School Webmaster Job Description & Sample Interview Questions

A school webmaster must wear many hats, and while the profession’s job requirements vary from industry to industry, the following areas are an overview of the typical personal qualities sought for our school district position:

Be able to work independently as well as with a team
Be able to meet strict deadlines and commitments
Be able to adapt and pick up new skills quickly
Have good interpersonal and communication skills
Recognize and value the importance of customer service to our staff and parents
Be thorough and precise in your work and have excellent follow-up
Be able to rely on experience and judgment to plan and accomplish goals
Capable of performing a variety of tasks
Experienced in working with, selecting, and negotiating with external supplies
Capable of motivating and organizing others
Have a strong attention to detail and be highly organized

The following skillsets are required for this position:

Develops and maintains the school websites. Learn CMS or website platform and work closely with the website service providers, hosting company, or others who provide the platforms upon which we manage our school’s websites.
Manage the day-to-day operation of the school’s websites, ensuring the functionality, navigation, and overall performance meet the needs of our school/district. This includes ongoing maintenance and updates including content, adding functionality, optimizing images, and includes links, database, and other website add-ons.
Assure that the school website design is attractive, professional, informative, error-free, and intuitive.
Regulate and manage the access rights of the different users.
Manage URLs (domain names) and DNS requirements.
Ability to handle basic web programming, including knowledge of HTML and CSS. Basic understanding of DNS is also desirable.
Implementation of ADA website compliance WCAG 2.0 standards and maintenance of the school websites at that level. Create and implement training for other staff members regarding ADA compliance (establishment of this training is part of this responsibility).
Proficiency in writing and proofing content. Some editing of images and graphics is also necessary.
Implement and maintain a style guide for all website content that maintains consistency for all print and content published.
Develop and implement annual training of website content managers and staff members on use and best practices for the various systems and platforms, including CMS platform for the school and teacher websites and pages.
Serve as the liaison between the IT department and the various administrators in each school and division and the communications team.
Be familiar with SEO best practices to assist the school in their local marketing efforts.

Sample questions for a school webmaster interview:

The following are some examples of possible questions you might ask of applicants for the position of school webmaster. Try to ask open ended questions to solicit detailed responses that will allow you to get a better understand of the applicant’s skills, experience, and personality. Just pick the ones most appropriate for your school situation, and tweak the questions for your needs.

Can you tell me a bit about your role in your current or previous job?
Are there a few school website examples you admire and why?
Can you show me some examples of education-industry related work (your favorite portfolio piece)?
Tell me about your website development, implementation, and management experience.
What is your experience in the field of web design and development?
How do good websites for schools differ from a bad ones?
Do you have any experience in customer communication and training?
Have you ever developed training for website management or ADA compliance?
Can you provide me with contact information of some current or past clients?
What are a few of your favorite websites (in any industry), and why do you like them?
Do prefer to work alone or with a team?
What is your experience with ADA compliance?
Are you familiar with copyright issues, including image management?
Do you have any experience with with school clients? What challenges did you face, and how did you respond to those challenges?
What is your approach to security issues and other potential website problems?
What do you think makes an effective, successful school website?
Can you tell me what role communication plays in your current role or a previous one?
Can you describe a time when your communication skills got you out of a difficult situation?
How do you deal with frustrated people?
What is your approach to troubleshooting?
Why do you want this position as a webmaster for schools?
What interests you about our school?
What’s your greatest strength? Weakness?
Why are you leaving your current position?
How would you handle….(provide the applicant a few examples of types of PR/communication/crisis issues that might come up regarding website management)?