By Lori Pereira
EDITION #12 – How do we celebrate success?
Published – 11th December 2019
At this point in the year, you may be securely employed for the following year. This may be in the same educational setting as this year or you may be preparing to make a move. If you have secured employment – congratulations!
However, you may also find yourself still unsure of what next year may hold. If you have been unable to secure employment, there a few things worth remembering.
Ask for feedback
Firstly, it can be helpful to understand what some of the barriers might have been to full time employment. If you have applied for a job in your current school and have been unsuccessful, seek a meeting with a member of the interview panel. Ask them to provide you with some feedback on your application and interview. Seek this opportunity with a genuinely open mind and look for opportunities for growth. If you have applied for a job in another school, it is still appropriate to call and ask for some feedback regarding your application and interview. It may be
as simple as another candidate being more experienced but there may also be some feedback specific to you that can help you in the future.
Keep looking!
Secondly, there are still plenty of opportunities for employment. Over the summer holidays you can expect to still see jobs advertised for the coming year so make sure you continue to monitor these and apply. In the meantime, ensure you have your resume prepared and are seeking contact with schools for short term and casual relief employment. Also consider whether you can widen your employment opportunities – there may be schools that you had not considered that you may now need to consider. Look into opportunities that may require further travel or even a move to a regional or rural setting. Sometimes you have to be prepared to take risks!
Continue building your skills
Finally, if you have identified any areas in your experience that you think are holding you back from employment, consider how you might develop these areas. There may be some professional learning opportunities, books to read or volunteer work to undertake in order to build up knowledge and skills that might be missing. This is an opportunity to build resilience, rely on your support networks and view your situation creatively.