Glassdoor users rated their interview experience at Marylebone Boys' School as 50% positive with a difficulty rating score of 3 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty). Candidates interviewing for Teacher and Assistant Librarian rated their interviews as the hardest, whereas interviews for Teacher and Assistant Librarian roles were rated as the easiest.
I applied online. I interviewed at Marylebone Boys' School (Saint Marylebone, England) in Mar 2024
Interview
Meet the team, teach a lesson, task and interview The process was shared in advance and the staff I met were welcoming and friendly and spoke positively about the school and their experiences there
Interview process was quite standard. I wasn’t kept for exceptionally long times between interviews which I guess was one positive. Only found out during the interview process that a library didn’t exist and they wanted a candidate who was going to convert a empty room into one. Was given a water bottle before the interview which i was drinking. Then there was a activity where I had to tell encourage a group of students towards reading using a box of books.
I was pretty pleased at this point and probably would have rated the experience as neutral or positive. After a few hours of arriving home I received a phone call saying that I did not get the job offer . I was offered feedback on the phone by the headteacher. I usually decline feedback as I often already know what I did wrong. However, this time I decided to listen to the feedback.
Was first told that I wasn’t dressed properly for the occasion. Was wearing a shoulder bag and didn’t have a tie. I’ve worn this attire in other interviews and had no issue, so was dubious about his review. Also, I had brought my debit, card and phone in my shoulder bag and wasn’t going to leave it unattended to be stolen.
He then began a rant about me drinking from a water bottle during the interview. This water bottle
was given to me by a member of his faculty. Also, I always drink water during the interview process because it allows me to stay calm and less anxious. At this point in time I had concluded that he was just composing excuses. I believe they had already selected a choice before the interviews had begun. He did tell me that I didn’t answer questions fully, criticism which I could take on board. However, his earlier excuses just made me dubious of the entire feedback’s integrity.
Ultimately, I feel i dodged a bullet with this job. There was a demand for a librarian despite the interview panel knowing little about one as they’ve never had a library let alone a librarian since opening. My goals were towards developing a existing library. Not magically turning a empty room into one with little to no financing.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What can you offer?
How will you promote the library?