What is it like to get your first teaching post?

The first hurdle

It's 3.30pm on a Friday and you’ve just received an email saying you have been successful in your job application and the school / college would like you to attend an interview on Monday. Before you do anything else, give yourself a pat on the back for getting this far. The competition is fierce and out of everyone that has applied, you have been selected to go through to the next stage of the recruitment process. Well done!

Preparing for your job interview

Job interviews in the education sector are very different to any other interview you may have had before - students asking you interview questions?! Being graded on a 30 minute lesson, where you have never met the pupils before?!

Hopefully, you’ve entered the profession because you love teaching and you enjoy working with children! The student panel is your chance to show this by building positive relationships during the twenty or so minutes you are questioned. The way you answer, is equally as important as what you say in your answer. For me, this is a critical part of the interview process; because the students in this panel are the ones you will be teaching and spending all your time with. Be yourself and answer honestly. They will see straight through you if you pretend to be a softie and hide the dragon! Ensure you are firm but fair in your responses. Moreover, this is an opportunity for you to ask the students questions to find out a bit more about them, the school, and what they want from a teacher. You can learn so much from this part of the recruitment process, therefore it is important you make the most of it.

The interview process will consist of a face to face interview with a panel consisting of but not limited to; the head teacher, head of department and governor. A data analysis task may also be included as part of the day, with Ofsted having an increasingly greater focus on data as part of the differentiation process (this was advised to me by an inspector on visiting my placement school and observing my lesson!)

The dreaded interview lesson

Similar to the student panel, this is your chance to show the pupils and observer your teaching style. Challenge, pace and progress are all key terms that should be part of the interview lesson whether it is a full hour lesson or twenty minutes. Yes, my first interview consisted of a twenty minute lesson on interest rates to a sixth form group, worryingly they had already been taught the same lesson on interest rates by an interviewee before me - perhaps even more of a reason to make your lesson outstanding!

Be yourself in the interview lesson and include a detailed lesson plan for the observer(s) to show them exactly what you are teaching, how it is differentiated and where progress is being made. I would also advise to give some detail on a follow up lesson to the one you are teaching, just incase you don’t cover everything you had planned to in that lesson. You could also add some detail in your lesson plan of homework and out-of-class activities you would normally set, to consolidate and extend the knowledge and understanding pupils have acquired during the lesson - Teaching Standard 4 box ticked.

Successful or unsuccessful

You’ve made it through the interview day and can’t help feeling like an X Factor contestant waiting for someone to walk through the door to announce your fate. Use this time wisely; could you see yourself working in this institution with the staff and pupils you’ve now met? It is ok to change your mind at this point, on reflecting upon everything you’ve learned during the day. Are there any questions that have now popped into your head that you would like to clarify the answers to if you are successful?

The do’s and don’ts

The ‘blacklist rumor’: if you change your mind when at the school or college and no longer feel this is the workplace for you and want to remove yourself from the recruitment process you will get ‘black listed’ from applying to any other job - this is NOT true. Every head teacher and senior leadership team I have spoken to, has made it clear they would prefer a candidate tell them sooner rather than later if the job is not for them. Furthermore, they understand if on visiting the school and speaking to the staff and pupils, that candidates may feel the culture of the school is not for them. A prime example of this being some schools or colleges having a policy where the pupils refer to the teachers by their first name - many teachers disagree with this. I personally adhere to a system of breaking down the relationship barrier of 'I'm the teacher you're the pupil, I'm big you're small etc'.

DO make a list of pro’s and con’s about the school you’ve applied to

You may be in a position where two schools have offered you a job and you need to decide which one is better for you. My personal list of factors includes;

- Travel time

- Location (do you want to live in the catchment area for the school?)

- Subject you are teaching – is this your specialism? – is it a combination of subjects? I.e. Business and Economics

- What year group you will be expected to teach?

- Ofsted rating of school

- Pupil behavior

- Career /professional development opportunities

- And the most important – what are the people who you are going to be working with like? Are they a close knit community? Do they share resources? Do they have regular staff events and activities such as football on a Friday or go to a pub quiz once a fortnight? Playing football with staff and sixth-formers once a week at my first placement was the best part of my week!

DO speak to other teachers in your school other than your school and professional mentor; especially NQT’s in your placement if there are any. I was very lucky that I had built good relationships with the heads of department and head teacher in both placements. I was given a list of interview questions the school uses for their own vacancies - these interview questions appeared through the recruitment process for all jobs I applied to.

DON’T go to an interview under prepared. Remember, fail to prepare, prepare to fail. Even if you don’t think this is the school for you, do maximum preparation as you may change your mind on visiting the school – this happened to me twice!