San Francisco Unified School District Interview Questions
& Process

The interview will involve standardized questions with no casual chat or follow-ups, which doesn't indicate poor performance. You'll answer each question directly before moving to the next. Be prepared to discuss topics such as student eligibility for services, scheduling, supporting students with significant needs, and AAC.

First, you sign up for an information session, which is pretty much a group interview where you'll talk about your past experience with counseling interventions, and working with students/children and diverse groups. They'll give you a scenario to talk through your approach. Then, you fill out an application and send in your resume and references. The application asks about your preferred school age group (elementary, middle, or high school), how you'll get around (transportation mode), and what you'd look for in a supervisor. After that, there's an individual phone interview to go over your experience and preferences. They try to match you well with a placement – for instance, if you'll be using a bike, they won't put you on the other side of the city. Finally, you get an email with an offer. You'll need to get proof of a negative TB test for your placement.

It was a panel of 4 interviewers, and one of them would ask the questions without using their camera. Another person was in charge of taking notes in the chat, and a third person acted as the timekeeper. The fourth interviewer would interact the most with me and listen to my responses. The interview was 20 minutes long with 6 questions, and I wasn't allowed to go off-script. I got 1 minute at the very end to ask my questions, but then everyone left my call before I could ask about what happens next. After the call, I was completely ghosted. Very disappointing.

I had two interviews, one in person and one via Zoom, with two different high schools. The district is open to hiring people without a credential, as they assist with obtaining one. Both interviews were very similar, featuring timed, rapid-fire questions. Some questions seemed well-prepared by others, but the interviewers sometimes appeared confused by the answers. I felt underwhelmed after the in-person interview. The Zoom interview was plagued with technical issues that really disrupted my flow, even though I'm very experienced with Zoom. I sent thank-you notes within 24 hours, but received no response. I had to repeatedly check the SFUSD website for updates and eventually found out I wasn't selected. The overall process, lack of communication, and extremely low starting salary—despite my master's degree, 25 years of experience, and 3 years of direct classroom teaching—made it clear that I'm not interested in working for SFUSD.