Interview Resource - Keller ISD Schools

INTERVIEW RESOURCE | 14
Responding to Questions
A classy suit, great posture, warm handshake, refined résumé,
perfect smile and spectacular gestures can still come to nothing—if
you don’t deliver on the promise of your appearance with good
responses to the judges’ questions.
To a certain extent, you can use the Basic Eight Question types to prepare your answers. There are some
decathletes who memorize a little speech on each probable topic, so that during the interview they can
recite their responses. Some people swear by this. I think it makes you sound robotic—or too slick, like
the proverbial car salesman.
That isn’t to say that you shouldn’t practice many, many possible questions. Choose a favorite art piece,
a music selection, and so on. Think about the curriculum theme and how it relates to each subject area.
Finally, move on to yourself and think about your activities, goals, and where you see your life going.
Brainstorm some funny anecdotes about friends, Decathlon, or family.
Go through your resume and ask yourself four things about each activity or job:
1. Why did you get involved with it?
2. What’s one interesting anecdote related to it?
3. What is a challenge you’ve experienced related to it? (This can overlap with #2.)
4. What does it say about you, and how does it relate to your other interests or goals?
Once you know what’s on our resume, shaping responses to specific questions about it will be easier.
Take Them by Surprise
Don’t be afraid to say something unusual, something your judges haven’t heard before. Naturally, there
are some limitations on this: don’t say something blatantly insensitive or politically incorrect, like,
“Joseph Stalin is my role model because he was responsible for the deaths of millions of Russians.”
Basically, don’t say anything to the judges that you wouldn’t share with your parents’ coworkers 13 or a
college interviewer.
Aside from that, there’s no wrong answer to any question, as long as you can explain and justify it. If you
genuinely think that Heart of Darkness was the wrong choice of novel to represent all of imperial
literature, say so—and propose what you would have chosen instead. (Perhaps Things Fall Apart? Or
something by an Indian author?) If you think the most pressing issue in our country today is the rise of
the Tea Party, explain what you mean by that.
In my experience, it’s easy to bore your judges with answers to questions like “Which music selection do
you like best and why?” However, there’s one simple trick to answering them: Make your answers relate
back to yourself. Okay, so Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique is your favorite music piece. Now, don’t just
go on and on about how it changed the genre of the symphony with its revolutionary plot—smile and
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Depending on your relationship with your parents’ coworkers (or whether they have any) this may not always be an
accurate barometer of appropriateness, but hopefully you understand what I mean. – Greta