Job etiquette

[WhimsicalLayer]

We have had two members of staff from the department both go on maternity leave at the same time. The job ad went out months ago and we didn’t really get much buy in from it. There were a good few candidates but not many made it past application to my knowledge.

By a stroke of luck we had a brilliant candidate who seemed to know what she was doing. Her lesson was great (it was my challenging group that she took). She ticked all the boxes, was offered the job on the spot, she said yes, all was great then she was offered an induction day today.

She seemed fine all day, seemed to soak up the experience and was great with the students. All seemed fine, she even offered to take part of my lesson, until…..we had an email within maybe, 5 minutes of her leaving the building, stating that the position wasn’t really for her?

I’m in a complete state of confusion. I was under the impression she really wanted the job, she seemed extremely enthusiastic on the interview day and today! I was shocked. I do wonder, are candidates allowed to behave this way. To my knowledge, it’s unacceptable, surely?

Thoughts? I’m quite sad, she seemed great.

I think she’d be in breach of contract as it’s after 31 May? A few years ago we had someone accept a job with us, then interview for somewhere else and try to take that one instead. Because it was past the resignation date, our head held him to the contract and wouldn’t let him leave until Christmas, even though he’d already resigned.

If she does stay though, I guess the most important thing will be to unpick what her concerns about the role/department/school are so that you can support her (and hopefully keep her!)

Maybe she heard things in the staffroom, saw aspects of the school/role/ethos that made her think twice. Sometimes outsiders see and feel things that established staff normalise/don't see as an issue. Being a good fit is important, sometimes interviews/tours are staged.

To be honest, I think you should be asking what is it about your school that's made her run so fast in the opposite direction?

She may not have signed a contract yet, in which case I think it would be very difficult to hold her to anything. Equally, many teaching contracts now have a probation period where there is a relatively short period of notice (e.g. a week). So even if you managed to hold her to the contract, it may be the case you'd only get her for one week/month in September, due to this.

Most schools won't pursue people for breach of contract, because often the expense to the school is greater than the benefit of pursuing the person (and it can get the school a bad name, locally, with staff).

In terms of it being "not the done thing"- well, yes but... it's pretty clear she doesn't care about burning bridges with your school. And if you try to force her to stay and word gets around locally, it'll be even harder to attract staff in the future.

This is a pretty unusual reaction to an induction day, so personally I'd be questioning what's happened today to make her have this reaction.

Better she says it now than later. I too would be questioning what she didn't like about the school...

I'm not being funny, but you did give her the toilet codes, access to the staff room, an ID badge so she could get through doors and use the copier, a working computer, desk space?

Just wondering as it took me the entire induction period to get that stuff sorted. And I still don't have desk space other than in my classroom which I mostly can't use unless I'm teaching in it.

My school are pretty nice but induction is absolutely rubbish (and this is not unusual). Tbh it's very off putting and I did wonder if I'd made an awful mistake!

I’m rather confused by this response?

Well, as an insider, I can see why. Her background was private schools. We absolutely do not have those types of students, it’s a very deprived area and students are VERY passive learners. It’s very cliquey in certain departments, and I can really see why she chose to go.

Doesnt the ‘’making a bad name” work both ways though? I’m sure once upon a time head teachers would get wind of behaviour like this?

I already know what it is. As mentioned, she’s been in private schools for 10 years, I don’t think she saw much potential here.

She hasn’t replied to any emails, stated the next day she was successful at interview elsewhere and they’ve offered her a contract that she’s formally signed, and the school have decided that it’s better to leave this where it is as it is, since she now has secured a post.

I can understand your frustration at losing a good candidate, but people are allowed to turn jobs down!
It seems to me that the teacher was behaving very professionally throughout the day, but ultimately did not like what she saw.

Oh I'm sorry - read too quickly and thought your candidate had backtracked after an induction day, not before.

Anyone can decline a job on verbal agreement before a contract's been offered.

Only in schools would this be considered unusual.

Schools have not yet fully understood they're in a seller's market.

It was after the induction.

OK. Well then you need to look at the induction - or better; make sure candidates get a full and honest picture of your school before that point so they (and you) don't waste everyone's time.

Schools are very bad, in my experience, at sharing the information candidates actually need to make a decision.

There is this attitude still that you are somehow doing candidates a favour by offering them a job.

So she got a better offer elsewhere and is reneging on her verbal acceptance. It's not unknown, in this situation, for word to get to the head of the second school and for them to withdraw their job offer. However with everyone so desperate for staff, and when they're not so much "neighbouring heads" as "managers in rival academy chains", it's probably not so likely.

Does anyone know of this actually happening or is it an old wive's tale? It's always repeated but I've never heard of it happening in reality in all the years I've been in education. Have others? If nothing else, it doesn't make sense. The verbal contract is either binding or it's not - if the second head rescinds their offer, they are breaking contract just like the teacher did with the first school.

I think it's an old wives' tale. I guess there's some truth in it in small places with low labour mobility, perhaps.

But that still doesn't mean a worker who hasn't signed a contract can't withdraw their verbal acceptance if - as I suspect happened in this case - they are well able to do the job but the reality wasn't to their taste.

As previous poster pointed out, notice periods in probation are very short anyway.

In theory it may work both ways but it's worth bearing in mind that most schools can't afford to be choosy right now, whereas at this moment in time, teachers can probably be picky about who to apply to.

I know right now in my LA there are over 50 teaching vacancies, and there won't be 50 people right now looking for work for September.

It may come back to bite her at some point in the future.

If the department she was joining was one of the cliquey ones, possibly someone needs to have a chat with them about making sure they make a new member of staff feel welcome, as that's probably the only think you can change or control right now.

Where are you that a head would feel confident of getting a new candidate to take the job before September?

Well, exactly - I can't imagine a head taking this line nowadays, unless they knew they already had another suitable candidate. (Back when it did occasionally happen, they probably checked the second choice candidate was stil available before retracting the offer.)

Yes. This.