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Why do you want to work as a school crossing guard?
Safety of pedestrians and children in particular is very important to you, and hence you see some meaningful purpose in the job. What’s more, you have good observation skills, and enjoy working outside, which means that you find this job a great fit for both your skills and preferences.
You can also say that at this stage of your professional career, with the sort of background and experience you have, you cannot hope for some exciting occupation in a big international corporation. But you definitely have what it takes to be a good crossing guard, and you need money to live–just like everyone else. In such circumstances this job is a perfect choice for you.
In your opinion, how important is communication in this job?
You should give communication the highest importance. Children are often playful and may not pay attention to the things that happen around them. They may not necessarily spot you, or may even step into the traffic in an inopportune moment.
Say that except of visual signals and signs, you will also keep your eye on the children. You will communicate your directions verbally, especially when you spot that they do not pay attention to the signs or something tricky may happen. You do not plan to be numb in your job. Paying attention to your surroundings, you will quickly spot problems and react appropriately.
What will you do if a driver does not respect your order to stop?
You should realize that you do now have the power to enforce law as a crossing guard. You are a school employee, not a policeman. Hence you cannot do much when someone decides to ignore your orders.
I suggest you to say that you may report them to police, if their behavior put someone’s health in danger. In any other case you will simply ignore them, and try to continue your job as well as you can. You won’t get distracted by an inappropriate behavior of some drivers.
How do you feel about the proposition of working outside in 5 degrees of Fahrenheit?
Ensure them that you are ready to work in each weather–be it rain, snow, or extreme heat. At the end o the day that’s why we invented clothes–to allow us do outdoor activities regardless of the season.
Tell the interviewers that you aren’t prone to illnesses. As long as you do not underestimate the conditions and wear proper clothes, you see no problem in working in snow, or in extremely cold weather. If you had any issue with it, you would not apply for the job of a crossing guard.
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You stopped the cars, and children are crossing. Suddenly you spot an ambulance approaching the crossing quickly. What will you do?
Ensure them that you will react promptly. If the lights were on, if it clearly was an emergency ambulance, you will immediately stop other children from crossing the road, and ensure that the children who already were on the road returned to the closest safe spot (can be on either side of the road, one that is closer to each child). Once the ambulance passes, you will continue your job as usually.
If the car didn’t have the lights on or the horn, you may stop it just like any other cars. Because in such a case the ambulance does not have a right of way, and should respect your orders as a crossing guard.
How long do you want to have this job?
There typically aren’t many applicants for a position of a crossing guard. If they hire you, they hope you will stay. What’s more, the longer you do the job the better you get in reacting appropriately to all kinds of situations that happen close to a pedestrian crossing.
Ensure the interviewers that you have no plans to quit anytime soon. As long as they are happy with your service, and as long as the school is operational and children cross the street, you can have the job.
Needless to say, you do not have to stick to your promises from the interview. If you get a better offer, you can always leave them, abiding the notice period, of course. While interviewing for a job, however, you should tell them what they want to hear. In this case, they want to hear that you plan to stay as long as possible.
What would you do if one of the drivers shouted on you, or stated a conflict with you?
Ensure the interviewers that you won’t get involved into any pointless conflicts with the drivers, or with anyone else for that matter.
Surely, you understand that some of them may be in rush. They hurry to work, to watch a football match, or perhaps to meet their mistress. But you do not care. You will do your job, protecting the safety of the pedestrians. When people are crossing the road, drivers have to wait. Hence you won’t pay any special attention to their words. Simple as that.
Of course if the situation escalated and someone went out of the car and wanted to fight with you, you’d call the police immediately. You won’t rely on your fighting powers. While your primary goal is to safeguard the children, you have to care about your own safety as well…
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Do you have any experience with this type of work?
When you’ve never had a similar job before, ensure them that you know what is expected from you. Maybe you haven’t worked as a crossing guard yet, but you understand the job description, you saw many other crossing guards doing their job. You have no doubt you’d quickly learn how to do the work.
If you had the job before, tell them when, at which place, and why you left. If there were no accidents during the time you were in service, you should definitely point it out in your answer. You did a good job as a crossing guard in your last place, and are ready to continue delivering the same quality service in your new place.
What are your salary expectations?
The average hourly pay for a School Crossing Guard is about $12. It’s not much, I know, but at the end of the day this is an easy job. It bears a lot of responsibility, but does not require any education of previous experience.
I suggest you to say that you will accept the typical wage they pay to all other crossing guards. In 95% of cases they would not pay you more anyway, so it makes no sense to come up with some unrealistic expectations, or to try and negotiate a better offer.
After everything that happened in the interview, do you want to add something or do you have any questions?
If everything is clear, you can just thank them for inviting you, and ask about the next steps of the recruitment process. It can be a drug test, orientation, training day–depends on your place of work and the system they have in place for new crossing guards.
If something wasn’t clear–for example the working hours (morning, afternoon, for how long), commuting to work (whether they will cover your expenses), or the number of guards working at each crossing (whether you’ll work alone of have a mate), you can definitely ask about these things.
Conclusion, next steps
Interview for a job of a school crossing guard belongs to easy job interviews. The expectations aren’t high, and they won’t ask you any particularly difficult questions.
Come in with the right mindset, be positive, and show some enthusiasm for the job. If you don’t remain silent when hearing their questions, and don’t make a bad impression, they will typically give you a chance to do the job. I wish you good luck!
May also interest you:
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- 15 most common interview questions and answers – What are your strengths, and weaknesses? Why should we hire you? What motivates you the most in work? Learn how to answer these questions, because you can certainly get some of them while interviewing for a job of a school crossing guard.
- What is your desired salary?
