Following the path to your
Dream Job UKED Magazine / UKEDchat Exclusive Feature The thought of moving school as a child can be traumatic! This is also true as a teacher, wishing to pursue career aspirations at a new setting - it can be a daunting thought. Time can move pretty fast, and before you know you realise you’ve been in your current school for longer than you wish to remember. Are you really going to be in the same school all your teaching career? For some people, this is their choice, and they are happy with it. Others would like to move school, but it may have been years since you applied for a job and a fearful of upsetting the apple-cart by showing some desire to move schools – indeed, some leaders may see this as an insult to their style, but their insecurities should not prevent anyone wanting to further their career. Through the UKEdChat communities, we have compiled these tips in helping you pursue a job in a different school…
▲ Swapping lanes — Getting your dream jobs will mean changing your direction
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1. Do your homework… Don’t rely on traditional forms of job advertising. Many schools/colleges/ universities are now advertising positions online, completely missing out on the expensive national newspaper options, so explore online postings; social media; and websites. 2. Visit the school… Most schools will invite people to ‘look around’, which can be a challenge for practising teachers. Schools will be flexible, so ask to visit after-school or, if you have the luxury, go during your PPA time, so you can see the school in action. These visits are crucial, and you can get various clues about the position you are considering, such as: could you work with the leaders of the school; the feel you get about the school (listen to your gut feeling…it’s important and mostly reliable); is it a genuine position? One teacher told UKEdChat, “I was fed up applying for jobs which were clearly intended for internal applicants, but the school went through the process for ‘equal opportunity’ reasons. Visiting schools helped me, as you would usually pick up a clue whether there was an internal applicant likely to apply, and how the head-teacher spoke about them”. Find out basic information about the school you are visiting, so you can discuss various aspects of the school during the tour. For example, “I noticed on your website you mentioned that you have a vibrant afterschool activity list…what do you currently offer?” and so on.