Kids can be playful, adorable, and incredibly intelligent. And perhaps your child encompasses all three of these qualities. If you are a parent who wants to prepare your young child for a private school interview, you want these good qualities to come across to the interviewer. However, what if your child is human—like all of us—and isn’t on his best behavior that day or is just having a bad morning? Here are some tips to help ensure a smooth interview.
The first major problem is when parents instruct their children on how to behave in interviews. Some have the tendency to give children a script and/or tell them certain things to say to impress the interviewer. This strategy absolutely does not work, because kids are brutally honest. They do not have the social cues or filters, like adults, to decipher what is appropriate to say or not to say. Also, interviewers can see through a child who has been coached and most likely have the knowhow to find out the child’s real personality and behavior. One tip from Jennifer Brozost and Vimmi Shroff, co-founders of Private Education Advisory Service, is to be upfront with your child and clearly tell her your expectations for her behavior in any school setting. This will go a long way not only with interviews, but for setting a standard of good behavior for the rest of her school career.
Another quick tip is simply to smile. Children love to laugh and smile, and smiling goes a long way in regard to greeting the interviewer, teachers, and administrators he may meet. It’s OK to tell your child to smile when he greets and meets these people. Smiling may also put him at ease. One more quick tip is: don’t bribe a child with something extravagant if he does a good job. Instead, use a favorite snack or one-on-one parent time as an incentive if he maintains good behavior during the interview. For more tips and advice on how to ensure a successful private school interview for your child, please read this article on Huffington Post.