Interviewing requires you to do something that's normally considered rude: talk about yourself, uninterrupted, for 5 minutes at a stretch. 

An interview may feel like a conversation, but it's not—it's a performance, and just like a stand-up comedian needs a "Tight 5"—five solid minutes of material—before taking the stage, you need to be able to speak to each question for about 5 minutes. 

Why 5 minutes? 

That's typically the most time you'll have per question. 

If you have less time—for example, if you have to answer 7 questions in a 25-minute interview—you can always shorten your answers. But the opposite isn't true—if you have more time than you can productively use, you'll be at a disadvantage.

If you aren't prepared to spend 5 minutes answering each question, you'll have less opportunity to convey your qualifications than other candidates who use all of their time. 

Many candidates answer each question briefly, then become self-conscious about talking so much, so they stop before saying enough.

It's never a good idea to stretch out your answers longer than necessary—that'll just bore the interview team—but it's essential to fill every minute with evidence that you're the best candidate for the job. 

Our Video Interview Practice tool is set to record for 4:59 so you have practice talking for 5 minutes at a time. Master this skill, and you'll rise above the competition in every interview.

Plan a handful of 1-minute stories using the STAR Framework:

• Situation
• Tension
• Action
• Realization

The purpose of a story is to communicate insight about who you are as a leader—not just to describe the situation.

Even if you’re directly asked to give an example…that’s not really what the interview team wants. They want insight about you, so they can compare you to the other candidates and decide who is the best leader.

The facts of the story appear in the Situation and Action elements, but your leadership shines through in the Tension and Realization elements. Here’s how to master each.

Situation

Set the scene: what was the situation? What challenge needed to be addressed? Don’t get bogged down in backstory here—just briefly frame the problem. Be sure to leave out any distracting or upsetting details. 

Tension
Describing the tension is your first big chance to show your chops as a leader and thinker. You’ll reveal your assessment of the key issues at stake in the story, by framing them as a dilemma or tension:

• Was there a tension between the individual student’s needs, and the needs of the rest of the class?
• Was there a tension between tradition and innovation?
• Was there a tension between individual excellence and teamwork?
• Was there a tension between building trust and holding people accountable?
• Was there a tension between listening to the parent’s perspective, and trusting the teacher?

Don’t be afraid to spend some time on the tension. Again, the purpose of telling a story isn’t to relay the facts of an old situation—it’s to shine a light on who you are as a leader.

Action
Next, describe what you did, and what the outcome was. Again, be brief—the story itself isn’t the point, so we’re not going to stop here.

Realization
Finally, end your story with your takeaways, such as:

• What you learned about leadership from the experience
• What you learned about human nature
• A change you made in your school as a result
• A change you made in your own practice as a result

Again, the goal here is to show your thinking and character.

Boil It Down To One Minute

That may seem like a lot to cover in one minute, but with practice, you can do it. When you can tell the story in one minute, you can use it as part of your answer to an interview question—while still having time to answer the specific question that's being asked.

Write down the main points, and practice telling the story out loud until you can do it one minute. Then, repeat until you have 5-10 good stories, and you'll be ready for anything.

If you're interviewing for a position that would be:

• A promotion—to a higher level of responsibility than you've held before, or 
• Different from any role you've held before , or
• In a very different context

...you can use carefully chosen present-tense language to convey to the interview team that you're ready for the challenge. Present tense implies that you're already doing this kind of work, so it won't be a difficult transition.

If you don't have a particular type of experience, it can be tricky to position yourself in this way. Conditional, future, and past tense verbs can create the impression that you aren't ready for the role.

Conditional Tense—Too Weak:

"If someone would just give me a chance, I think I'd do a good job."

Notice how "If" and "would" are conditional terms that cause the reader to doubt that this situation will come to pass. 

But overconfidence is just as bad.

Future Tense—Too Strong:

"I will be your next principal, and I will raise test scores."

An overconfident future-tense verb like "will" provokes the listener to challenge the candidate's claim of inevitable victory.

And if you're not careful, describing what you've done in the past can make it seem like you're interviewing for the job you already have, rather than the job you're seeking.

Past Tense—Unprepared: 

"Well, I've never been a principal before, but one thing I did in my classroom was..."

Instead, use the present tense to describe how you'd approach the job, based on your experience, beliefs, and commitments.

Present Tense—Just Right:

"I believe that, as principal, I'm ultimately responsible for student learning."

You can use a construction like this even if you've never held the role before—it invites the reader to picture you in the role in the near future, without using a weak conditional or overconfident future tense. 

You can even use present tense to answer hypothetical questions, such as "How would you handle a disagreement between a parent and a teacher?"

"As principal, it's my responsibility to have teachers' backs, but I also believe that parents are our partners..."

This construction sounds natural, and doesn't make any false claims—you can certainly understand a responsibility and have a belief about a job you haven't already held. 

To make it possible to use present tense to talk about future work, use phrases like:

• I believe that, as principal...
• I'm committed to...in the principalship.
• As superintendent, it's my responsibility to...
• It's crucial to...
• In this role, one of my top priorities is ensuring that...

How can you talk about yourself without rambling or boring the interview team? Use the Rule of 3. 

To make it easy for the interview team to understand and remember your answers, organize each response using three main points:

• First Point
• Second Point
• Third Point

These points could take a variety of forms depending on the question. Some common types include:

• How you will meet the needs of three stakeholder groups, such as students, staff, and families
• Three steps in a process
• Three values that are important to you
• Three accomplishments that demonstrate your qualifications
• Three priorities you will pursue in the role
• Three people who have been part of your professional journey
• Three skills or attributes that make you stand out

While it's not 100% essential to use a parallel construction, it'll be easier for the interview team to follow your argument if you do. 

Use the Rule of 3 to plan what you'll say, and your responses will feel thorough and complete, without seeming to meander.

In your interviews, highlight specific accomplishments that make you stand out.

One of the biggest mistakes candidates make is to describe their experience in terms of duties rather than accomplishments. 

Here's the thing about duties: in a given role, everyone's duties are more or less the same. Principals evaluate teachers, lead faculty meetings, and hire new staff. Assistant principals deal with discipline, transportation, and testing. Focusing on these typical areas of responsibility is a waste of time. 

If you don't highlight your unique accomplishments, the interview team will have no choice but to focus on the amount of experience you have, rather than the outstanding quality of your experience—and you'll almost always be up against other candidates with more experience.

So how can you rise above your more experienced competitors? Shine a spotlight on your biggest accomplishments—so it's clear that you have the best experience, even if you don't have the most experience.

In your answers, describe your accomplishments with SNAP:

• Stories (examples/situations)
• Numbers (results)
• Actions (what you did)
• Processes (what you put in place)

From Duty to Accomplishment

For example, don't just say you "handled truancy."

Instead, describe a system or process you put in place to reduce chronic absenteeism—such as a better way to  contact parents. 

Then, tell a story about a student who benefitted from your efforts, then give numbers to show how attendance improved.

Describing your accomplishments this way positions you as more than a warm body who can do assigned tasks—as someone who can change things for the better.

The most powerful way to prepare for interviews is to practice each question by giving a full-length 5-minute answer on video...

...then watching the video and scoring your response using the VIP Interview Practice Rubric below.

How do championship athletes get better? They watch their game footage. 

It may be painful to watch yourself on camera, especially if you can't stand listening to your own voice. In fact, most people have an aversion to watching videos of themselves.

That's why you have such a big opportunity here, if you're willing to do what your competition won't. 

You'll frequently hear the advice "just be yourself." Obviously, you should be yourself and give authentic answers, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't prepare. Too often, authenticity is used as an excuse not to practice. Don't fall into this trap.

Plan your answers using the 1-Page Interview Prep Worksheet, the Rule of 3, and the other strategies in this toolkit. Watch the tip videos accompanying each of the practice questions. 

Then, repeat as time allows. If you can do 2-3 rounds of practice for each of the high-priority questions, you'll be in far better shape than your competition. 

Use this checklist to self-assess as you watch your practice answers: