Job Applications and Interviews

by senorcordero

It is that time of year where job applications and adverts come out in abundance, and we start to think about our next moves. As is such, here’s a few tips of mine from over the past few years on how to approach job applications and interviews that will hopefully serve you – whether you’re applying for your first job, switching jobs or going for promotion.

Laying the groundwork – before you apply

Before you start to fill out an application, there are a few things you are going to need to help you along the way. I keep a track of these in a document that I update yearly and that I can hunt out when it comes to preparing for writing an application. It’s useful to do at the beginning of the academic year, and can feed nicely into performance management. Things I include are:

  • GCSE/A Level qualifications in chronological order
  • Degree/Post-Graduate qualifications in chronological order
  • Addresses I’ve lived at in chronological order
  • Jobs I’ve had in chronological order

If you have had exam classes, I would also include:

  • GCSE attainment results for each year (I break mine down into 4+, 5+, 7+ and 9 in percentage format)
  • GCSE Value Added results for each year
  • A Level attainment results for each year (I break mine down into: A*-D; A*-C; A*-B: A*-A and A* format)

If you are a Head of Department, or have had responsibility for a Key Stage or for a specific cohort, I would also include:

  • GCSE entry figures
  • GCSE attainment figures (broken down into 4+, 5+, 7+ and 9 in percentage format) for each language
  • GCSE Value Added for languages as a whole
  • GCSE Value Added for each language
  • A Level attainment results for each language (broken down into: A*-D; A*-C; A*-B: A*-A and A* format)

Writing the application form

The reason for preparing the above points in advance of applying for positions in teaching is that in education, unlike other jobs where you can often submit the same CV, online application forms are the norm. Having the above information to hand will help you save time.

Many of the application forms will start with the nitty gritty personal details and qualifications. It is important to fill these in carefully, and fill them in chronologically. Schools go through a safer recruitment process, which ensures that candidates are suitable to work with children. During this process, schools will look for a chronology of your work and education history, looking for any gaps in employment or study and will ask you for details. Having the employment history and education sections in chronological order will aid this process for those involved in the safer recruitment process. Beware that this often cannot be copied and pasted owing to the different application systems schools and trusts use, but having a document with it there in front of your will help ensure your list is accurate.

Once you are through this, it is onto the personal statement section. The personal statement can be a difficult thing to write and a lot of the time, it is hard to know where to start. My key tips are:

  1. Open with a paragraph that states why you wish to apply for the job, sums up what you could bring to the job and demonstrates that you have read into the school. Look at the website and pick apart the key values of the school. A reason for applying for a job is often alignment with a school’s vision, so it’s useful to include this in this paragraph as a motivating factor.
  2. Demonstrate relevant experience by writing to the person specification – this will allow you to draw upon relevant examples as you go.
  3. List the impact of your experience – having experience of having done something is great, but what’s even more powerful, and important when going for post-holder or leadership positions, is talking about the impact of your actions. Was is a rise in Value Added or attainment? Was it an increase in the number of students taking GCSE languages? Back up with examples and numbers (hence keeping a track of your performance).
  4. Elicit how your experience could lend itself to the new role – again, especially important for leadership roles – what could you bring to your new role from your experience and impact.
  5. Round off with a concluding paragraph

Some schools, especially if you are applying for leadership posts, may ask you to list your results. Again, having these saved in a document that you can add to year-on-year will help make this process easier for you.

When I proof my application, I always read it aloud to make sure it reads well. I find reading in my head lends itself to glossing over some of my typos or poorly constructed sentences. Further to that, I always get my mum or my partner to check my applications before sending to make sure I’ve not missed any grammar mistakes or spelling errors. Doing this can also provide you with useful feedback.

Interview day

Interview days are always intense. Different schools, as well as different roles, will require you to do different things. For a classroom teacher role, you can usually expect:

  • Tour of the school
  • Student panel
  • Teaching episode – sometimes half of a lesson; sometimes the full lesson
  • Interview

When looking at leadership, the following can sometimes also be included as a part of the interview day:

  • Data task (especially for curriculum roles)
  • Observing a member of staff and providing feedback (especially for curriculum/T&L roles)
  • Delivering an assembly (especially for potential Heads of Year)
  • A presentation

The key thing is to be certain of what your day will look like and prepare for it as best you can. Some key things to consider for interview day in my experience are:

  1. How you are going to get any lesson episode materials to the school/what equipment you will have access to. With the increase in cyber attacks, many no longer accept USB sticks, so ensure to ask this to the person who contacts you to offer you an interview. If your current school/placement school uses mini whiteboards, for example, don’t take this as a given at an interview school. Always ask.
  2. How to get to/from the school. Make sure you have your route planned carefully and you leave enough time, especially if public transport is involved. It’s always useful to look up contingency plans for if, for example, the Victoria line decides not to work on the morning of your interview.
  3. If you are going for a leadership role and observation is a task that you have, make sure you have a notebook and a pen to write notes down on that you can call upon during interview.
  4. Presentation length. If you are given 5 minutes to present, make sure your presentation doesn’t overrun. You may be cut-off mid flow which could potentially rock your confidence prior to beginning an interview.

The Interview

Interview preparation is as important as preparing the lesson segment that you are going to teach. A couple of things to be prepared to answer are:

  • Why did you apply for this role? As simple of a question it can be, if not rehearsed, you could be caught out. Schools are looking that you are the right fit for their vision and ethos, so this is the question in which to demonstrate it.
  • Strengths and areas for improvement. This type of question could come up in many guises – from a reflection on your teaching episode to your leadership style. What’s important is not to focus on one area too much and neglect the other; ensure to cover both strengths and weaknesses, and justify with why.
  • The safeguarding question. Always look out for the safeguarding question. It should be very obvious. The key bit more than anything is saying you would follow school safeguarding policy and stating who you would need to speak to – a DSL (Designated Safeguarding Lead).
  • Any other questions – see the section on ‘the right fit’ below.
  • For leadership interviews – expect questions about what leadership means to you and what good leadership looks like. Here it’s about leading the way, leaders being examples, but also showing that you are prepared to challenge – having difficult conversations where needed in order to uphold standards and ensure everyone is performing at the best of their ability.

More generally, in the interview, take your time to think and use examples to illustrate your thoughts with examples. Take thinking time at the beginning of a question, or ask for a question to be repeated if necessary. It is important to be clear and concise. Try to articulate your examples in the same way in which you put together your personal statement – give an example, state its impact and say what it could do for this role.

Interview is not just about you being the right fit for the school; but the school being the right fit for you

The above is essential. The majority of us are attracted to a position or to an employer because we believe that we could thrive at that place. In interview, we also have the opportunity to decide if that will be the right case for us. In order to do this, always prepare follow up questions that could help you see this. It could be along the lines of:

  • Where do you see subject x within the school’s priorities?
  • What development opportunities are there within the school?
  • Will I be provided with feedback if I were to be successful/unsuccessful?

And always remember, you can pull out of the process should you not feel the school is the right fit for you.

Feedback

Interview days are not only about obtaining a new job, but they are also an excellent source of personal development. Always ask for feedback following an interview, even if successful, as this will help carry you on your journey should you wish to apply for a bigger role/change schools later on.