merit. A national study by author and educator Columbus Salley concluded that although personal, district and ethnic characteristics influence priority of importance of certain functions of the superintendent's role, the role does consist of a set of job functions that are relatively the same from one district to another.
A California study by education researchers Joseph Murphy and Philip Hallinger concluded that successful instructional leaders:
Based on the first study, a candidate should become familiar with job functions that all superintendents have to be prepared to accomplish and talk about them in the interview. From the second study, candidates should learn to be able to show a thorough understanding of a district's organizational structure and be cognizant of their own experience in developing goals, in hiring/firing staff, in supervising other educational leaders, and in directing curricular and other districtwide efforts.
Thus, in answering questions, candidates should expand on strengths and experiences to show the expertise they have to tackle the job successfully.
Honesty counts
Once in a while, individuals say, "Well, my résumé isn't like (so-and-so's), so what chance do I have?" Or, "I think I'm just too old." Or, "When I failed to carry out that (whatever) program, I lost the opportunity to be a superintendent." Or, "I have great experience, but I just don't have the right credentials."
What individuals really mean is: "I don't have the perfect résumé, so I am not going to try."
This is clearly a mistake. In Highly Successful Women Administrators, Sandra Gupton and Gloria Slick emphasize the importance of perseverance. Traditionally, they assert, good administrators are not easily discouraged, and they meet persistent and often overwhelming obstacles with determination and optimism. These people accepted adversity as a necessary part of striving for and attaining their career goals. Obstacles include:
Not surprising, the answers to these obstacles are:
Show that you have the strength of character to take an action because it is the "right thing to do."
Further more, honesty does count. When someone can articulate what has been learned from life experiences — even failures — he or she is an appropriate candidate. When a candidate can describe his or her strong areas, i.e. experience over credentials, and how these strengths apply to the issues the school is currently addressing, he or she again is demonstrating the attributes of a successful candidate. As superintendents have said:
"Never quit working toward your goal. If you love this profession, stay with it until you reach the top. Remember: It's never too late and nothing's impossible!" (Highly Successful Women Administrators, The Inside Stories of How They Got There, Gupton and Slick)
Enthusiasm, enthusiasm, enthusiasm
Being a superintendent, or any educational leader, requires approaching each day with enthusiasm for the work. The superintendent who approaches each day enthusiastically displays a positive attitude for the job and the importance of education in the community. While studies indicate that superintendents sometimes feel a sense of loneliness at the top, inadequacy or stress-inducing conditions, the overwhelming evidence tells us that when superintendents are asked if they would do it all over again, they answer in the affirmative.
Barbara K. Dopp and Charles A. Sloan's research indicates a majority of female superintendents in their survey said once they had the job, they found out they were stronger and more capable than they had imagined and had the interpersonal skills and competencies necessary for success as school leaders.
There is also evidence that for anyone willing and ready to set the position of superintendent as a goal, it is achievable and very satisfying. But to get there, prospective candidates need to make the most of their interview when they get the opportunity.