Views on secondary school job market?

[rungichungi]

Afternoon all, now we've all settled down into the new normal, what do you think recruitment is like? I'm pessimistically thinking there might be less jobs, unless you're retiring or really hate your school you probably won't be moving, right?

I'm returning to teaching after having kids and doing an MA, have 17 years teaching experience with a TLR point in my last post. But there are zero part-time jobs in my subject... starting get get worried for September!

[StaffAssociationRepresentative]

Schools will need to replace teachers who resigned just before Easter break.

Some indies may rejiggle class sizes in order to balance numbers.

Depends upon your subject. Still some recruitment going on but not like the usual summer rush

[ilikepi]

Lots of jobs near me - some in subjects and at schools that don't often recruit. DH (also teacher) wonders whether people umming and aahing about retirement have decided to chuck the towel in before they're required to go back whilst this is still going on.

[Rosie2000]

Not much here in the SW but then it’s a popular place to live- lots of English jobs though

[LolaSmiles]

Secondary in my area is still recruiting.

I've also spoken to lots of teachers who are also on maternity leave who are considering having a career break or extending their maternity leave because of Coronavirus so their schools will have to recruit too.

There seems to be a shortage of part time jobs all the time in my area though, which is frustrating.

[StaffAssociationRepresentative]

And remember that you might not be automatically awarded UPS. Portability has gone. You may only be offered up to M6. Some schools will regard UPS as expensive so it depends on the school's budget as well.

[rungichungi]

StaffAssociationRepresentative, I'd be just glad to get any job for September... M6 would suit me just fine!

[StaffAssociationRepresentative]

Set up a job search alert on TES.

If you are a specialist with an option subject then stalk the specialist resource sites which have job pages.

There is churn but maybe not as much. Best of luck with your search

[Poetryinaction]

I have an interview next week and my current school has lots of vacancies. If people had plans to leave before this kicked off they will still be going.

[careerchange456]

Primary but on TES there's not a single job within 30 miles of me. Also only 4 jobs on the council education job website, all asking for NQTs. Slim pickings!

[Shadowboy]

I’d love to move but there are zero jobs for my subject (supposedly a shortage subject) as a full time permanent position within 30 miles. Gutted.

[StaffAssociationRepresentative]

Well NQTs are cheap and schools budgets are under huge strain.

[ThanksItHasPockets]

It’s absolutely glacial around here. A few mainscale jobs which are all being chased by the trainees who hadn’t yet secured a job before the schools closed.

[Howaboutanewname]

I am a shortage subject and have supplied on and off for the last 5 years. Lots of schools now use agencies to recruit to cover maternity leaves or part time posts with odd hours. You need to get on agency mailing lists because you will see all sorts that isn’t advertised in the usual places.

[SansaSnark]

There is a trickle of jobs coming out in science in my area of the SW (I have a job alert set up on e-teach/TES, so get daily emails). Most are full time or maternity cover, though. I know a few people who had got new jobs just before lockdown started, and at least one of their jobs hasn't been advertised yet. I think if schools are able to physically open at any point, you may see a flurry of job adverts come out all at once.

I do think there may be less jobs than usual- for example, my school has extended a lot of 1 year contracts without advertising. They might have done this anyway, of course, but I do think the difficulty of recruiting during lockdown/phased return to schools might have been a factor in that.

Depending on how part time you want to be, would it be possible to apply and try to negotiate down your hours?

[YippieKayakOtherBuckets]

I would highly recommend starting to send prospective applications with your CV to your preferred schools over the next few weeks. Headteachers are going to struggle to recruit and if you land on the right desk after an unexpected resignation then you will be welcomed with open arms. Part-time roles are rarely advertised but it's often the case that a HT only needs 0.6 or 0.8 to balance the timetable.

[cheesecurdsandgravy]

I got an alert this morning for the role I’ve been waiting patiently for for a long time (not at a specific school, just, the role itself doesn’t come up a lot!). There have been two advertised in the last three years.

I was interviewed for the last one but unsuccessful against the internal, already been doing the job for ten months, only other candidate. Sigh.

I am in a proper quandary about whether to apply. This seems like a strange time to leave my students and their families when they will need a lot of my specialist support when we return.

[Whattodo121]

I keep seeing the same jobs at the same schools being readvertised on TES for my subject so schools are obviously struggling to recruit appropriate candidates. there are currently about 30 jobs advertised within a 30 mile radius-mixture of state/private part time/full time as usual. I’ve also had two friends who’ve been successful at online interviews so it’s clearly recruitment business as not-quite-usual for some schools at the moment. Good luck!

[rungichungi]

Thanks for your replies... seems like a mixed bag.

Has anyone had any luck sending their CV to schools? YippieKayakOtherBuckets - have you had any success doing this?

Good luck to all those other job hunters.

[YippieKayakOtherBuckets]

@rungichungi it's how I got my current job. We were relocating and I was coming to the end of maternity leave. I timed it carefully and sent my emails in the week before May half term with the objective of landing in front of a headteacher after an unexpected resignation which left them no time to advertise. Some were purely speculative for schools that I liked the look of, and some were aimed at schools which were advertising FT roles to ask if they'd consider appointing a PT candidate. I probably sent out about a dozen emails, was invited to two interviews, and got the first one. If at all possible have named referees on your CV who are happy to be contacted; this goes a really long way in establishing your credibility.

Good luck!