Having trained as a teacher in 2009 I’ve been to my share of teaching interviews, and managed to get myself a range of great teaching jobs as a result.

First of all, if you’re shortlisted for interview you’ve clearly made an excellent application and the school want to hear more about you. Play to your strengths; they already think there’s something special about you, all you have to do is prove that to them!

Here are my 5 tips for how best to prepare for a teaching interview:

1.  Use the person specification/job description

Read through your application letter again. Make note of the way you sold yourself, you don’t want to be caught out if questioned about something you said that you can’t recall!

Make sure you also read through the person specification/job description again. Making sure you are familiar with these will help you prepare answers about how best you fulfill these roles.

2. School website

Find out if the school has a website. If it does, visit it. Pay attention to any pages that tell you about how the school is organised, the way that the curriculum is approached and generally any information about the school.

Do your research; make sure you know as much as you can about the school and it’s values. Use this knowledge to help formulate answers about how you can support this ethos/develop it in the future.

2. Ofsted report

The next port of call for me is usually the Ofsted website. By reading the school’s most recent Ofsted report you can see where the school is at, and what targets they’re now working on. If you can how you’d help achieve these targets into an interview answer you’ll stand out as having really researched the school.

4. Note your strengths

Make a list of all your strengths, writing them down and re-reading the list helps keep them at the forefront of your mind, making them easier to recall when questioned about them!

Try to think of one weakness/area to improve on, it’s a common question that you’ll get asked. Phrase your weakness as something that the school can help you work on with continued professional development.

5. Dress smartly

Don’t roll up to the interview dressed as you would for day-to-day teaching. You need to make a good impression so smart is the way forward. Ladies, a suit or blazer over smart dress work well. For men, you can’t go wrong with a smart suit and tie.

Make sure that shoes are polished, clothes are ironed and hair and makeup are neat and understated (nobody wants to employ a teacher with goth-tastic eyeliner!) Similarly if you have visible tattoos, make sure they are covered for the interview.

 

Follow the steps above and keep calm. It’s OK to be nervous, I find focusing on my breathing, taking a few deep breaths really helps. (I can also vouch for these tips working; last Wednesday they helped me get a brand new teaching position at a local school!)

Most importantly, though, good luck!

So a few months back I completely swore off teaching; certain that it wasn’t the career for me. My family and friends, however, thought otherwise.

My mum, in particular never lost faith that I was a good teacher and that I shouldn’t give up on the career that I’d once loved. So, to placate her more than anything, I went to look round a local village school with a view to maybe applying for the job they’d advertised.

Once I got there, however, I was sold! The school was in a lovely location, the children seemed happy and eager to learn and the staff were more than friendly. I got a really good vibe from the place and really felt like I could fit into the team there.

The more I thought about it, the more that I started to want the teaching position; I was definitely qualified for the position, having previously taught a mixed-age class in a village school back in Yorkshire.

Source

So, after much self-motivation I completed the application form, sent it off and kept  my fingers crossed. A week later a letter arrived inviting me to interview.

I was interviewed last Wednesday by a panel of the head teacher and 3 governors and talked solidly for 45 minutes about why I felt I was the best candidate for the job.

At half past 5 that evening I got the call I’d been hoping for, I’d got the job! The feedback that the headteacher gave me was so lovely I almost cried, she told  me my positivity had been infectious, that my enthusiasm for teaching was obvious and that they’d really loved how my eyes shone when I told a story about a successful lesson I had taught.

Now I’m definitely excited to be heading back into teaching in January. I feel like my confidence is coming back, and that the terrible year I’d had at the last school was merely an experience leading me to here. I’m now looking forward to a new challenge, rather than dwelling on the bad experiences of the last one!

November has been a VERY happy month, here’s the 4 things that have stood out most about it for me:

1. Fireworks!

I absolutely LOVE fireworks so was very happy when we spent a Saturday evening at the start of the month at a local bonfire and fireworks display. The display was incredible, set to music, and lasted about half an hour. Wrapped up warm and snuggled up, watching fireworks is definitely one of my favourite ways to spend my time!

2. A day out with the Mothership

Visiting the knitting  & stitching show in Harrogate with my mum is always a great day out, and this year was no exception. Read more about it here.

3. Getting a job!

I’ve felt a huge improvement in my mood, and general well-being this month. It’s probably one of the happiest months I’ve had this year as melodramatic as that sounds. Most of this is down to practicing what I preached here. I think this helped me out A LOT this week when I interviewed for a new teaching position. (I’ll post in more detail about this soon!) The feedback when the school offered me the job commented that I ‘radiated positivity’ which was a lovely compliment!

4. Seeing friends

Up until this month we’ve not been great at arranging to spend time seeing friends. (The 7 weddings we’ve attended and their resultant stag/hen dos have played their part in filling our weekends so far!) But this month was better, there have been friends to visit, going out for lunch and generally making more of an effort to just pop and see people for a brew and a catch up. I need to keep this up!