Has anyone had to do this to get a job at Princeton Review?

[mdiscool86]

I applied to teach at Princeton Review, and there is some group audition I have to do:
"In the audition, each candidate will teach a “mini-lesson” on a non-academic topic. That’s right – non-academic! We want to see how you interact with students, not whether you know the quadratic formula. Your fellow applicants will serve as your students and it is your job to get them involved. This is your chance to show us that you can engage your students by being energetic and enthusiastic.

Please choose a topic that you can teach from start to finish in three to five minutes."

I have no idea what I could teach In 3-5 minutes...anyone here had to do this or have any ideas? Thanks

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[cheezer]

pick a dish you like and teach them how to make it

 

[Begaster]

Yup, I did. I gave a tongue-in-cheek presentation about proper bus etiquette, and got the job.

Just have fun with it.

 

[whowhatme03]

i'm guessing this is something most test prep companies make you do.. i had to do it for kaplan, too.

my mini-lecture was on how to cross the street - in japan.

basically, they're just looking at how you interact with your 'class', whether or not you have good presentation skills, i.e. good eye contact, clear voice, as well as whether or not you can make the subject engaging and if you can get ideas across easily and clearly..

if it's anything like kaplan, after the audition you've got a much tougher road ahead, with multiple sessions of teacher training, where you're judged much more harshly on a lot of additional criteria, but the most important thing i found is just don't be boring to the class!

 

[Vihsadas]

Yup, I did. I gave a tongue-in-cheek presentation about proper bus etiquette, and got the job.

Just have fun with it.

Lol. That is a fantastic idea. I'm totally going to do something similar about 'How to not get slapped on a first date.' haha.

 

[Food]

Yeah, that is almost verbatim what Kaplan instructs it's instructor applicants to do. I did it for them, and I spoke about "How to start a conversation when you have nothing to talk about". They liked it quite a bit. I got hired within a 4 days. I'm in training now.

 

[0Complications]

Lol. That is a fantastic idea. I'm totally going to do something similar about 'How to not get slapped on a first date.' haha.

Great idea, but that will most likely take longer than 5 minutes...

 

[Begaster]

Lol. That is a fantastic idea. I'm totally going to do something similar about 'How to not get slapped on a first date.' haha.

Haha, that sounds amusing.

If anyone wants to see a copy of what I wrote for my audition (though I modified it a bit the morning of), just toss me your email and I can send it your way. Just, uh, don't copy!

I have no idea why I used that emoticon, but I sort of like it there.

 

[TangoNovember]

Yeah, I did it for the Princeton Review. I taught them how to do an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Like the people here said, just have fun with it. Show confidence and be humorous and dynamic.
If you pass this, you'll have a training/certification weekend. They flew me out to NJ and for 2 days of 10 hours each, you either lecture or be a student for other lectures of other trainees. You'll have 20 minutes to teach a particular part of the lecture.
What subject are you applying for?

 

[QofQuimica]

I applied to teach at Princeton Review, and there is some group audition I have to do:
"In the audition, each candidate will teach a “mini-lesson” on a non-academic topic. That’s right – non-academic! We want to see how you interact with students, not whether you know the quadratic formula. Your fellow applicants will serve as your students and it is your job to get them involved. This is your chance to show us that you can engage your students by being energetic and enthusiastic.

Please choose a topic that you can teach from start to finish in three to five minutes."

I have no idea what I could teach In 3-5 minutes...anyone here had to do this or have any ideas? Thanks

I did mine for Kaplan about three different methods to tie your shoelaces in a bow. I brought a shoelace with me and demonstrated. It really doesn't matter what you discuss, as long as it's appropriate for a professional setting. (How not to get slapped on a date almost certainly doesn't cross the line, but I wouldn't suggest using how to get laid on a date as your topic. 😛 )

 

[mdiscool86]

thanks for all the ideas everyone 🙂