So why didnt we shortlist you? An experienced recruiter reveals the blunders that will keep you off the shortlist Having experience of the shortlisting for over 200 posts in a number of institutions, I thought you might find it helpful to have some idea of the thought process that schools go through when selecting applicants for interview. For some posts there are 50-100+ applications, so schools can afford to be pretty picky when putting you on the Yes/Perhaps/No piles. These are the main problems noted: You didn’t seem to know which school or which job you were applying to Your letter began “Dear Sir/Madam” - couldn’t you check on our documents the actual name of the head? And find out if it’s a male or a female? You put the name of another school in your letter. “I am particularly interested in working in Eton College because…” You send a photocopied letter with the name of our school hand-written in You have little, or inaccurate, information about the school or area: “I wish to work in a vibrant, ethnically-diverse community such as Surrey” (That application was someone lazily using the same letter for every post, not bothering to see if it was relevant) You apply for a job that is not on offer. “I am particularly interested in this Foundation Stage post”. Sorry, ours was KS2 You apply for too many jobs: “I have seen on the TES website that your school offers many employment opportunities, and would like to apply for the posts of Senior Teacher in the Junior School, Head of Physics, Head of Psychology and teacher of English in the Senior School”. Mock ye not - I have seen this actual example! The letter continued: “Please send a ticket from Buenos Aires to London so that I can attend your interview at your earliest convenience” You didn’t do as we asked you to We asked for a supporting statement of no more than two sides A4, you sent one which was four sides long Or one which was two sides, but in a tiny, tiny font Or just one paragraph We asked for your experience in chronological order, most recent first, you started with your GCSE results You left parts of the form blank (“Please outline your contribution to extra-curricular activities: nothing?”) Or you just wrote in: “See CV”. We actually want the form filled in to enable us to compare easily 50 different candidates. If you cannot be bothered to take the information out of your CV, why should we go to that trouble? Bin it. We needed the fax and email numbers of your referees, so that we could contact them urgently for a reference. We were unsure whether to shortlist you or another candidate, you were even-stevens. But he gave all the details, whereas we would have had to ring up the school to get the missing information to get your reference. So we chose him, and binned you. You didn’t have your current head as a referee. We are required by Safer Recruiting Guidelines to get a reference from your current employer (or most recent if not teaching at present). For NQTs, a head from one of your TPs is fine. You didn’t seem to be trying very hard to impress us Form completed in a scruffy fashion No reference anywhere to the actual person/job spec that we sent you, so your application seemed to be something you were scattering around everywhere You leave gaps in your chronology. Were you in prison? We need to consider this possibility under Child Protection guidelines Your spelling, grammar and punctuation leave much to be desired You don’t give the head of your current school (PGCE tutor for NQTs) as referees. Why not? We would have to contact your current head anyway under Safer Recruiting guidelines, so put him/her in You were trying too hard to impress us A CV beginning with your mission statement: “An educator seeking appointment in fast-paced demanding professional environment where I can utilise my skills, education and experience to groom myself”. What does this actually mean? And why do I care about your desire to groom yourself - I am looking for my advantage, not yours You haven’t got the right balance in your CV: too much about your early experience (“I was a form captain in Years 7, 8 and 10, and a school prefect in the sixth form”) and too little about your current contribution to the school where you are working now Your statement/letter is too full of jargon and waffle, and includes paragraphs on irrelevant points You tell us as great length how good it would be for you to work with us. But would it be good for us? Most applications don’t have any of these faults, but some cumulate them, making it all too easy for us to pass yours over and move on to the next.
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 06:05:30 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015