Interview & in tray task

[Tinks15]

Have an interview next week in a school for an admin post & on the schedule it says I will need to do an in tray task? Never had to do one before. Has anyone done one in the past & if so what should I expect?

Never done one myself but I know people who have. I think it basically involves being given a dummy in tray and having to demonstrate how you'd approach it / prioritise etc. I know one bit of good advice is to look at everything before you decide what to do first, don't just start at the top and work down. I've heard of one where the 4th or 5th piece of paper was a note saying something higher up on pile could be ignored. Good luck.

Writing a draft letter to parents about a school trip or case of nits in class or change or teacher

You’ll need to prioritise some tasks. I had about 3-4 in the ‘in tray’. You may need to do one of them (eg draft a letter or proof read a document) but I don’t think you’ll need to do them all. You’ll be asked to explain your rationale for choosing that order of priority.

i don’t think there is necessarily a correct order that they’re looking for. You just need to take a sensible approach. You might want to prioritise anything that involves liaising with a colleague, and the rationale would be that they may be busy and may need a bit of notice to do that job, even if it’s only quick. That sort of thing.

Letter to parents about a school trip
Excel spreadsheet about absences or something
List of tasks to prioritise and explain why.

That been pretty much it in all three school jobs I went for and I got all of them.

Several items in the tray that need a decision about their priority. Some may be urgent, some important and some could be left until the end.

Youd have to explain why you have given them the order you chose.

Remember you can delegate if appropriate - and not just downwards. Apparently it’s very rare for people to do it and it’s a real stand out.

Look out for any messages linked to safeguarding. They will need to be dealt with first and mention in the feedback that safeguarding is dealt with as a priority.

Careful. Those items are important, there may be urgent, ie time sensitive, and important items that need to be dealt with first.

This. Definitely read everything first. I had to do one for a law firm - part way through were instructions such as item 1 needed changing, item for no longer needed, item 6 was now highest priority etc.

Prioritise tasks. Draft a letter to parents, such as about a trip. Deal with a complaint. Arrival in Reception. Create a spreadsheet with data to sort/filter.