Today I attended the interview seminar for Interac.
When I was invited to attend the interview I was sent a looong email with all the details about it.
Basically the interview consists of an information presentation, a grammar test, a teaching demo, and a one-on-one interview.
The information PowerPoint didn't really have any new information that you can't find on the Interac website. I had a notebook just in case I needed to take notes though. Unfortunately, the most important information (where will I be placed? when will I go?) is out of Interac's control so they couldn't talk about that. Next we had a grammar test. It covers punctuation, spelling, passive/active sentences, etc.
Then it came time for the demo. Basically it is a 5-6 minute speech that involves an introduction, some reading, an elementary level warm up (like a song) and a high school teaching demo. I volunteered to go first, and I'm so glad I did! The other interviewees were great sports during my teaching demo, and I think I knocked it out of the park. The interviewer even mentioned that it seemed like I had experience teaching.
The biggest benefit of going first is that I got to just enjoy myself after I was done! After everyone else did their demos we were given times to come back for our one-on-one interviews. I had about 2 hours until my interview so I walked over to Chipotle with 3 other interviewees and had lunch. We talked about experiences in Japan (I just asked lots of questions since I've never been) and what our hopes were for this position. I made some friends, yay!
Finally we headed back for the interview. I wasn't nervous about it until I walked in the room and sat down! Some of the questions were challenging, asking about things like "what does professionalism mean to you?" I know I was turning red and trying to sound intelligent and composed, but I felt like I was tripping all over my words. At the end my interviewer said I was doing well, so I suppose I didn't flub up as bad as it felt I did.
All in all, I feel like I did very well. I'd love to meet up with the new friends I made in Japan, or at least keep in touch. I found them on Facebook already.
I should hear back within a month about whether or not I'll be offered a position. So, we'll see!
K+K
