Personal Development

Things You Should and Shouldn’t do While Waiting for a Teaching Post

Things You Should and shouldn’t do While Waiting for a Teaching Post

Your have applied for teaching posts in various schools. You get a call to do an interview at a school. You finish the interview and now you are waiting for a response from that school.

This can be very agonizing. Sometimes impatience while waiting to hear back after attending an interview can lead teaching professionals to make unwise decisions. Read on to discover what you should and shouldn’t do while waiting for an answer about a possible teaching post.

Things You Shouldn’t Do

Don’t be angry or aggressive. Having to wait makes most of us impatient. Resist the temptation to get aggressive with the school principal, since this will not contribute to your professional image.

While you can check in by phone or email one week after your interview to ask about the status of the post (unless they told you when to expect to hear from them), do not contact the school or demand to speak with the school principal repeatedly.

To help relieve some of the uneasiness of waiting, ask the school principal or anyone involved in the filling of a post in that school what their typical hiring process is and how long it may take. Ask them if you can follow up with them, when and how (via email or phone). That way you will have made a plan together, so to speak, to follow up and you are not left wondering.

When you do follow up, ask them if there is an update, if there is any other information you can provide for them and if there are any other questions you can answer for them.

Don’t lie about teaching job offers. While having multiple job offers can be a strategic way to speed up a job offer, only use this strategy if you actually have multiple offers. Do not lie to the interview panel and allude to having another teaching job lined up if you don’t have one.

The interview panel can easily call your bluff, either by researching the school where you supposedly have a teaching job offer or by contacting colleagues they work with. The only impression this will leave is that you are not an honest professional, and this will not help you get a job offer. On the other hand, a school principal will not hire someone they feel they can’t trust.

Don’t tell your boss. If you currently have a job (maybe in a company), don’t tell your boss you are waiting for another job offer. Do not tell people on social media or in conversations that you have applied or waiting for a teaching post.

Update your Facebook profile only after leaving your old job if you are concerned about them noticing. This isn’t being dishonest; it simply isn’t the right moment yet. If your boss knows that you are looking for a new job, this could backfire on you and you could end up without any job. Instead, continue to do your best work at your current position while you are searching on the side.

Things You Should Do

Keep looking. Sometimes people make the mistake of stopping or pausing their job search once they have interviewed for a job. They’re tired. The interview process was stressful. They’re overwhelmed. However, you must keep in mind that an interview isn’t a guarantee of a job.

Even if you feel that the school and the post  you applied for is a perfect fit for you, if you haven’t been offered the post or started negotiations to accept the job, you need to continue to search and interview for other teaching jobs. Other suitable teaching posts may pass you by if you passively wait to be called for a second interview.

I like the way in which members of teacher Facebook groups keep posting teaching jobs at various schools around the country. This encourages caring for others and helping unemployed teachers get employed. Continuing to apply helps keep you busy since your mind is on other things versus just waiting, and ensures you are not putting all of your eggs in one basket.

Be patient. Resist the temptation to check your phone every five seconds. Try to remember that the school principal or interview panel most likely interviewed several other candidates. Interviewing numerous applicants and comparing them to each other along with the overall fit for the school takes time.

A good school principal or interview panel will not want to make a quick decision. Respect that they want to make the best choice for their school and this usually isn’t made immediately. Also keep in mind that, while you are waiting, they are conducting the interview process and doing their jobs in addition to that.

Continue research into the school while waiting for the offer only if you have been to an interview – their previous years pass rate, history of the school and so on. This is your opportunity to look into the details of the school and solidify your interest in accepting a post. Check your network for connections: Who works there or worked there in the past to gather information on the school culture.

Update your voicemail. Make sure that your voicemail message sounds professional so that if you miss a call from the school principal, your message will leave a good impression. Make sure that it sounds positive and confident. Ask someone you trust to listen to it and give you feedback.

Notify your references. You should notify each reference you provided to the school that you gave their information. Explain what the post entails so they know what they should speak about if they are contacted. Their recommendation will sound that much more professional and relevant if you have prepared them and they know what they need to tell the prospective employer about you.

Stay positive. While waiting for a teaching post, take care of yourself. Take breaks from your job search to participate in activities that help you stay positive and reduce stress, such as exercise, listening to nice music and reading a book.

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