Is this you?
"I am a head varsity coach at a high school and I am starting the process of hiring a JV and freshman coach. I was wondering if The Art of Coaching Volleyball had any tips or suggestions on this process. Any good questions to ask when interviewing would be very helpful."
Here are a few responses from some of our contributing College Coaches:
Mark Barnard
Associate
Head Coach
Oregon State University
1) How much experience do you have coaching the JV age group, it is most likely there will be skill issues with younger players, how well can you teach the skills?
2) What is your philosophy on coaching younger players? Is it coaching to win or is it about giving all players a fair go?
3) How well do you deal with parents? Any parent conflicts in previous jobs, if so how did you deal with them?
4) What is your goal in coaching, are you doing this job for the money, the fame or is this the first step in you becoming a college coach?
5) What is your general coaching philosophy?
6) What are your coaching strengths (be it skill/tactical/technical) and what do you presently feel you need to spend more time on?
Lizzy Stemke
Head Coach
University of
Georgia
1) What is your dream job? (I got this one from Coach Rose)
*It is great to hear what motivates…also gives you an idea as to where they are in their life and what you can expect from their drive.
2) What are 2-3 things that you have learned from your previous position that you hope to utilize here at this position?
* I think it is always important on the front end to ask questions about how a person has grown from different experiences. It is also helpful to know how much research they have done on the job they are interviewing for. It shows their commitment to the process when they have done a little bit of research.
3) Who has been a mentor for you and why?
* The mentor questions shows loyalty and how have they respected those around them.
4) Describe a time that challenged you as a person/coach/ leader and how you worked around it?
*This question hopefully opens the candidate up and allows for them to display their problem solving capabilities.
5) What are you passionate about?
*This is a great question to find out really what their strengths are. If someone is passionate about something that will usually be a strength for them.
I always like to find out what is that person’s real talent, what is their passion. Stats? Training? Training setters? Competing? Relating to kids?
In my opinion it’s best to find someone with a real talent for something, then I can try and figure out how I might best leverage that talent.
1) Keep it Simple
2) What are your career goals and aspirations?
3) What role do you see yourself playing in this position?
4) What are the most important characteristics of a successful coach?
5) What can you add to this program that can take us to the next level?
1) What is your coaching philosophy?
2) I’ve hired you, it’s your first day on the job – what does your first day look like?
3) What are you looking for in this job?
4) What is your primary style of communication with your players – both individually and as a team?
5) Talk me through a situation of how you’d handle an unhappy parent (i.e. child isn’t playing enough, etc.)…
6) What are your strengths and weaknesses on the court?
7) What are your strengths and weaknesses off the court?
8) What are your goals in coaching volleyball?
9) Where do you see yourself in 3-5 years?
10) Run me through a sample practice of yours…
11) How are you going to help me build a state championship program?
12) What can you give to the program that I don’t already have?
