Dean Interview Questions in Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN
A dean at a high school or college serves as the head of a particular domain, whether that be a department, the faculty, or the students. Interview questions will vary based on the role you are applying for, but you should be prepared to discuss your leadership experience, organizational skills, and time management abilities.
Top Dean Interview Questions & How To Answer
Here are three top dean interview questions and how to answer them:
Question #1: What would your relationship with a student body look like?
How to answer: As a dean for a high school or college, you may be expected to have some degree of communication with students and the student body as a whole. This is your opportunity to explain how you would communicate with those entities who would come to you with concerns, comments, and questions.
Question #2: Can you walk us through your background in education and administration?
How to answer: Questions such as these will allow you to give a narrative to your resume. However, try not to simply list off your resume items. You might highlight what you learned in more notable positions and the experience they gave you that you can apply in this dean position.
Question #3: Can you tell us of a time you used your leadership skills?
How to answer: Use this type of question to showcase instances where you proved your leadership qualities. You might speak of previous conflict resolutions, assisting in solving big problems, etc. Think of the leadership skills you have that would be useful for the dean job you applied to.
There were MANY role play scenarios. They asked how I would prioritize my day if I had to observe a few teachers, teach a character education lesson, deal with a bus fight, deal with an angry parent in the lobby, cover a teacher's class that had called out and take care of normal administrative activities.
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I explained that I would prioritize student safety first and then student instruction and culture. I then went down the list and explained what would be dealt with first and why. Less
What would you change within the campus? And, how would you go about the changes?
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I suggested that I would start by changing the culture of the campus this would be key in the retention issues the campus was experiencing. There are many issue within the campus that needed attention i.e. proper test administering to students. Upper management never upheld policies. Less
Role play scenario 1: a teacher approaches you after receiving a new scholar with Downs Syndrome and does not feel equipped to support the scholar, particularly in a college prep class.
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Find out exactly why teacher feels unequipped. Provide teacher with additional support through coaching and teaming . Keeping student under radar of faculty by discussing weekly how can we support the teacher with educating the student. Provide teacher with additional resources and trainings . Less
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Yes
How do you find joy?
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I find joy by helping others find their own joy. Facing difficulties with a smile and positivity. Less
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I find joy by helping others find their own joy. Facing difficulties with a smile and positivity. Looking for happiness in the little things in life and being free and creative. and when I see positive results in all those studies that I was able to teach Less
Description of a situation where I was leading a team and one of the members were not pulling their weight
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I drew from my previous experience and shared that I believe in building relationships and good culture when working with or in groups. The relationship makes it easy to call out a partner or colleague that is not contributing as expected. Less
