Interviewed for a job in a school, they're not going to let me know until after Easter

[Trekkingaway]

It's a fairly high level job, involving 2 days of interviews. One of the candidates couldn't make the 2nd day, so they're going to interview him/her after the Easter break and the rest of us need to wait.

With schools because you can't have leave, your current school know you'd had the interview so are also waiting. Somehow that makes it worse I think?

They were very apologetic, but is that OK?

I'm guessing the missing candidate must have been a strong one?

Yep. Schools work on different schedules. Bad it not been a place that is closed with no staff for two weeks they probably would just have interviewed on Monday but they don’t have the option

How badly do you want the job

Sometimes they have to. For example, if the other candidate couldn’t make it in connection with a protected characteristic (pregnancy illness or illness relating to their disability etc) then the school legally have to make adjustments for that. DH is also a teacher and had the same thing, he got the job in the end though. It’s not a comment on the strength of the candidate - if they haven’t interviewed them yet then they wouldn’t know.

Good luck - it sucks to wait but, in many jobs, you don’t get a same-day answer as standard like in teaching.

Tbf it’s not anywhere near the resignation deadline

I applied for a job once where I was offered an interview just before Christmas (like the 20th). I couldn't interview that day as I needed to travel for the interview and it was my dd's nativity play. I was honest with them and said I had a family commitment already on that day, but I could be available any other day. They re-arranged the interview for a whole month later (next availability of the full interview panel). Everyone had to wait. I was offered the job, so certainly was worth it to me. I expect they need to follow their recruitment policy to interview everyone who is potentially appointable. No one wants to come in on their days off, which is fair enough.

Education operates on some alternate time line that does not factor in anything outside the existence of the organisation itself!

DS has been going through an interview process for a job in a college since February.

In most jobs, it wouldn't be at all odd to have a week or two between an interview and decision. It's only teaching that I know of where there is the expectation to be told on the day of interview.

It's not a teaching post.

Is it before the resignation deadline?

If the interviewing panel are working term time only then they simply cannot do the interviews during the end of term break so what other option is there?

I've never heard of a school that didn't offer the job on the same day. Sounds like this other person is their preferred candidate or that you didn't wow them enough for an immediate "yes" but they want you on the backburner in case this person doesn't accept. Sorry.

The panel was 3 trustees plus the head. I think the delay is more about finding a date when they can all come together again rather than the holiday itself.

In my school, unless they were an exceptional candidate (they've already met by this point remember) or it was a very difficult post to recruit for, we'd say that's a shame, but the date is fixed, for exactly the reason that getting the panel together is so difficult.