The whoas of interviews!

As I’m lounging about in the garden for the fourth day of the first week of the holidays my mind starts to wonder, as it does. Spending the summer back home with everyone has been lovely so far. But, I can’t help contemplate the whoas of interviews past and what is likely to come next!

I have that slight uneasy feeling with my stomach dropping when I overthink! I am mindful of the fact that it will rapidly be approaching the end of Summer before I know it. And I still don’t have a definite plan for the new academic year.

Leaving it late to find something, I know! For some reason, I am quite laid back with these things! Many of the people I know of starting new jobs had found their new positions months earlier!

In some ways, it doesn’t really bother me. I have some savings. I could do a bit of travelling for a couple of months until something comes up.

However, one thing is for sure! I have no intention of finding a full-time, permanent position, or part-time for that matter, in the UK!

And I’m not overly worried about ‘taking the plunge’ or starting over again someplace new. Not now I’ve been there and done it. I know more of what to expect in a way. I don’t feel as nervous as I did the first time around when I moved to Spain. Ok, there is still that unnerving feeling and the uncertainty of the unknown. But then at the same time, it is the start of a new adventure. Experiencing something different to what you know and what you’re used to is so exciting!

Fortunately, as I check the different job sites there are still plenty of schools seeking English primary teachers. There are various positions in virtually every corner of the globe. The world is literally my oyster! I’ve had a long time to think about where I might like to go and explore next.

In fact, I’ve even narrowed it down to a select few places, which I have been researching a little on and off the past few months; Thailand, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden and Dubai.

Germany, Sweden and The Netherlands are countries that I have enjoyed visiting in the past and would very much like to again. Plus, they are situated perfectly for other travel opportunities and not too far for a trip home.

Thailand has just always been one of those ‘must-go to places!’ I’ve heard some great travel stories from others. Read some really interesting blog posts from people who love teaching there and seen some truly breath taking photos. But, on reflection, I think I’d like to holiday there first before deciding on taking on the challenge of moving there!

Then there’s Dubai. Another destination that is a hot spot for British teachers. After talking with a friend I grew up with and a colleague who also moved out there to teach with his partner and young family, I can see why.

I begin trawling through all the relevant job sites once more with a slight glimmer of hope each time that something interesting will pop up! And to be fair, there have been one or two interesting job adverts. Some that state that you must be available for an ‘immediate start.’ I’m always a bit wary of these such adverts. For one thing, why would a school leave it so late to fill a post? It’s pretty much Summer or the last few days of the current school year. Depending on where you are in the world of course.

In my opinion, (for what it’s worth!) management is either extremely disorganised (and yes, I have known senior management teams to be like this!). Or, they’ve had someone let them down at the last minute (something I’ve heard of in various international schools, including a certain one I worked at!). So, my immediate thoughts are, why have they been left in the lurch? What made that teacher suddenly do a runner? If that’s what they did!

I find myself just skimming past these immediate start positions. I do find them rather suspicious! And this is only my second stint teaching abroad so I am going to be cautious.

So, I keep trawling through this particular site. I come across two more adverts that look a little more promising. Both are for the same country, but different cities. One that I’d love to work in slightly more than the other. But both equally interesting positions that match my experience and skills! 

I click on the job adverts to see how they want you to apply. A lot of schools have an application form they want you to fill out, which is similar to the British process. I find this a pain though, it’s so time consuming. I prefer the old CV way! It’s all there in a nutshell. The next job ad wants just that along with a letter of motivation. This I am happy with. It doesn’t take me half the time it does to fill out all the boxes on the application form. Even if a lot of it I just copy and paste over; my qualifications, work history etc.

So, having researched each school thoroughly and completed my application and letters accordingly I click save. I leave it till the morning to check over it before sending it.

A few days go by. I’m not expecting a response for a little while. Of course, these things take time. Which is what I tell myself every time I check my phone over the next few days and weeks even.

Then, finally, I receive the ping I’ve been waiting for! One of the schools I applied for has offered me an interview for a position starting in September!

My stomach is in knots. And when it’s not in knots it’s a mixture of knots and butterflies! And that’s when it’s not clenching or dropping like a stone suddenly! But I’m sure everything will be fine. If I can just get over my fear of the whole interview process and having to talk about and sell myself. I hate having to do either at any time! 

I made sure that I gave myself plenty of time before the interview time. I wanted to use that time to make sure the internet and Skype were all working properly. As well as go over some of the things I’d been researching a few days beforehand about the school.

Also, some possible answers to some possible questions they might ask! I think that’s one of the things about interviews that makes me so nervous. You have an idea in a way, but you don’t really know what they’re going to ask you.

So everything is checked and ready to go! I quickly send the school a message on Skype, requested in an email that morning. Understandably, to make sure that I’m still attending.

Still a few minutes to go and I’m having to find little things to do to keep myself busy.

It’s hot open windows, but there are some loud distracting noises outside.

Check hair in the mirror for those straggly bits that seem to stick up.

Check the clock, still another 10 minutes to go.

Make sure phone is on silent.

Apply a bit of foundation.

Make sure I’ve been to the toilet.

Check hair once more!

All little and somewhat unnecessary tasks completed with sweaty palms, stomach clenching/butterflies and at points shaking hands! I sit at the table hoping that I can direct the curser over the accept call button as my fingertips are all also quite sweaty with nerves by this point! Only a couple of minutes longer to wait and I’ve got to the stage where I just want this to be done and over with!

The laptop starts ringing with that bubbling sound Skype makes. I take a deep breath and click the accept call button. There is a man and a woman sitting at a desk in an office. The primary head and the director of the school. So pretty standard so far.

Only, they’re not on video call as you would expect. It’s a photo of the director. Who’s pulling a strange kind of pouting, in concentration mode, glasses hunched up on nose face. She’s screwing her nose up glaring at the screen. Obviously tried taking a photo two seconds before clicking the call button.

And the other one, the primary head. Well, I could only see about an inch of the side of his head and ear. Already, this is feeling quite odd!

I know it’s a video call, but it’s still a professional conversation we’re meant to be having! The primary head elaborates on this by explaining that he couldn’t get in front of the camera in time for the photo because the director’s bag was in the way of the chair. Therefore preventing him from getting into shot! Weird!!

And despite this fact, the director immediately points out that she can’t see me. She explains that they need to be able to see me talking to them on screen! I realise I haven’t pressed the video button to on! Something that is very quickly rectified.

So, they expected to see me in interview mode, but I had to contend with paper shuffling and scrunched up, concentration-pouting photo face and side ear through the whole process!

The director goes on to explain that this is very late in the recruitment season. Something I was very aware of when I applied. It could have been for numerous reasons, like numbers. It did state on their website that the school is growing in size rapidly. But the director didn’t elaborate on this. She didn’t necessarily have to, but her explanation was a little cagy! ‘It’s very late into the recruitment season, and we’ve just got this position. It’s just become available recently.’

It was all rather abrupt, straight to the point and let’s move on from this! Which I found rather odd and suspicious.

So, already from the first 20 seconds, I had a really uneasy feeling about all of this! But if anything, I’d already told myself that if this doesn’t go well its interview practice that I desperately need!

My nerves had already started getting the better of me! As the director asked the first question. I wasn’t giving myself a second to think and I was talking at a million miles per hour! I just wanted to get the answer out and move onto the next one! I’ve also noticed, that when I get nervous I not only talk at million miles an hour, I also talk with my hands as well!

So these two interviewers probably had a continuous wave of my hands around and across the screen. At one point I noticed what I was doing and tried to keep my hands on the table either side of the laptop, but this only made my sweaty palms and the fronts of my elbows even sweatier – yuck!!

The director asks me a question. Which I answer in a terribly rushed, nervous fashion! Then moves on to ask another question, only to ask me the same one! I automatically think she wants me to go into a bit more detail on my previous point. But the head jumps in with, ‘You’ve already asked that and got an answer.  Ask the next one!’

I’m still only seeing this photo of the pouting in concentration mode face director as the paper shuffling commences again and they begin chuckling amongst themselves! They apologise and explain that they’re not normally like this. That they’re usually more organised and on task.

The head lets out a sigh as he goes on to explain that it’s been a long day for them and that it’s not over yet. They have a year 6 meeting after my interview. I just thought, ok. You’re in the middle of interviewing a potential candidate to come and work with you in a couple of months’ time. And you’re having a little groan about your workload, and the long hours! Yep, you’re really selling it to me at this point, I can’t wait to book my flight!

The interview continues and I’m asked the usual standard questions about behaviour management, the curriculum etc. But because I’ve let my nerves get the better of me I answer very quickly and don’t elaborate on my answers. Nor do the head or director ask me to!

Having thought about this after the interview, when I’d calmed myself down a bit and come back to normal. The question of behaviour and what behaviour management strategies I use felt as though they were focusing more on sanctions rather than positive behaviour management.

I’d also have liked to have been asked to elaborate more on this and to have gone on to how as a teacher I acknowledge and celebrate children’s achievements in the classroom and the school as a whole. It felt more like they were saying, ‘well you need really strong behaviour management skills to work here.’

As the interview started to draw to a close, the director explained that they would expect me to be ready to start straight away the last week of August. To get my classroom ready. And that I would have to have all my paperwork checked, cleared and have my accommodation sorted before starting.

She was very stern in her explanation of this. That I would have to be organised and ready to hit the ground running for that date, as she put it! This would mean cutting my holiday short if I was successful. But I knew I would have to before I applied when checking the school calendar.

It also meant I would have less than a month to get all of my qualifications checked with the appropriate authorities as well as the school office, find somewhere to live and tie up some of the loose ends in England before I went! Apart from the checking qualifications part, this could have possibly been achieved. But would have been a whirlwind of a month, as well as extremely stressful!

We get to the end of the interview. They explain that they need some time to consider all the candidates they’ve been interviewing. But that I’d hear from them at some point. Pretty standard procedure.

However, I don’t expect to get through to the next part of the process. That had to be one of the worst interviews I’ve been through! I’m sure I repeated myself several times. But they probably needed me to so they could catch what I was saying. I was talking that fast! I’d let my nerves get the better of me and so wasn’t very happy with my responses.

When the conversation had finished I made a point of looking at the time. Just to see how long the whole process had taken. Roughly 30 minutes.

This helped me to realise that from the end of the call to an email pinging up on my phone with ‘congratulations, we want to fly you over to continue the interview process’ had taken precisely 6 minutes! Meaning, an observed lesson and a panel interview with other members of senior management before making their final decision.

But, that Skype interview was absolutely terrible!! Perhaps they were focusing more on my CV and experience. If they did observe my teaching the proof would be in the pudding so to speak! And I would have believed this theory if the head hadn’t let it slip that they hadn’t had very many people apply for the position!

Before replying to the email I had a think about the whole process some more. I just generally had a bad feeling about the whole thing. I spoke to my sister, who’s turned up nose said it all before telling me that she wouldn’t do it. That I should wait until I do find something that seems more worthwhile and not so rushed!

The most awkward thing about the whole process was the fact that when you’re talking you need to make eye contact – or at least I do! Or to have something to focus on at least. And as all I had was a side of a head/ear and a pouting in concentration mode face, I found myself focusing on pouting in concentration mode face. This was kind of ok, as it meant I was at least looking into the camera and talking to the interviewers. But as it was a photo, and I was pretty much overcome by nerves. I soon forgot that I was on live video at one point!

Then realising somewhat towards the end that I’d rolled my eyes on various occasions and even mouthed ‘oh shit’ to myself when getting all tongue-tied and thinking, ‘god! What must they think of that!’

But then, they were probably too busy trying to catch what I was saying when I was talking at million miles an hour. That and my facial expressions being hidden by my talking hands waving all over the screen!

In the end, I decided that the whole process just wasn’t right and didn’t feel right. So I went with my gut instinct and decided not to continue with the process on this occasion.

Although, I was still interested and keen to live and work in that particular country. And possibly that city. That particular school just wasn’t for me. So, for now, it’s back to the drawing board.