Pay it forward Part 1

I've decided to start a series centred around my life as a teacher. Teaching, like many people's career, takes up the largest amount of my everyday life. I've also found that I take on a different persona when I'm teaching. Don't get me wrong, I'm still myself, it's not like I'm putting on an act everyday. But I'm more guarded, more patient, more motivated to impress than in other aspects of my life. I will never understand how I can be so patient in a room of 25 teenagers but so impatient the minute I drive out the school gates.

This is my second year of teaching so I'm still a newbie, relatively speaking, and I'm still getting to grips with time management and all the little extras that are a part of the job. But the good news is that the more I teach, the more I enjoy teaching. I can't imagine doing anything else.

I haven't been able to secure a permanent job, and I know I'm not alone. This might just be one of the most contributing factors to my increased anxiety since I reached the less favourable side of 25. But I have landed a maternity post at a great school for the rest of this academic year so I thought I'd start by sharing a little advice about getting the job.

First of all, can I say that this was my 7th job interview. That means I had to receive 6 awkward letters beginning with "we regret to inform you..." beforehand. It's one of the single most deflating feelings in the world but its also character building. I value resilience almost as much as integrity. But it was worth the wait because it really was the best fit for me. Close to home and a good reputation with lots of friendly faces.

The interview wasn't exactly plain sailing. I remember walking home feeling shell shocked, not really sure whether it had gone well or not. I knew in advance that I would have 15mins prior to my interview to prepare...something, followed by an interview with selected staff and members of the board of governors. I assumed my preparation time meant that I would be asked to prepare a presentation on a lesson. I think most teachers would assume the same but this wasn't the case. It was actually a short 'exam' with 3 A-level chemistry questions. It was a shock because it was unexpected but a perfectly reasonable task; I had no choice but to give it a go and try my best.

I wasn't able to answer every part of every question but that was ok. I laid out my answers methodically, the way that we teach our pupils to and obviously didn't do so bad since they offered me the gig. The interview questions afterwards were generic enough, but still challenging. What surprised me the most is that there were no questions about myself or my experiences, it was completed focused on classroom situations.

So if I had to pass on what I learnt from my successful interview, and the many unsuccessful interviews before that, this is it:

• Don't assume anything. The more open minded you are, the less likely it is that you'll find yourself taken aback when you're asked to do something out of the ordinary. Unfortunately, it's pretty rare to be asked the exact same question twice and schools and organisations are always trying to improve their recruitment processes.

• Ask for help from others. I talked to friends and other teachers about their past interviews and everybody had a different bit of advice that I found really helpful.

• Type out a document with lots of potential questions and answers in a bullet point form. It's a document you will be able to use time and time again, but it also boosts your confidence because you feel really prepared. I collated all the questions that were similar and wrote a general answer that I could alter in the interview, depending on the specifics of the question. 

• Practice saying your answers. Just cause you can read and write an answer doesn't mean you can articulate it as well without practice. But remember, you don't want to sound like you're reading a script either. I always tried my best to remain genuine in every interview.

• Aim for a 3 point answer for each question, ensuring that your points are well structured and relevant. This is especially useful when your answers are timed.

• If you're not 100% sure about an answer, don't be afraid to say that. An interview is as much a test of your personality and reactions as it is your ability to tick all the boxes on their little pieces of paper. One of my questions was about teaching an A-level topic that I hadn't actually taught yet. I explained what I knew about the topic and where I thought the difficulties would arise but at the end I had to admit that I hadn't taught it yet but that there were lots topics I hadn't taught a month prior that I could now write a 10 page paper on. It was just the truth and my interviewers obviously felt re-assured. In other interviews, when my mind blanked, I just ended the question. Not the best technique.

• Know your content! It's not enough just to be able to tell them how wonderful you are. This includes your subject area, specialisms, legislation or frameworks you're expected to work within and also the school or organisation you're interviewing with.

• References are important. They are collected before you are interviewed and I know that my references from my previous schools helped me to secure the job. So even if you don't have an interview coming up YET, make sure you are impressing absolutely everywhere you go.

• Don't dwell on how awful you think you did when you're finished. Just getting to an interview stage really is an achievement. I actually didn't tell very many people about my interview, including my family and I think it helped a little. 

I hope this helps somebody. Back when I was training to be a teacher, I remember many nights spent trailing the internet for information on interview skills that were useful and practical. Regardless of whether you're trying to get a teaching job or something else, alot of us in the same horrible boat of unemployment so we have to stick together and help each other out.