School Captain Interviews - HELP!

[Lani Sweerts]

Hey guys,
I have just been shortlisted for the school sports captain (year 12) and I'm required to attend an interview on Friday. How should I prepare for it and do you have any tips for me to do well in the interview or any general tips to help me succeed as a school captain if I were to be selected? What kind of questions would they potentially ask me and would it help to prepare some answers? How do I act confident but not cocky in the interview?

Thanks a million

[Joseph41]

Congratulations!

Has your school provided any information about what will be covered in the interview? Who's it with?

My main advice would be to have a think about why you actually want to apply for the position, why you think within yourself you would do a good job, and what action you would take if you end up in the position. I think those three things are pretty important, and having a couple of things in your mind for each that you can talk about could end up being useful.

[Lani Sweerts]

Hi Joseph,

My school has unfortunately not shed any light on the format of the interview or what they are likely to cover. My interview panel will consist of the Student Leadership coordinator (she is my English teacher this year!), one of the current school captains and the interschool sport coordinator.

I have some ideas for the points you've made already but it's hard coming up with new actions for the school. I had a couple in mind for the sports program but it's nothing too flash! Do you have any suggestions?

Thanks so much for your advice!

[eloisegrace]

Hey Lani,

First off, congratulations on getting shortlisted as sport's captain! I know this can be a stressful time but it is a very good learning experience. I too was shortlisted as for two captaincies this year (school and school sports) and I was fortunate enough to receive school captain however I was told that I did well in my school sports captain interview too. I hope this helps

Points that I had dot points for:
- strengths
- weaknesses (but make sure they will not hinder the position and talk about how you are improving them)
- what sports you enjoy/what sports you do
- why they should choose you
- other things that boost my application (for example I was awarded the 2020 Olympic ChangeMaker which is a sports/leadership award and I talked about the process I went through to get it)
- how you will overcome challenges
- what I want to achieve in this position
- some questions for the interviewers (it makes you seem engaged)

My interview had some scenario based questions (one was how would you increase cross country participation, and I said lead by example etc.) so just think about answers for these too!

In terms of suggestions for new actions in your school, here are a couple that you could possibly use:
- new house sports event (house netball, soccer, diving etc.)
- school sports Instagram page or yammer page (a yammer page is an office app if you don't know what it is don't worry haha)
- sports committee of some sort?
- an athletics/xc/swimming jumper or piece of clothing if your school doesn't have one
- increased access to equipment at lunchtimes and recess for students to use

Also remember that you can provide more broad answers for some questions (e.g. I would be dedicated to encouraging participation from every one, no matter how good you are at the sport)

I really hope this helps and if you have any more questions feel free to message me here on AN !

Eloise x