During a job interview, employment officers constantly assess if the candidate possesses the required skills, attitudes and qualifications needed for the vacant position—and they make an employment offer only to the most appropriate applicant. Recruitment managers in the field of education are no different.

The CVs of potential teachers-to-be are shortlisted before they are invited for an interview. The interview turns out to be a nerve-racking experience for some, while others confident of landing the job treat it as a normal chit-chat. All are later flabbergasted on being informed that they’ve been unsuccessful in securing a teaching position. Frustrated, they ask, “What is it that the school administration is looking for when hiring teachers?”

“We evaluate different aspects of a candidate’s personality while interviewing, but the applicant’s English language proficiency counts the most as we prefer hiring teachers who can explain lessons well in English and do not switch to Urdu every now and then. A person’s written and spoken English is assessed through various tests,” says Ms Hina Arshi, senior headmistress of a renowned private school.

These days every school (private and government) is looking for teachers who are fluent in English. Many would argue over the baselessness of this criterion considering our mother tongue is Urdu. But English, the universal language, is in high demand in Pakistan, too. It has become the medium for most of the communication taking place in higher institutions, corporate organisations, banks, hospitals and even in social gatherings. Therefore the parents want their children to practice and learn English effectively. They willingly pay extraordinarily high fees only to see their children speak fluent English. Hence, while hiring, the first and foremost ability that principals thoroughly appraise is the communication skills of the teachers.

But does the hiring committee look for any other quality too or is it just sufficient to be fluent in English in order to get hired as a teacher?

“We see how well he or she can connect with the students. It is very important for a primary, middle or secondary school teacher to understand his or her pupils and develop a bond of trust with them. He or she needs to realise that every student is unique. This can only happen when the teacher adopts a friendly attitude. We explain different classroom situations to the applicants and record their responses. Based on their reactions, we decide if the interviewee can be hired or not,” explains Ms Samina Qureshi, Mathematics coordinator at a well-known boys’ school.

During interviews, principals usually discuss a few classroom management situations with the applicants and they want the candidates to suggest solutions to the most common classroom problems. It is wise to remember that classroom management is all about dealing with human behavior and building inter-personal relationships. While recruiting teachers for primary school, principals judge if the applicants are affable and flexible enough to come down to the level of young students. They need to be lively, interactive and innovative to make learning an interesting experience for the children.

Similarly, employers gauge if the teacher-to-be is assertive, good-humoured and considerate to understand the emotional and psychological problems of the growing teenagers of middle and secondary school. Facial expressions, body language and the pitch of one’s voice also play a pivotal role in getting her a teacher’s position. Many people are also under the impression that prominent credentials are not required to secure teaching positions. This is a widespread misconception. A Bachelor’s degree is mandatory to become a primary school teacher while a Master’s degree is needed to obtain teaching positions in middle and secondary schools.

Mrs Ahmed, who has recently established a primary school in a posh area of Karachi, is very particular about her staff’s qualifications. The very first section she views on a CV is an applicant’s educational background. She says, “I hire well-qualified and competent teachers only. During interviews, I even inquire about the subjects (majors and electives) they have studied at college and university and why they chose those subjects. I believe that a teacher’s knowledge must be vast so that he or she can broaden students’ perspectives and enable them to look at things from different angles. Credentials also help me in measuring how well a teacher knows her subject area.”

On the other hand, Ms Shaheena, an administrative assistant in a government school, says that it is compulsory for teachers to gain a B.Ed degree to be able to teach in a government school. She informs, “B.Ed is mandatory for government school teachers.
There are very few chances of getting employed in a government school without it. Teachers often opt for an M.Ed degree, too, as it increases their service grade.”

Another important aspect that potential job seekers worry about is prior teaching experience. Employers in the field of education, surprisingly, do not look for highly-experienced teachers. They believe it is easier to train fresh teachers than to change the teaching styles of old and experienced teachers. Ms Arshi has trained many inexperienced teachers and found that they could adopt classroom pedagogies more swiftly than the trained lot. She justifies, “Untrained teachers are like blank sheets of paper. They do not have many preconceived notions about classroom management, curriculum, the setting and checking of exam papers, etc. Therefore they take our guidance and perform as per the school’s requirements. In contrast, trained teachers often argue over procedures and processes and it gets hard to convince them.”

And last but not the least, the school administration looks for committed and dedicated staff members. Principals expect the new recruits to stay with the school for at least one academic year. Therefore, they ask candidates about their future plans during the job interview. Shedding light on the teacher’s commitment to the job, Ms Qureshi expresses, “We invest a lot on teachers; we nominate them for various trainings and workshops so we would like them to stay and facilitate our students.
Besides, it’s unfair to the students if a teacher leaves in the middle of the term—their studies suffer, and students take time to settle with their new teacher.”

A very common fallacy is that it’s very easy to get hired as a school teacher. All one needs to do is to go and talk. Unfortunately, such people do not realise that interviews for teaching positions are as tough as interviews for any organisational vacancy.

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