Each community college is different so you will want to be sure that you put in a bit of research prior to meeting with anyone from the college. Spend some time discovering what the schools mission is, what their student body is like, and what degree programs they offer. The schools website is a wonderful resource for you to start your research with. Spend some time perusing it to get an idea of how the college operates. You may also want to actually pick up some literature on the school and the programs that you are interested in teaching for. This can be valuable information for you to take with you into your interview in college.
Prior to any interview that you have for teaching jobs you should spend some time preparing yourself. This means that you should try to compile a list of possible questions that may be asked of you so that you can prepare your answers. Knowing some of the details about the community college and its population will help you to prepare for some of the questions that might arise in your interview. You should definitely be prepared to answer different questions about your teaching techniques for students of different years.
You should not be surprised if the community college requests for you to present a demonstration of your teaching in order for you to get one of their available teaching jobs. Knowing this in advance means that you can prepare for it. Chances are that you can expect to need to teach for about twenty minutes so you will need to choose a lesson that can be accomplished during this time period. Thoroughly plan out this lesson just as you would for any college class that you would be teaching. It is best that you choose a general lesson to teach as opposed to choosing a very specific or technical lesson for your interview.
You must remember that lecturing during your teaching demonstration is not a great idea. The class that you are teaching is going to be most likely made up of faculty members who do not want to listen to you talk. Instead, they want to see you teach. That means that you need to interact with the students and to get them actively learning. A Community college education is based in student participation and actions so be sure to integrate this type of instruction into your demonstration so that the faculty members can see that you will fit into their educational philosophy.
Lastly, you will need to expect to meet with the community college administration. They will want to sit down with you to determine whether you are going to be a good fit for their college. They take responsibility for the individuals that they place in teaching jobs, and they will want to be sure that you are a good fit for their team and more specifically for their students. Be yourself with them, and let them see what you have to offer as a teacher. Additionally, use this as an opportunity to ask any questions that you may have. They want to make sure that you are a good fit for the college, but you need to make sure that the community college is a great fit for you.
