I found the feedback I received from my interview a bit odd if I’m honest

[Watercress99]

So I really prepped for this job and have really had to push for feedback. I thought I did so well mentioned the ethos, safeguarders, and also a tiny bit of the ofsted

The feedback made little to no sense either because if the lesson I taught was great and I built good rapport in 25 mins how much more do I need to do? I’m not in interview conditions every second of my working day

So this is what I got

“ • Application – your written application was thoughtful and clearly put together

• Lesson – your lesson was an interesting idea and soundly planned. Your rapport with the group was extremely good and you had a lovely and effective way of talking to the group. The students very much enjoyed the lesson.

• Interview – you answered questions in a focused way, but in places, your responses weren’t developed enough and you didn’t always add enough detail to show your understanding of what a question might be asking you.

Also those three points weren’t all I talked about I spoke about and answered questions with examples

I'm unsure what you're unsure about. If you did well in the lesson but not so well in the interview, and they have someone else who did well in the lesson AND the interview then they're going to pick that person over you

It's not always necessarily about why you aren't good enough for a role, sometimes it's just a case of someone being slightly better than you so they got it instead.

Internal hire? Sounds like they already had someone they wanted

It sounds like your lesson and application were good which is great they have given a lot of positive feedback there which again is really good.

I'm guessing you are applying for NQT roles? Apologies if not.

Either way, I would suggest asking someone to do a mock interview with you. I went for a leadership position a couple of years ago and didn't get it. The role came up twelve months later and a friend who is a retired head did a mock interview with me. It was really helpful! In my case, I wasn't talking about impact enough. Flew through the 2nd interview and got the job.

It takes practice-keep at it! And good luck for the next one!

@PumpkinPie2016 I did with my provider. So my feedback was literally perfect, they said one thing I could improve on which I did for the actual day. The similar questions came up so answers with confidence. I just feel so crap. I really wanted it

@YawnyOwl feel like it may have been. One of them said something to me about that and I had Alarm bells goin

Someone else was a better fit. It's not personal; it comes down to how they scored you all on the day.
I second mock interviews. We do them with trainees every year and it's often quite the eye opener.

It sounds like a straightforward case of someone interviewed better and they chose the person who was the better fit from the interviews.

It won't help to spend time worrying about internal candidates. I know some people who have spent years convinced the reason they didn't get jobs was because of an internal, but if the school really wanted an internal candidate they didn't have to advertise. Focusing on whether there was or wasn't internal candidates always strikes me as a barrier to professional reflection..

Like others have said, a mock interview with someone who will challenge you and encourage reflection might be beneficial.

I hope this doesn’t sound harsh, but it’s really simple: someone else interviewed better.

That doesn’t mean you did anything ‘wrong’; it just means that she did something ‘better’ (for that school, on that day, in that interview)

Brush yourself off. Move on.

Last year I interviewed a few people for a job and between two of them we could happily have hired either. We decided between them in the end based on a slightly better answer to a few questions. It can be tough at times and doesn't mean the other candidates are no good. It sounds like this school has tried to give constructive feedback which is good as it's not a given. Take it and move forward.

What’s safeguarders? Isn’t it safeguarding? Maybe this is where your answers were not developed enough? The rest of the feedback sounded positive. They just had a stronger or more preferable candidate. We’ve all been there! As one door closes, another opens!

@Birminghambloke as in I named the individual safeguarding staff.

After reading some other replies, this jumped out again:
and you didn’t always add enough detail to show your understanding of what a question might be asking you
I could be misinterpreting here, and apologies if you think I am, but I think this might be the key bit of feedback.

You said you thought you did well because you talked about safeguarding, ethos, ofsted, and you said you had perfect feedback from your provider (though i would question any provider saying that as it's unhelpful), but the school think you didn't demonstrate what the question was asking.

I wonder if there's a chance you've approached the interview giving the answers you think you ought to give/the answers other people have said you should give and not engaged with the actual questions given.

When my GCSE Literature students do something similar I tell them "that's a great answer to a different question, but I need you to answe the question I've set, not the question you think it should be".

[quote Watercress99]@Birminghambloke as in I named the individual safeguarding staff.[/quote]
Ah ok. Thanks for clarifying. I did wonder that. The names of the DSLs. I’d say we’re all ‘safeguarders’ in schools as we all have that responsibility to safeguard children.

I’d echo PPs re practising, plus the post about listening to questions. There are some standard questions in every interview- the behaviour and safeguarding scenarios. There are the ‘why us’ and the ‘what do you offer’. Often too the ‘tell me a time when… what did you learn’ and the ‘what might you need help developing’. It’s worth thinking to these and planning detailed answers, citing examples. Rehearse responses. Often it’s a ‘I noticed this, so I then did this and the impact was’ type of response required.

If you can remember any questions, happy to help.

Did you relate your answers to that particular school? Just a thought. As an interviewer, I like to feel that the person really wants to work at my school in particular and isn’t just churning out standard answers. Also, did you back up your answers with examples of your practice, ie proof that it’s not just talk?

Agree regarding expressing why you really want to work at my school. I gave written feedback and spoke to one person who submitted an application. Even with this helpful guiding input, no reference!! Application was not shortlisted. I’d tried!