Interviewing for Faculty Positions
Below is a collection of commonly asked interview questions from the the University of Connecticut, to help you anticipate variations and practice your responses.
You can download the questions, as well as their Interview Tips from Faculty, at right. →
Remember to practice articulating your unique strengths and supporting experiences, and to tailor your answers to the needs and interests of each department you are addressing.
Common Questions by Topic
About You
- Tell us about yourself.
- Tell us about your work.
- Tell us about your Research.
- Tell us about your service activities.
- Describe your degree of involvement in your professional associations/conferences.
- Tell us about your goals.
About Your Fit
- Why did you apply for this job?
- Why are you interested in university/college X?
- What is it about our department that interests you?
- What are your impressions of our curriculum?
- What experience do you have working at our type of institution?
- What do you know about working at our type of institution?
- Why do you want to teach at a liberal arts college?
- Why do you want to teach at a research institution?
- Why do you want to teach at a state university?
- How would you teach our class on X?
- How might you contribute to our mission and campus atmosphere?
About Your Research
- Tell me about your research.
- When will your research be completed?
- What impact will your research have on the field of X?
- How do you explain your research to someone, not in your discipline?
- What are your future research plans?
- How about for the next X number of years?
- How do you see your research fitting within our department and what we already do?
- How would you incorporate others in your research?
- With whom might you collaborate in our department?
- What types of interdisciplinary research might you do?
- In what ways might you include undergraduates in your research?
- What are your research strengths/weaknesses?
- What funding sources are you aware of that might support your future research?
About Your Publications & Presentations
- What was your contribution to this publication?
- Which of your publications do you feel is the most significant?
- On what topics do you intend to publish in the future?
About Your Teaching
- Tell us about your teaching experience.
- Which of our current classes can you teach?
- What teaching techniques do you use in the classroom?
- What methods do you use to involve students?
- What new classes would you want to teach?
- What are your teaching strengths/weaknesses?
- Describe a time when you felt challenged in the classroom.
- What steps have you taken to improve your teaching?
- What technologies have you used in the classroom?
- How would you get undergraduates excited about the field of X?
- What texts might you use to teach a new course that you would develop?
Have Questions?