Preparing for a British Council job interview

Part 2 – Interviewing for a teaching post

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You’ve got the basic qualifications and meet all the essential requirements and maybe some of the desirable requirements for the role. You wrote a well-crafted supporting statement to illustrate your skills and achievements. You submitted your application via the online jobs portal by the deadline for the vacancy and, hey presto – a week or two (or three) after the closing date, you get a polite email inviting you to interview for the role. Mazel tov!

The good news: there is a reliable system you can use to prepare for the interview. The bad news: it’s just as labour intensive and stressful as compiling your supporting statement for the initial application.

Here I’ll give my experience of the competency-based interview process, plus a personal and totally subjective Word to the Wise on considering your first BC post addressing:

1. What is a competency-based interview?
2. Your questions for them.
3. A note on bullshitting.

British Council job applications

Part 1 – the Personal Statement

It’s easy to find a lot of information on employers and interview techniques for most ELT jobs, from disgruntled rants on Dave’s ESL cafe to informative reviews on Glassdoor. However, information in one of the market’s best-known employers seems thin on the ground.

The good news about their application process is that it’s uniform and transparent and aims to be as objective as such a procedure of selection can be, so there is a process you can follow.

I’ve experienced three BC interviews and a number of applications so far in my ELT career, two of which have been successful. Each time I’ve refined my process using help from others and what minimal internet resources I’ve found. Here’s my guide to making the best impression you can.

Photo credit: Flazingo.com via Flickr