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Firstly, the rating for my report was satisfactory with elements of good, not what I was hoping for. A lot of jobs seem to be asking for good/excellent, but I haven't really had any longer term supply work to show that I can improve this. How do I handle that? I've been told the schools I've worked for are happy with me, but I've not had anything more concrete than that from the agency - eg, that I made a good impression, I worked well with the classes etc.
Secondly, is it worth asking for feedback from schools about applications where I don't get shortlisted? Or are there just so many people applying that they won't remember details?
Q1 I think that the way that you handle this is by being vague! Don't mention it unless you are forced to, and if so, then you talk about being a reflective practitioner, working on further raisng the standard of your teaching so that you can do the very best by your pupils. Which I assume is true!
Don't worry - people don't expect NQTs to be perfect right from the start.
Q2 Ask away - but they may just brush you off with "We had over 200 applicants, and there were others who met our criteria more closely". Doing a good Executive summary will, of course, help you show that you meett he criteria.
Sometimes the sheer weight of numbers just overwhelmd even a really very good application.
If you are still a relative novice at job hunting, then read this thread:
Application
It gives you the outline for job hunting successfully. You could Bump it after reading it.
N.B. I shall not visit this thread again to answer a new question, so you will need to start a new one with any further questions. This makes sure that other posters know exactly what the questions are that are answered inside the thread.
And if you want me to answer, then put Dear Theo in the title again!
Thanks!
Best wishes
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TheoGriff. Member of the TES Careers Advice Service.
For the full TES Weekend Workshop programme please visit www.tes.co.uk/careerseminars or contact advice@tes.co.uk for one-to-one sessions.
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