Not called for interview as teaching assistant

[BlueJellycat]

I applied for a job as a teaching assistant but wasn't called for interview. I have applied twice before in my dd infant school but first I was picked at the post by a qualified teacher, the second time I was in hospital during the interview stage. Now dd has gone up to juniors so I applied at her new school. First I was the only applicant so the interviews was delayed. I didn't get interview on the second round and I don't expect they was flooded with applicants going on the first rounds applicants.

I have been a governor in a sen school for 5 years, I have weekly experience of going in the help children read for a year. I have done sen training. I have a degree. I had a corporate job with a global brand in a senior position but that was 6 years ago. I have worked in my profession during those 6 years as ad hoc contracting. Said on my application I want to do a pgce ( I do).

So if I didn't even make the sift can I presume I don't have a good skill set? Reason given was that I don't have the desired skills. I know that experienced TAs could have applied but deep down I just think I was a weak candidate, which is disheartening. I have so much experience from being a governor and helping out reading, i dont feel i can get much more experience without being at school more than once a week as a volunteer. I would like to do my teacher training but after this, if I don't even cut the TA standards I would be a shit teacher? The school im a governor at can't even recruit enough TAs ( but money wise being a TA would be better at my child's school).

At my school, my head will actively avoid hiring the parents of current pupils.

There is a lot of competition around here for TA posts, and it will normally be specified that it should be an ex teacher , or someone already accepted onto teacher training.

Ask what skills you didn't have

I live in very expensive town boarding London so generally speaking, it's hard to recruit in my county as you hope over the County line and earn so much more. London weighing with similar priced hosing. Advert said no experience needed and it seems not many applied if they had to advertise twice. The last job holder did have experience of paid work with children though.

Asking what skill set I was lacking is a good idea thank you.

It's making me rethink what kind of teacher I'd make. Maybe wiser to go back into my trade where I have the experience

I'm really sorry to have to say this as it sounds incredibly bitchy, which is honestly not my intention. I'm not sure your grammar and spelling are quite up to the standard required for a primary teacher or TA if your posts are indicative of your usual written and spoken language. This is more important in a school than it might be in another industry.

OP it stood out to me that you applied twice at your DD's infant school and now she's gone up to juniors, you have applied there. Apply somewhere she does NOT attend. Being a parent at the school may not be to your advantage.

No idea, but I had to double check and Google if it was picked at the post or pipped at the post, thought I’d been saying it wrong all my life 😬

One of my neighbours applied for a job as a TA at the school where I am a TA. I bet she was shocked not to be offered the job as she has a degree & was a highly respected professional in her previous career.
I did hear her application being discussed and I know they didn’t pick her because they thought she seemed “stuck up” and like she wouldn’t fit in with the team. I honestly felt really bad about it because she is a nice woman who just happens to have a posh accent. I think she could have been a good TA but the people who interviewed her made false assumptions.
So it may be that being a professional with a degree & experience as a school governor could actually work against you, weirdly. I wouldn’t assume you won’t be a good teacher just because of this negative experience.

Unfortunately a lot of people go for TA jobs purely for the convenience of school runs and schools know this. I agree it jumps out that your applications are following your DD. Try applying for a school you are interested in working at regardless of where your DC attend and then tailor your application to that setting. Make sure you state in your application why you want to be a TA (and eventually teacher).

I agree that you need to make sure any written application is free from spelling and grammatical errors.

Then you need to set out how you meet the person spec. For example, cite your experience with neurodivergent DC and any safeguarding knowledge, familiarity with the curriculum and current issues in education.

You probably do have the skills but are you telling the schools that?

I work in a school and @twiglets1's experience seems very strange to me. Schools should not and do not (in my experience!) discriminate on posh accent! We would jump for joy at an degree-level educated professional wanting to join the team - assuming their skill set fitted. It could be she was successful in her previous industry but that was completely unrelated to education. Amazing how many people apply to work in schools thinking having children themselves qualifies them for the job!

Is there a reason that you keep applying for the school your dd attends?
I imagine that this would be quite off putting for a school.
It may feel as if you only want to work there to check up on dd.
Try applying for a different school and see if their response is more positive.

Have you emailed and asked for some feedback? You don't always get it but it can be useful.

Is it possible stating that you want to do a pgce is the issue? Maybe they don't want to train you up only for you to leave in a year. I agree with others it's likely due to you being a parent at the school.

If you really fancy doing a pgce then I would strongly recommend doing some voluntary placements in schools to get some experience. First, to see what it is like and decide if it really is what you want. And secondly you may not be accepted onto a course without it. It would also help with your TA job applications as well. Then apply to a school your daughter doesn't go to.

I’m wondering why you’re following your daughter around and if it’s working against you.

As other posters have said, your spelling and grammar has to be perfect on an application for a school. It could be that you’re typing quickly here so making mistakes you wouldn’t make if you were spending more time on something, but worth thinking about. There are several errors in your posts that look careless rather than you don’t have the ability.

Ask for feedback and go from there.

You weren’t alone in thinking this and you phrased it very politely. My head has also rejected applicants for support staff roles due to poor levels of written literacy.

I showed your post to a ex head friend. She said the PGCE wish would put her off, as you are applying for the wrong role? Plus the following of your child…..why? Otherwise you sound like a great candidate. Why are you waiting to do your pgce?

I think you weren’t picked at the post!

I was really shocked by the prejudice myself. I have a degree too as do some of my TA colleagues so it wasn’t just that. It was also her rather plummy accent & they did say they thought she seemed like a snob! I thought it was very discriminatory as they made assumptions about her but she is actually a very pleasant woman and not a snob at all.
The whole thing was handled in a very unprofessional manner. I mean, they shouldn’t have discussed the applicants with people not involved in the recruitment process like myself. I hope they were embarrassed when I commented, “ I know her actually and she’s really nice.” It should have shown them they had made a mistake in their assumptions.

I think you probably have 3 main problems:

• you're a parent, at the school. Whilst not insurmountable, it's not usually a good thing. Why are you only applying for jobs at DD's school. They need you to want the job for better reasons than handy childcare . What is your child's attendance like? If she's off a lot you'll be off a lot....

• you sound over qualified, they might be feeling this is a stop gap before greater things

• and then you prove that by saying you want to do your pgce. They have a TA vacancy, they don't want someone who's already planning to leave.

Plus you haven't really said anything about what you bring to the role, only how successful you were in another (unrelated?) role. Presumably you know to go through the person spec and give examples?

If they are looking for someone no experience necessary then I'd assume you are over qualified for the role. Perhaps they are looking for a long term team member, not someone looking for experience to move on to teacher training. Our school have seen so many leave after a year and it's not good continuity for the dc with additional support needs to keep having new staff. I'd also question why you are applying for your DC's school. We have some parents working in the role in school and it can be problematic. Personally I applied for all the surrounding schools except my DC's.

Stop following your child around

I decided to let the grammar go becuase it's MN not a job application but that could also be a factor

If you don't have any relevant qualifications then some schools won't be interested. It is a professional job with qualifications to support it.

I went to college for a year, completed assignments and course work and had to do 200 hours at a placement to gain experience. Id be pretty pissed off if a parent volunteer who listened to kids read sometimes got a job over me.

There is a huge shortage of TAs in secondary. You could sign up with an agency, get some experience and then apply for a position within a school that is a good fit for you.

I have been a TA at ds1 secondary school but he is too set so I only ever bumped into him in the corridors (where he would ignore me) and we have different surnames so nobody knew.

I don’t think wanting to do a PGCE would work against you. Some of the best TAs our school has had have been employed with SLT already knowing they intended to leave a year later to do their training. (At least one has returned to teach in the school!).

As others have said, you do sound as if you’re ‘following’ your daughter which could work against you.

Although there were SPAG errors in your message on here (understandable, especially with no edit button!) I presume you’d have accurately proof read your job application?

Many schools now allow cover supervisors, TAs to undertake PGCEs with the support of the school.