To be so upset and embarrassed

I am shocking at internal interviews and it really affects my performance. Though good at interviews in general, i had one where my own team marked me down for how they felt i fitted in. My current role i got as a secondment then had chance to go for permanently, had to interview again, got so stressed i lot my voice. When they offered me job next day i had to write down and hold up sign i accepted. It's a journey and i am in the right job for me now, the others in hindsight wasn't but i was heartbroken at the time.

Try and spin it in your head:

you work at a good school that attracts top candidates.

you got an interview

you could be another school's top candidate and you’ve got recent interview experience which puts you in the zone

you are bold and give yourself opportunities

Really poor form that your own school didn’t even let you do your presentation @WhoisRebecca. That’s really crap of them. It’s happened to me when I was an NQT at a school I didn’t know but when I went for promotion in a school I worked in (if I was successful or not) they always allowed me to do the full interview. That’s really awful
of them! I’m shocked at that, so sorry op. It’s a case of it’s not you it’s them!

They knew who they wanted and that candidate got it. The hiring process is often so frustrating and dishonest. I really think there needs to be more transparency as so much work and investment goes into an application amd interview. Ask for some feedback when you are feeling better .

Even if everything goes brilliantly at an interview there can still be another candidate who does even better. It’s not about track record or what you feel you deserve, it’s the best candidate on the day. In this case it does sound as though the successful candidate would always have been the front runner. It needs resilience and confidence to take your chances at promotion so maybe that’s something to work on for next time. The new HOD may well not stay long if an assistant or deputy headship comes up locally so you may get another chance sooner than you think!

100%. Probability: the more you apply for, the more you’ll get.

Bummer.

As I’m sure you teach your students, behind every success are many failures. Failure makes you better as it helps you learn. We’ve all been there. And the successful candidate isn’t progressing: it’s a demotion for them. So, they may be off again before long if they get something better.

Sounds like you’re quite unwell and also frustrated. If they didn’t see you at your best, another place will. You know you’re a good teacher. You’ll get there. Just work out what techniques you need for an unengaged group for next time.

The presentation isn’t wasted. You’ve got it as a basis for next time.

Hope you feel better 💐

Tbh-I’m a governor and during the interview process, I would not be giving any of the candidates any feedback on how they have performed thus far and I don’t think that is appropriate. Feedback is for the cut off time when you’re either proceeding to interview or not.

As you didn’t proceed, I would have given you feedback then. If things hadn’t gone well in your lesson and you hadn’t shone as brightly as normal, that would have probably been the reason for the cut. I don’t take people through to interviews unless as a panel we think they are a solid candidate as there simply isn’t the time.

the good thing is that you seem to know why things didn’t go well this time so you know what to do for the next one. Big tip-before the lesson, try and find out as much as possible about the class you are teaching so you can come up with some strategies to improve engagement and ensure you have a good pace to your lesson-all stuff you know. 💐

I think take it on the chin and speak openly about it, OP. You've nothing to be embarrassed about. As you've said you know you could have done better, but it was a learning experience. It sounds as if this was always going to be someone else's job anyway. You'll smash it next time.

Sometimes it's just that things went better on the day for someone else. You know when a lesson doesn't go well or goes the wrong way. Keep applying and you'll get the next one.

Don’t be too hard on yourself. They were a bit rude to send you out early in my opinion. Definitely ask for feedback. Hold your head up and keep smiling!

I worked in a secondary school for eight years. I saw this happen many times. I also saw the same colleagues go for different promotions later and get them. One now is an assistant head at the school.

These things happen. We all have off days. The fact you’ve come down with an illness might be an indicator why you had an off day yesterday.

Tomorrow is a new day. 😊

They said you were being rude to the interview panel, and it was because you physically couldn't turn your head?

Schools are brutal workplaces, aren't they? Sometimes they forget that teachers are adult professionials and treat them like one of the kids....

I am in the corporate world and have been mentored recently by two senior female leaders. Both said the same thing to me - always go for every job you are 60-80% qualified for. They said they got 1 in 3 positions applied for. The key message was normalise application and rejection; it should not be a source of shame, just learning. It sounds like you have good insight and when the sting has gone, you should ask for feedback from the interview panel and give yourself a clap for putting yourself out there.

You were unwell, and then had confidence knocked by their unprofessional behaviour.

I had an interview for Internal promotion the day after a car crash. Interview was also a car crash. I couldn't think straight. Then they pulled me up for being rude in ignoring one of the panel...I couldn't turn my head due to whiplash! Left the interview and went straight to hospital. Was hideous.
Zero long-term damage to career but took a little while for my pride to recover.

This has just happened to someone close to me.
He was virtually promised the job, has a great relationship with the manager, great supervision and appraisals. When it came to the interview he got brain freeze on the second question, he knew what he wanted to say but couldn't articulate it ( until he left the interview and was walking back to his car!!) From being stuck on that he just tumbled out of control and couldn't get it back. Ir happens, it's shit but life goes on.

To me, I think it will help build his resilience, force him to look at where his weaknesses are and remember his strengths. When the job comes round again he will be mentally ready to attack it!
I hope you do the same and apply for that other job. It's worth throwing your hat on. If you don't get it you haven't lost anything but gained more of an insight to how you interview.
Good luck and I hope you do well!

How is your absence record, OP? And any other HR type history? Complaints from parents or students? Run ins with other staff? That's the only other reason I've seen with teachers not getting promotions, if it isn't due to their actual ability and there is no done deal with someone waiting in the wings.

Having experience on both sides of the interviewing process in schools, I wouldn’t ask everyone to prepare a presentation if there was a reasonable possibility someone was going to be cut. An exception to this would be if something in the earlier part of the process raised a significant concern, like a safeguarding concern, which couldn’t have been anticipated but would make it necessary to send the candidate home. Another exception might be for a very senior position like headship, but even then it would be more usual to just get candidates who were invited back for the second day to prepare a presentation over night. Obviously these both sound very different to your situation, OP, so I can’t think why they didn’t let you present. As others have said, the governor should not have made that comment either. Packing too much into an interview lesson and/or not meaningfully getting through the planned learning is such a common thing. I bet every teacher posting here has done it at some point - I definitely have. I would suggest asking for feedback as soon as you can as it might help you to process and move forwards. Good luck with your next steps.

The interview process is completely different from actually doing the job - as a way of chosing people, it is not that great. I always do well in my actual jobs, but I can really freeze in an interview. Try not to link the two things - not doing well in an interview has nothing to do with your abilities in anything else than interviews.

Hi OP. I also work in education. I’m so sorry that you’ve had this bruising experience, especially when you are feeling so unwell. I’d like to pick up on a few points if I may.

It takes courage to apply for an internal promotion and you should give yourself credit for this. The fact that you were shortlisted means that your application was strong and the people who work with you respect and value you. Please give yourself credit for this, too.

Don’t be as quick to assume that it was a stitch-up as several PP have. Yes, it was always going to be hard to compete with the successful candidate’s experience but you would not have been shortlisted if you weren’t a credible candidate. Their success may not be as rosy as they expect; having worked with several people who have taken backward steps for various reasons I’ve seen that it is hard, and to a person they find it very frustrating.

Finally, having been involved in a lot of recruitment I can tell you that it feels utterly shit to have to give bad news to colleagues that you really like and respect, so if it makes you feel any better there are probably colleagues who are feeling just as crap as you right now.

Take the time you need to rest. Set straightforward cover from textbooks or tell the school you are too unwell to set cover. They will manage. Get well soon and keep your chin up when you do go back