Should I ask for feedback

[WerkHorse]

I applied for a non teaching position in a school 2 months ago but did not get an interview (no rejection email but the position was to start this school year so assuming it's been filled) It was the first job I had applied for in over 10 years and found the whole process really daunting.

I would like some constructive feedback as to why I wasn't selected for interview as this may help me when applying for similar roles (e.g not enough experience/X Y Z skills missing/CV a shit show etc) but is this a pointless exercise at this level? Had I have had an interview and been rejected then I would definitely ask for feedback but this situation is quite different.

Any advice welcome.

I don't think you will get any help that way. Have you tried using the TES website? When I was going back into teaching some members were really helpful, going through my letter and giving constructive criticism.

You can ask but I think given they couldn't be bothered to send you a rejection email I'd be surprised if they offered you anything meaningful (perhaps at most something like 'other candidates met the criteria better' which wouldn't really help you much). I recruit fairly often for admin/entry level type positions (not in schools, but I imagine its similar) and we get anywhere from 50-200 applications per position, it simply isn't possible to offer meaningful feedback to each one - we do always send a polite rejection email though as I think it's simply really rude not to!

Try not to be disheartened, it was only your first go, I have had a fairly long professional career moving jobs quite a lot for various reasons, and have always found that I very rarely even get shortlisted for all the jobs I apply for, never mind actually get offered them. This isn't a sign of personal failure, in fact I think it's a really good thing to sometimes apply for jobs which are a bit of a stretch, where you may not be the best candidate on paper, or where you may not exactly tick all the boxes, you can often get the most interesting opportunities that way, but you have to go through a fair bit of rejection too and not take it personally.

There are lots of resources online you can look at on how to write a CV, how to do an application form or supporting statement so you can continue to refine your applications. But mainly I would say don't get caught up in a quest for perfection, just keep going and apply for as many things as possible, as much as anything getting into the swing of it will help you - if you are then consistently seeing that the jobs you apply for want X qualification or Y experience that you don't have, you can look at getting that (through voluntary work or online learning or whatever if needed) - but don't get too hung up on any individual job (which I know is easier said than done!)...

Are you in employment now or do you have a ten year gap in your work history? If it’s the latter perhaps some voluntary work or a short college course would be useful.

Don’t give up, you will get something

Thank you all so much for your very helpful replies, your post in particular maxelly - I think you are right. It was a good exercise to dust off my CV and update it (hated doing it tbh as feel completely irrelevant).

This was a gold dust job for mums - term time, part time in a really lovely school. I can only imagine that they got hundreds of applicants.

I've been SAHM for the last 10 years but do have lots of volunteer work under my belt. I think it's going to be a numbers game.

Thanks again.