Step 1 Write down answers to 10 interview questions

Preparing for a job transition and getting fixated with left-field interview questions. 

I would like to think of myself as a cheetah since it focuses on one prey and chases relentlessly after it. Since it’s the fastest animal on earth, it usually gets what it want. I’m of course not as ferocious as a cheetah but I thrive on focusing on one thing and getting it done well. This is why I gravitate towards Abraham Lincoln’s words. He said something about how “you can be anything you want to be, do anything you set out to accomplish if you hold to that desire with singleness of purpose.”

I like to think of myself as adaptable and nimble, so I welcome change. I think the advent of technology often brings about new ways of getting things done more efficiently and effectively, so I’m happy to invest time to learn new tools to complement my teaching. For example, I love how technology, like Gemini and Magic School.AI, has quickened my lesson planning process. I also enjoy learning new ways of writing students’ remarks through the Appraiser App. However, I think change should not be introduced too frequently. Sometimes, especially for curricular materials and assessments, it is worth sticking by the same Scheme of Work or Term of Specifications for a 2-year cycle so that we can get a more complete set of data to ascertain their strengths and areas of improvement.

Throughout my career, I have benefitted occasionally from being in the right place at the right time. My latest stint at NorthLight School saw me being groomed to become a literacy coach because my colleague was intending to leave her job. This meant that I got to use my training funds to attend the online Orton Gillingham course. However, I think that my inquisitive attitude and diligent nature help me gain substantially from my luck. I regularly visit r/Dyslexia on Reddit and read books on dyslexia to beef up my knowledge. I also take the initiative to consult my contacts from the Psychological Services Branch and have them clarify my doubts.

I think a song that I hold dear to my heart is “This is Me” from the movie, “The Greatest Snowman”. It’s a great song of accepting oneself and ignoring the naysayers, which reminds me to stay strong. In fact, I like this song so much that I once got my entire Primary 3 class to perform it on stage during Children’s Day celebrations. I wanted them to form an indelible memory with this song so that they would be inspired by it to push through challenges in the future. 

I have always considered myself to be a collaborative person, so during my work review last year, I was surprised to receive feedback that I am perceived as insular and only choose the work that I want to cooperate with others. I had declined to vet the emcee script for Awards Day even though I was appointed as one of the emcees. I told my Reporting Officer that I found the vetting of the script to be a last-minute request and declined it to protect my time and uphold my priorities. On hindsight, I could have communicated my concerns about the deadline better and offered to review the final version. These days, I’m more proactive in anticipating tasks and delivering drafts in advance to avoid last-minute situations.

Obviously, since I’m a teacher, I prefer being employed gainfully. I welcome the distinctive boundary between work and life: school terms vs holidays. But I don’t think being a teacher prevents me from having an entrepreneurial mindset. I have always been proactive about trying out new technologies and conducting lessons in novel ways. In fact, I will present on how to leverage AI tools to streamline teachers’ planning processes for a Virtual Meet session for the fraternity. My gung-ho nature, coupled with my willingness to take creative risks, helps me come across as “a breath of fresh air” (quoting my ex-colleague’s words).

Having taught English at various levels in different institutions, I have accumulated a comprehensive toolbox of resources that empower me to teach anything from literacy support strategies to the weakest progress students to inference and argumentation skills to pre-college adults. I delight in mixing and matching my resources from different teaching jobs to come up with effective materials that address my current students’ specific learning needs. My colleagues sometimes compliment me on how resourceful and sensitive I am to different student profiles. Besides resources, I also gather first-hand insights on teaching students of varied personalities and constantly seek new resources and strategies to better my teaching.

Fun has got to rank highest in my personal values. Although I come across as an intellectual, I’m actually rather playful and like to inject fun into everything I do. I think if something is fun, it makes it more emotionally appealing, so people will have a more lasting impression. I am also enterprising. I pride myself in being an early adopter of novel technologies. I like to try new ways of doing things to see if I can achieve different or more effective results. It is linked to my value of fun because I find taking on new challenges fun. My last value is networking. I delight in meeting new people and cooperating with them on projects, Learning different points of view helps me identify my blind spots and sharpen my thinking. Not to mention how variety is the spice of life!

While being a father of two keeps me busy, I still prioritise personal development. I try to read whenever I can because I’m always interested to incorporate new methods to improve myself. I also make it a habit to listen to podcasts like The School of Greatness and The Daily Stoic on the Fountain app. Since I’m an English teacher, my love for writing goes beyond the classroom. Writing is part of my daily routine, and I post my thoughts and feelings on my blog consistently.

Since I was born in the Year of the Monkey, I relate to monkeys as my spirit animal. Like the monkey, I am agile and enthusiastic as I often manage several projects enthusiastically, finding creative solutions and having fun at the same time. One Vice-principal even commented that my enthusiasm is infectious. Also, I can pull off a rather convincing portrayal of the Monkey God (Sun Wukong) during Chinese New Year!

Step 2 Type this prompt on various Gen AI tools: I prepared the following answers to these 10 interview questions. Analyse my answers and extract my three greatest strengths as a candidate for a teaching position. Number the strengths 1,2,3

This is what I did and here are the responses.

Step 3 Analyse the results.

Thanks to the help from these tools, I know that attributes can be combined in multiple ways, so I should pick the combination that will make me feel at ease in promoting my unique value proposition. So, I will choose:

I just submitted a book review for “The Handbook for Leaders”. It tells an interesting proposition: a leader who wishes to be exceptional and saunter into the 99th percentile of leaders will develop 3-5 core strengths. I guess Gen AI has made it more convenient for us to locate our own strengths.

Maybe you might like to use Gen AI judiciously to see if the sentiments derived match your understanding of yourself, warts and all.