Interview headteacher asked me to re-apply 👀

[PeachTeaSpiller]

So i interviewed for the biggest role in my teaching career HOF, it so happened to be in the most amazing school in my local area.

The Head called me to say they really liked me but there were some things i didnt elaborate on - the feedback was super helpful!

They said they didnt appoint anyone, and the job will be reposted very soon so they really want me to reapply 👀hint hint.

im so excited! Yet nervous! Has anybody interviewed twice for the same role? How did it go? How can i prepare more thoroughly in a potentially short amount of time?

is it me or are my chances better this time around?

literally dream job, dream school, This job would make up for every rubbish thing ive experienced in the last 5 years 😍

Any advice from current hof, hod or slt would be incredible!

Go for it.

Sounds like some of the panel liked you - particularly the HT but others didn’t agree so they’ve given you the push to reapply. Just remember in the next interview to interview as though you’ve never spoken to them before as they’ll be grading again so no ‘I’ve told you this before’ and also try to give really in depth answers. Think of whole school impact, pupils, staff, parents, governors and any other stake holders

I applied for an assistant head role -didn't get it but was contacted 8 weeks later to be told another assistant head role had come up and they wanted to make sure that I knew an application would be well received!

I then got the job and subsequently found out that I scored the same as another applicant and the deciding factor had been that I was stepping up from KS lead and the other person was already an assistant head but in a smaller school

I was a bit concerned that it meant there was a high turnover of leadership but it was an in trust promotion that created the 2nd role so I had no reason to be concerned

Honestly? I wouldn't like it.

If they liked you enough the first time around, they should have appointed you - whether you elaborated or not.

To me, there are two reasons why they'd ask you to reapply:

Either, they are a very fussy lot who don't stray from whatever matrix they use to judge people against. That usually suggests an SLT or head who are inflexible and don't use professional judgement in any situation. Expect lesson observations where context isn't taken into account, e.g. Friday afternoon bottom set Y9 will be judged the same as Y11 top set Monday lesson 1, and your department will be slammed for lack of progress despite having to cope with 3x short-term supply teachers on a daily basis for lack of staff. Been there, done that, hated the T-shirt. Jump through the hoops for the sake of it.

Or they had someone else in mind, offered them the job and they declined. You'd have been second best. Perhaps, even, because one member of the interview panel took a dislike to you. Again, I've been in that situation. The poor assistant head on the phone practically begged me to reapply, but I didn't see the point when one of the people who would have ultimately been in charge clearly didn't want me there (we knew each other privately). Why out yourself in a situation where you might end up second best again?

Either way, I find that when a school asks you to reapply (especially shortly after the interview) it's never a good sign.