Interview ABROAD..🙇🤩 -3

 

"Uhmmm.... Maha, be confident. You will ace it. Go on with the swag!", my mind gave me a pep talk. 

"🎶🎶....Don't let them in, don't let them see.......🎶🎶" I started cheerfully. Singing is the best way to hide our nervousness! That did the magic. My song wasn't that good but it drew the attention of the students rapidly. They looked closely again; but with an awe, this time. That boosted my confidence enormously. 

There I kick started with set of icebreaker questions that miraculously blended them in. Bindaas!!! it went on and on for forty minutes until I heard the bell— Ringggggggggggggggg........ my lecture came to a halt. So was the silence that had been prevailing all the while. 

Only then did I notice that the couple of teachers who had been sitting there behind, snowballed into some half a dozen— including the supervisor of the section and all the members of the department. I was glad that their faces had been lit up with satisfaction when they approached me. 

So.. the demo was a smash😀

"Where are you from?", asked one of them who seemed to be a woman in her late forties. As I answered hesitantly, the questionnaire stretched further... "Any work experience? In the UAE? How long have you been here? ....." That seemed more a conversation than an enquiry. I felt bit confident that I had impressed them with my performance. With the brief convo, I bade them bye and reached the Supervisor's cabin, fingers crossed. 

There he was with his calm and composed demeanor. "Please get in, ma'am!", he said with a tinge of respect as I approached his doorstep. That shooed the remnants of my fear and self doubt. "Hope you enjoyed interacting with our students", he asked me with a genuine curiosity. I nodded in agreement. Then he enquired me further to know about my skillset and experience.

"On the whole, I liked the way you dealt with the students. You were supremely confident with your topic. Your interactions showed that you had a clear understanding of the subject you taught.", he went on, reviewing my demo. "In a couple of places, I also found your native language's influence", he added with a meek smile. " Here students are of diverse languages. We shouldn't let them know ours. ", he cautioned me openly. 

"I am sure you will make a good teacher", he said finally. But when I thanked him he added, "However my opinion is not the only criteria the school has to recruit a teacher", matter-of-factly. I could very well understand his disclaimer yet a muffled green signal. I left the cabin with contentment. 

With my fingers crossed, I was waiting for the confirmation. One fine day I got a call, asking me to meet the principal. I expected it to be a prolonged one. But, to my surprise it lasted hardly for a couple of minutes. 

In that briefest convo, I was informed that I had been taken in as a teacher of English for middle boys section, technically for grade 6 to 8. Besides I was instructed to submit the needed documents so that they can apply for ADEK approval ( it is mandatory for one to work as a school teacher in the UAE)

That's how my first ever interview abroad turned fruitful.