Unit 7, Lesson 7.5. Print pages 1 and 2 on card stock and cut: six question cards plus twelve random cards, one set per triad. Print page 3, the feedback sheet, three per student.
Page 1: The six prepared questions
Every triad gets the same six. Students have seen these before the interview starts, because a student hearing a question for the first time in the chair learns nothing except that this is scary.
Each card is printed with the English question and the Turkish, Portuguese, and Spanish translation under it. [check with a native speaker]
Card 1
Tell me about yourself.
- Bana kendinizden bahsedin.
- Fale sobre você.
- Hábleme de usted.
Interviewer note: this is the three-part answer. Do not help. Do not nod extra.
Card 2
Why do you want to work here?
- Burada neden çalışmak istiyorsunuz?
- Por que você quer trabalhar aqui?
- ¿Por qué quiere trabajar aquí?
Card 3
What are you good at?
- Neyi iyi yapıyorsunuz?
- No que você é bom? / No que você é boa?
- ¿En qué es bueno? / ¿En qué es buena?
Interviewer note: if the answer is one word, ask the follow-up on the card: "Where did you learn that?"
Card 4
Tell me about a time when something went wrong and you had to figure it out.
- Bir şeyin ters gittiği ve çözmek zorunda kaldığınız bir zamanı anlatın.
- Fale sobre uma vez em que algo deu errado e você teve que resolver.
- Cuénteme de una vez en que algo salió mal y tuvo que resolverlo.
Interviewer note: this is the STAR story. Listen for the Result.
Card 5
How do you work with people you do not agree with?
- Aynı fikirde olmadığınız insanlarla nasıl çalışırsınız?
- Como você trabalha com pessoas de quem você discorda?
- ¿Cómo trabaja con personas con las que no está de acuerdo?
Card 6
Do you have any questions for me?
- Bana sormak istediğiniz bir şey var mı?
- Você tem alguma pergunta para mim?
- ¿Tiene alguna pregunta para mí?
Interviewer note: "no" is a weak answer and it is a real interview. Wait three full seconds before moving on.
Page 2: The twelve random cards
The interviewer draws one of these last, unseen. Cards 1 to 6 are the concrete ones; use those for grade 6. Cards 7 to 12 are harder.
| # | Question |
|---|---|
| 1 | What is one thing you would want your boss to know about you on the first day? |
| 2 | What would you do if you finished all your work and nobody told you what to do next? |
| 3 | How do you handle being told you did something wrong? |
| 4 | What is something you learned this year that you did not expect to learn? |
| 5 | If I called somebody who knows you and asked what you are like, what would they say? |
| 6 | What is one thing you are still not good at? |
| 7 | What would you do if you saw somebody at work doing something unsafe? |
| 8 | Why should I hire you instead of the person who came in before you? |
| 9 | Tell me about a time you had to tell somebody something they did not want to hear. |
| 10 | What do you do when you are told to do something and you do not understand why? |
| 11 | What is one thing about this job you think you would find hard? |
| 12 | Where do you want to be in five years, and what does this job have to do with it? |
Page 3: Interview feedback sheet
One sheet per interview you observe. Fill it in while the interview is happening, not after.
Observer's name: ____________________ Candidate's name: ____________________
Round: 1 / 2 / 3 Date: ______________
The opening and closing (check what actually happened)
- [ ] Stood up or looked up when the interview started
- [ ] Said their own name clearly
- [ ] Shook hands
- [ ] Sat when invited
- [ ] Said thank you at the end
The four traits
Score 1 to 4. 1 = not yet. 2 = starting. 3 = did this. 4 = did this well. These are the same four traits from Lesson 7.3.
| Trait | Score | What I actually saw or heard |
|---|---|---|
| Composure (stayed calm enough to think and talk) | ||
| Communication (I understood them; they looked up) | ||
| Problem solving (made a decision and gave a reason) | ||
| Adaptability (handled the random question without restarting) |
The two content items
| Item | Yes | Partly | No | Which part was missing? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The three-part answer had who you are, what you are good at, and why you fit | ||||
| The STAR story had Situation, Task, Action, and Result |
The two written pieces of feedback
These are the only two things on this sheet that take real thinking. Both of them have to name something you actually saw or heard. "Good job" does not count.
One thing to KEEP:
because I heard or saw ___________________________________________
One thing to CHANGE:
Next time try ____________________________________________________
Sentence starters in four languages [check with a native speaker]
| English | Turkish | Portuguese | Spanish |
|---|---|---|---|
| One thing to keep is ___, because I heard ___. | Devam ettirmen gereken bir şey ___, çünkü ___ duydum. | Uma coisa para manter é ___, porque eu ouvi ___. | Algo que debes mantener es ___, porque escuché ___. |
| One thing to change is ___. Next time try ___. | Değiştirmen gereken bir şey ___. Bir dahaki sefere ___ dene. | Uma coisa para mudar é ___. Na próxima vez tente ___. | Algo que debes cambiar es ___. La próxima vez intenta ___. |
| Your voice was ___ when ___. | ___ olduğunda sesin ___ idi. | Sua voz estava ___ quando ___. | Tu voz estaba ___ cuando ___. |
| Your STAR story was missing the ___. | STAR hikâyende ___ eksikti. | Na sua história STAR faltou o ___. | A tu historia STAR le faltó el ___. |
For the candidate to fill in, at the end of the period
Read the feedback sheet a peer gave you. Then look at your own Lesson 7.3 self-score sheet.
A trait my peer saw that I did not name about myself: ____________________
One sentence on the difference: ______________________________________
Teacher key
There is no answer key for the questions. These are interview questions and the answers are the students' own. What is scored is structure and delivery, on Rubric 07 criterion 2.
Round structure, on the board before the bell:
| Round | Interviewer | Candidate | Observer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | B | C |
| 2 | B | C | A |
| 3 | C | A | B |
Four minutes of interview, one minute for the observer to read the feedback aloud, 30 seconds to swap. Six minutes for Round 1, then eleven minutes for Rounds 2 and 3 together.
What the teacher marks on the class list during the rounds. Two columns only, because you are watching ten triads:
| Column | Yes when |
|---|---|
| Three-part answer complete | All three parts present in the Card 1 answer |
| STAR story has a Result | The Card 4 answer names what happened, with a number, a time, or a named outcome |
These two marks plus the peer feedback sheet are the evidence for Rubric 07 criterion 2. A student missing a Result gets a 90-second reteach at the start of Lesson 7.6 and a second ungraded 60-second interview with the teacher during Lesson 7.7's brainstorm.
Scoring the observer's work. The feedback sheet is collected with the stapled Topic 7.1 set. It is scored complete, partial, or missing for daily work:
- Complete: all five opening and closing boxes marked, all four traits scored with something in the evidence column, both content items marked, and both written pieces of feedback naming something observable.
- Partial: the scores are there but one or both written pieces say "good job" or name a feeling instead of an observation.
- Missing: not turned in, or fewer than half the items marked.
The one question that fixes a vague feedback line, asked in the moment: "What did you hear that made you write that?"
Two rules to enforce out loud in Step 1 and again the first time each is broken:
- The interviewer does not coach. "You should say..." stops immediately. One sentence: "Interviewers do not help. That is the whole point."
- The candidate does not read from the paper. Turn the three-part answer and the STAR planner face down yourself while walking the room. Exception: a student whose IEP or 504 includes notes or prompts may keep them face up, and criterion 2 scores whether the three parts are present, not whether they were memorized.
If a triad finishes early, the interviewer draws a second random card. Do not let them sit.
If the roster gives a group of two, the teacher is the third and takes the observer role. If it gives a group of four, the fourth is a second observer and the two observers compare sheets in the one-minute feedback window, which is a genuinely good variation.
Grade 6: five questions instead of seven, random card drawn from the first six of the twelve. Grade 6 candidates may use the three-part answer as a reference for Card 1. Grade 6 observers score the four traits and skip the two content items; the teacher scores those.
Grade 8: the interviewer asks one unscripted follow-up of their own after any answer. Grade 8 candidates answer one question standing. Grade 8 observers add a third written line: what the candidate would need to change for this to be a real hire.
No-presentation accommodation: a student may be interviewed by the teacher alone, at the teacher's desk or in the hallway with the door open and no audience, at any point in the period or at lunch the same day, scored on the same criterion 2 descriptors. A student may also submit the three-part answer and the STAR story in writing or as an audio recording made outside class. No interview is recorded for sharing and no interview happens in front of the whole class.