Group Leader Interview Questions
Camille, I loved your post on conducting an interview. Could you give us a sample of the questions you used in your group leader interviews?
You mean could I post the exact questions we used so you can copy them? Of course! Glad to help. Just make sure you edit them to fit your program specifically, so you will get the most out of your interviews.
On our interview sheets we included notes to ourselves to make sure the interviews ran smoothly and we didn’t forget anything important. Those notes are in italics. The basics were included at the top: name, date, two phone numbers. We also included a little note to self, “May we leave a message at this number?”
1. Review application and ask any relevant questions. Then say the following …
You have applied for a position as a youth leader. This means you would be responsible for a group of 17 – 20 elementary school students. We would train you on curriculum and behavior management before you begin. Your schedule, lessons, and materials will be provided for you. Your job will be like a teacher.
We are hiring for positions throughout our 13 open school sites within the School District. Once hired you may be assigned to any of our 13 sites. Youth leaders may be transferred to any site within the program during the year. A transfer usually means you are doing well and are able to be transferred.
2. Are you available every day Monday through Friday from 1:45 pm until 6:15 pm? Can you work at any of the 13 sites?
If either answer is “no” stop the interview. They can reapply in the future if their schedule changes.
3. Tell us about your work experience.
4. What do you like best about working with children?
5. Why do you think children need afterschool programs?
6. What makes you a positive role model for children?
7. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses as workers. Please tell us 2 of your strengths and 2 of your weaknesses.
8. We are going to ask you several situational questions. Please tell us what you would do if this happened. A student in your group falls of the playground equipment during recreation time and it looks like their arm is broken. What would you do?
9. Please tell us what you would do if this happened. Another staff member was supervising your group. You have just returned to the room and find it completely out of control. How would you regain control of the group and begin the assigned activity. (Try to get them to give specific examples.)
10. This is another situational question. You are assigned a particular activity. When you get to the room you discover that it is locked. You radio the coordinator and they tell you that their keys have been lost and the custodian will be to your room in 10 minutes. What would you do with your 5th – 6th grade group for 10 minutes?
11. What are your long-term professional goals?
12. Is there anything else you would like to tell us about yourself?
13. In our program, we read aloud to the students at least twice a week. Now, we would like to have you read the selected pages in this book to yourself for a few minutes. You may ask us questions if you need to. When you are ready, we would like you to read the book to us as if we are your group of students. (If they ask, you, the students are in 2nd and 3rd grade.)
Give them a few minutes to read the book. When they indicate that they are ready, listen to them read. When they are finished thank them and ask if they have any questions. At the end of the interview, fill in their reading scores on their test sheet.
We then had a section for notes, line for a total score (out of 10) and a line for the interviewer’s initials. Make sure to get those initials on there so you know who conducted the interview later if questions come up.
I hope this has been helpful. Best of luck.
