How to find your first teaching job

If you started your postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE) in 2014, now is the time to think about finding your first teaching job.

Many local authorities operate a newly qualified teacher (NQT) pool, and applications must be received by February or March for positions that begin in September. Direct advertisements by schools on sites such as Guardian Jobs and TES connect reach a peak between March and May.

The biggest issue for new teachers is finding a class that fits. Lindsey Woodford, head teacher at St. Saviour’s Church of England primary school in Westminster, says an NQT is always a “risky component”. It’s therefore vital that the candidate has done their research, and selected a school that chimes with their personal ethos.

“Be honest with yourself,” says Woodford, and think about whether you would prefer a religious environment or a community school. Interviewers will usually know if you are waffling about why you chose their institution.

With the rise in pupil numbers, and the expansion of primary schools seeing new teachers take three or four classes a year, the NQT job market is unlike the rest of the fierce postgraduate employment scene. PGCE student Natalie Boult was surprised to find herself offered the first job she interviewed for, later that day. So choose your year-group wisely, and consider whether that commute is something you can handle every day.

Use the application process to help yourself. Your personal statement should explain, with concrete examples, how you meet the advertised specifications. You should avoid going into pedagogical theory, and should only write it after you have visited the school. The visit, Woodford suggests, is the perfect time to get beyond the website and the Ofsted report. Find out whether you ​feel welcome in the building, and find things to ask questions about in interview​.

Schools will want to see you teach a lesson, but you will only have a brief period in which to shine. “Keep it snappy, and don’t wait too long to get the day started,” Woodford ​says. “Make sure that the school has the usual resources you want to use (including the interactive whiteboard that you’re familiar with), but also don’t be afraid to be creative.

“One candidate came in to the lesson wearing a supermarket uniform and told the children they had to come up with a way to decorate digestive biscuits. ​They wanted to make the activity more interesting without costing too much,” Woodford ​says. They got the job.

The interview gives you a chance to talk about how you ​taught the lesson, your behaviour management, and how you might teach the session again given your new knowledge of the children. There is always some pressure to demonstrate learning and to evidence progress, but for Woodford, the most telling aspect of a successful candidate’s performance is their ability to build rapport: “Children will either warm to a new teacher or they won’t,” she says.

The interview also offers the school an opportunity to explain how they mentor NQTs so that they can successfully complete their induction. Some focus on rapid promotion, others on more pastoral themes, and you are perfectly entitled to ask about the broader support you may get.

Zoe Wardle has just started her first teaching job. Although she was offered work after two of her PGCE placements, she chose to return to the school where she had been a teaching assistant.

“I​t’s important to ​know that ​you will have support from colleagues at the school you go to. It’s not easy being an NQT and you need to be able to ask as many questions as you can and know you have people there who will support you at all times.”

Supply teaching is another way to find out which schools will be right for you. Natalie Moran, senior education consultant at supply teaching agency World Class Teachers, says: “It can be a fantastic way for a teacher to broaden their knowledge and to really get a feel for what a school is about – before jumping in at the deep end and blindly accepting a job.”

Supply placements can enhance what Moran calls your “teaching armour” and provide a potential platform for an offer of permanent work. They also give you the chance to try out a school that Ofsted doesn’t rate as “good” or “outstanding”. Some of these can be ​rewarding environments​in which to grow as a teacher. ​However you may prefer the calmer environment that comes with a recent successful inspection.

Your NQT job will probably not be for life. ​However the search for the right position can teach you a lot about where you will be most at home professionally​.

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