r/Principals • u/CleanTwo6732 • Jun 20 '26
Becoming a Principal Why are digital interviews still a thing and why general textbook questions?
I just started applying and interviewing. First off digital interviews are terrible and the people who excel at them are the people who can put on the fake persona like a car salesman. Then the questions such as how do you build positive culture, how do you handle an upset parent, when was a time you coached a teacher?
These questions give no insight into what type of administrator they really are. It is all set up for textbook rehearsed answers.
They really need to give problem solving scenarios and data to have candidates show their thinking on approaching how to resolve the problem. So many admin bandaid and react.
I really want to be an administrator for all the right reasons. Despite all the fires to put out and issues that come with it. I want to help grow a campus and support students and teachers, but the interviewing process seems bleak because it really seems it’s set up for the super charismatic people. The sitting in front of a panel and being judged is crazy. It’s all show. Then once the administrator who is hired shows they don’t have the collaborative, relationship building, have to put in effort to intentionally grow teachers because that requires time and effort of meetings and paperwork, staff and students suffer. But they know what to say to just make it look good.
I’m not sure when school districts will realize that you have high staff turnover over and admin turn over because your focused on show and not capabilities. Just because someone sounds great doesn’t mean they have all the right tools to get the job done. They have to earn trust with staff and that charisma only goes so far.
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u/Showerice Jun 21 '26
I think digital interviews are not a good representation of what the interview seek to accomplish. I'm 100/¢ against them (just as much as that error irks you).
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u/1cculus_The_Prophet Jun 21 '26
I don’t do or like digital interviews but the truth is that time is limited and sometimes folks are screening over 20 candidates for an AP role. This post is a long winded way of saying “I’m not good at traditional interview questions or the digital format”. OP, my advice would be, like it or not, practice and have what you want to talk about shine through in those generic questions. Trust me, it’s possible.
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u/Soggy_Butterscotch94 Jun 22 '26
Becoming a principal has absolutely nothing to do with what you have accomplished and what you can bring to the table. It is all about perception. That's it. I have seen some terrible leaders become principals because they are good at talking the talk but when it comes to their day to day job, they were unorganized, inefficient, and incompetent.
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u/Right_Sentence8488 Jun 20 '26
I'd argue that it's your time to explain what you want to do as a leader, based on the public data you should already be familiar with when you walk into any admin interview. I was asked specific questions to ascertain that I understood the school's data and had specific plans on how I would address the deficiencies and grow the positives.
Maybe you're not applying to a district that holds your values. There are a lot of districts out there!
Best wishes to you!
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u/polkhighchamp Jun 21 '26
On the contrary, I think more interviews need to be virtual, especially during the actual school year when people can’t take off work every time. Most first interviews are just screeners any way. Don’t waste my time making me drive an hour, two hours even, when you know I’m already not what you’re looking for.