AIBU to worry after no interview offers for ECT teaching jobs?

[Bookbears]

Posting here for traffic because I need help desperately. My husband is currently doing a SKITT and is in the process of applying for primary teaching jobs as a ECT.

We are lucky to live in an area where several have come up - he’s so far applied for 3. No interview. He’s asked for feedback but they obviously haven’t responded. He has had a show round on all 3 before he applied (no teaching observation on any as they were out of hours) and has said he seemed to connect well with the people showing him round so I think it may be down to his personal statement on the application on 2 of them.

He has amended the personal statement for each job so it’s personal to the school he is applying for. The first one I will say was iffy on reflection but he was told by his uni tutor it was good and he has a feeling they already had someone in mind as it wasn’t the headteacher who did the group show around, it was a TA. The 2nd and 3rd personal statement is much more related to teaching and I personally think it’s sounds very good. I am a hiring manager in my industry and I would be impressed with it but I’m not a teacher so I don’t really have any idea if it’s any good for teaching.

Does anyone have any tips on how to get his application to stand out? He is started to getting very stressed about it (as am I) so I want to try and help as much as I can.

Ps. Thanks in advance for any help, it is greatly appreciated.

It's still early for teaching job, remember teachers don't have to resign until 31.5. So many schools don't know yet whether they need someone.

Does he look at the person specification and hit every single one of those? Make it really obvious in the statement that he does!

Good luck!

Sometimes they have someone already in mind, usually a student who has worked there on the teaching practice.

I would just say keep applying and be prepared for a bit of a drive. My first job was an hour door to door commute (although it was London and on the tube) and everyone else was around the same amount of time. I have some teacher friends who drive 45 mins each way at the moment.

It can be tough in some areas due to falling birth rate. Wishing him the best of luck.

I’m surprised he’s getting no interviews. Can he get his mentor at the SCITT school to read his application? Is he applying for EYFS roles?

I finishef my ect last year and am currently on m3. My school are reducing the number of classes next year, and as the last in and the only one on a temporary contract, i think its inevitable i will be for the chop, unless someone else leaves first. I have been for a couple of interviews. My lesson observations on each one gave conflicting ferdback, so i really dont know... I tbink you just have to be patient.

Thanks for your reply. Is it early? He seems to think if he doesn’t get a job by the end of this month he’s stuffed it?

He has been looking at the specification but I’m unsure on whether he is hitting every point on it. I will ask and go back and compare his statement to the ones he has applied for.

Do you think it would be wise him almost bullet pointing it? Not literally but as an example if the first point on the specification was (and I am totally guessing here because I have no idea what is on one), but something like ‘enjoys working as part of a team’. He would then write as the first paragraph of his statement how he works as part of a team with specific teaching examples? and then do the same for the second point?

Thank you.

Yes we think the first one definitely had someone in mind as no senior member of staff could be bothered to actually show the group around, and I feel as a headteacher you would want to know who you were employing.

I will tell him to have a look further afield as well. He has been looking at places both in our home town and also up to 30 minutes away, but maybe he needs to broaden his search further. It’s strange because there are a lot of jobs coming up in within that 30 minutes radius of our home, most are maternity cover though which is a bit frustrating.

Yes it doesn't have to be in order but from my experience it has to be very clear how he meets them.

I remember feeling the same when at uni and it does feel late. But like I said teachers don't have to resign until the end of May so more jobs should come up then!

They have already reviewed and said both of the statements were very good. The current headteacher at the school his final placement is on has also said they were both excellent so he is a bit perplexed why it doesn’t seem to be hitting the mark. No he isn’t applying for those roles. KS2 is what he is applying for. 2 x year 5 roles and one 3&4 (joint year group in a smaller school).

I am a deputy headteacher and read a lot of statements from ECTs. Often they are really vague and don’t give actually examples of what they had done. I like references to teaching theory, examples of practical things in action, evidence of extra curricular work, demonstrating a love of the subject and and understanding of the basics of behaviour management. It needs to be well written and organised and anything shorter than a page stands out as not having enough substance. There are some great websites out there to help with this - have a google.

Oh bless you. It’s crazy, everything you see is how schools are desperate for teachers and then there aren’t many jobs. I hope it doesn’t happen to you and good luck to you.

I think he is panicking because I only work part time as we have two young children. We used our savings to keep us afloat while he did his course this year and I think he is feeling alot of pressure (I probably haven’t helped at times as I am a bit of a worrier) to find something as he is the main bread winner as such.

I'm secondary, not primary.

I don't know what the market looks like in your area.

I qualified in 2022 and got an interview for every job I applied for.

Before retraining to be a teacher part of my role was recruiting manager.

So, here's what I did:
Took the person spec and cross referenced it with the Teachers' Standards (this should be easier now with something like Chatgpt).
Next, I gave a specific teaching example for every point of the spec and strengthened this with my previous experience from industry.
Then I made this specific to the school context, e.g. is there a high percentage of pupil premium? What's exciting and challenging about that? Is there a high percentage of SEN? How am I going to support that while also stretching my most able pupils? Super specific stuff, concrete not wishy washy buzzword abstract.
Finally, something that suggests enthusiasm and commitment to the values and ethos of the particular school.
Icing on the cake would be anything about cognitive science approaches to learning.

To be honest, as a man and a cheap one at that (ECT), they should be biting his hand off. It could be because they're expecting his SCITT school to have employed him and they might be wondering why not.

It’s competitive due to the financial squeeze and declining roles. It’s more comfortable to have a job between now and half term but others will come up after the break and there will be fewer people going for them as post holders can’t resign in time. Again at Christmas there will be movement that he will be well placed for. There are supply and short term contracts and sometimes you need a bit of flexibility as you start. No need for him to panic yet:)

Okay thank you. I will go back through his applications and see if I think it meets it. If I’m not sure, I think I will ask him to get his mentor to look over it as well. The issue with his final placement is that the headteacher who is his mentor is having to teach due to sickness, so my husband is being left to get on with it so to speak. I’m not sure how much time the head has to actually properly look at his application/personal statement. I feel like he may just be reading it quickly and saying it’s okay. Unfortunately there isn’t a job going at that school as I know they would have him, but as a previous poster said they are condensing classes so the vacancy now isn’t there.

They quite often go to the trainee teacher who did placements in the school. It may simply be that and you can’t really compete as if they are well regarded they will be able start from a much stronger base having already been inducted into how the school does things.
Keep going and don’t get discouraged.

Thank you so much for this. Very helpful and I appreciate you taking the time to respond with so much detail. From what you have said, I would say the first personal statement he wrote did not meet your criteria. The second and third are definitely more in line with it but I’m sure there could be some improvements made.

Do you think it would be worth saying he has a HLTA qualification and sports qualifications in there as well? He hasn’t been adding it in the statement as it’s in the application under the education section but I have said they might not even look at that bit or really take note and to state it in the application. On paper he is a ECT who is also has a HLTA and various sporting qualifications plus he has been working in schools as a sports coach for the last 8 years so I feel like he would be snapped up, but it appears not.

My DH qualified in 2019. He had no work the first 3 months (and only about 2 days as a supply TA). Then he got a mat leave cover post over an hour from home. Then covid hit so they binned him to save some money. Took another 9 months to get another mat leave cover job. He did that, then got another mat leave cover straight after. Followed by a temp post which was then finally made permanent. Hallelujah 🙌. It's just tough. Really tough. Especially if you're in NW England...
My DH is now at m6 and wants to move schools. Been job hunting since Christmas for a job closer to home. But there are few permanent posts coming up. There have been a couple of potentials, to which he applied to one. Didn't even get an interview. If I had to guess at his job application vs interview rate, I'd say it would be around 10% if I was being optimistic. He probably applied for 200+ jobs since qualifying. It's really dire. I'm giving you his experience, but it is echoed in many of his fellow course mates.
You just have to keep going. That's all I can say. There will be SO many applying for each job.

Unfortunately despite what the news reports about teacher shortages this is really area dependent. There is likely to be many candidates going for the same job, and it may be that there are already students in the schools he has applied for and they have been offered interviews potentially alongside other more experienced staff.
As already mentioned, more jobs are likely to be advertised after half term once schools know for sure who is staying and who is going. It's also worth noting that due to falling birth rates school now generally offer fixed term contracts so it might not be that he gets a permanent job so it's worth considering anything (part time, maternity cover).

You mention his uni tutor has checked his personal statement, but what about the mentor in his school?

Thank you very much for this! I know, I totally agree. I previously mentioned he also has a HLTA and numerous sports qualifications. He hasn’t worked in schools for the last 8/9 years weekly so has so much experience. I would employ him based off that as compared to any other ECT he is basically a fully fledged teacher with experience for a dirt cheap price. Something is going wrong and I’m trying to help him figure out what it is.

the school he is in, is small and they have no jobs available unfortunately as they are condensing classes. Now you’ve said it, I’m wondering if that’s screwed him over a bit as you say they may be thinking why the hell are they not taking him.

I’ve never known a primary teacher shortage, the shortages you hear about generally apply to secondary teaching and specifically certain subjects. It’s all about luck and who you know in primary and always has been that way. Most teachers start off sound supply and jobs tend to lead from that.

Thank you for this. It’s reassured me a bit more. There seems to be alot of roles coming up in our area, I have said to him he needs to broaden his search as he was being quite picky before. It’s a shame that both his placement schools had no jobs available. They both said they would take him if they could.

I also think the argument that ECTs are cheap sometimes goes out the window in terms of them needing additional planning time and mentoring. That requires a school that can cover that so in reality a teacher 3 years into their career can sometimes be a better option than having an ECT.

Yes the first one he applied for didn’t actually specify ECT in the application and I have a feeling they already had someone in mind. The second one potentially was the same also. Thank you, I am trying to be as supportive as possible

It has been reported that there has been a 32% drop in the number of vacancies this school year compared to last year. So more people are applying for fewer jobs. My child’s primary school had 35 applicants for one job. So it is quite competitive out there for primary teachers at the moment. I work in secondary and we haven’t advertised any roles yet this school year. There are people leaving but they aren’t being replaced which I’ve heard is happening in many schools so is putting strain on the number of vacancies.

With regards the deadline. After half term, your husband will be more likely to get a job as only current trainees and those without jobs will be able to apply. He doesn’t need to have a job before half term. I work with trainees and I don’t know any that have got a job yet. The experienced teachers are already employed so when people resign near the May deadline, schools will have to choose between ECTs or having a vacancy until January. Tell him to hold out because something may come up.

I'd agree that most schools like to employ their scitt/pgce students if they can.
Best thing would be supply and then hopefully he'll impress and get an offer.