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Professor Interview Questions

When interviewing for a professor job position, employers want to know how you will contribute to their educational institute. They will likely be interested in your ability to create curricula, perform academic research, and educate students through lectures, assignments, mentoring, tests, and meeting with students one-on-one.

Top Professor Interview Questions & How To Answer

Question 1

Question #1: How would you describe your teaching style?

How to answer
How to answer: When an interviewer asks about your teaching style, they want to know about your approach to education. Additionally, they want to know how clearly you can articulate yourself. An interviewer wants to make sure you can explain ideas in a clear and concise manner that is easy for students to understand.
Question 2

Question #2: How would you contribute to our department?

How to answer
How to answer: As a professor, you have to educate students, work within the department to develop curricula, and perform academic research. An interviewer wants to know if you work well with students, but they also want to know if you're a team player who can work well with other department professors. An interviewer additionally wants to make sure you have well-developed research skills that can reflect positively on their institution.
Question 3

Question #3: Why are you interested in this position?

How to answer
How to answer: If an employer asks this question, they likely want to know why you want to work at their specific institution. This is your opportunity to share your knowledge of the institution to prove you have done your research.

8,251 professor interview questions shared by candidates

Question 1: We have a number of 200-level courses that both serve our majors and fulfill general education requirements for non-majors. Many of those are courses in American literature, literatures of the Americas, and /or minoritized literatures. Could you walk us through how you might teach such a lower-level class? Question 2: This position would also include a few advanced courses, including a class that would be filled primarily with upper-level undergraduates but would also include some of our MA students. Could you describe a course you might offer for that combined student population? Question 3: Our English major has been growing year after year, contrary to national trends. At the same time, we have had a number of recent faculty retirements. This creates pressure but also presents an important opportunity to rethink the ways we engage—and, ultimately, retain—an increasingly diverse group of students, especially when it comes to the program’s curriculum. You have already touched on this in your application, but we would love to hear more about your favorite strategies for increasing access in your courses? How do you meet a wide range of students where they are at? Question 4: How do you see your research fitting into the changing landscape of American Literature as a field? Question 5: Where would you like your research to go in the next couple years (the term of this VAP), and how would the VAP position at Oregon State enable you to fulfill some of those goals? Question 6: What questions do you have for us regarding the position, the School, or the University?
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Visiting Assistant Professor

Interviewed at Oregon State University

4.2★
Jun 22, 2023

Question 1: We have a number of 200-level courses that both serve our majors and fulfill general education requirements for non-majors. Many of those are courses in American literature, literatures of the Americas, and /or minoritized literatures. Could you walk us through how you might teach such a lower-level class? Question 2: This position would also include a few advanced courses, including a class that would be filled primarily with upper-level undergraduates but would also include some of our MA students. Could you describe a course you might offer for that combined student population? Question 3: Our English major has been growing year after year, contrary to national trends. At the same time, we have had a number of recent faculty retirements. This creates pressure but also presents an important opportunity to rethink the ways we engage—and, ultimately, retain—an increasingly diverse group of students, especially when it comes to the program’s curriculum. You have already touched on this in your application, but we would love to hear more about your favorite strategies for increasing access in your courses? How do you meet a wide range of students where they are at? Question 4: How do you see your research fitting into the changing landscape of American Literature as a field? Question 5: Where would you like your research to go in the next couple years (the term of this VAP), and how would the VAP position at Oregon State enable you to fulfill some of those goals? Question 6: What questions do you have for us regarding the position, the School, or the University?

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