The job hunt begins...

Wow it has been quite a while since I last spoke to you all! As soon as I began my PGCE I threw myself into it, so I haven't had a whole lot of time to blog.  I have kept a diary though so I can remember all of the events from the past 6 months.

I hope to talk through my experiences from my PGCE and hopefully answer any future trainee teachers questions in the process.  I remember reading loads of trainee and NQT blogs before I began the course, just to get an idea of what it would be like and how I might cope.  There are A LOT of negative posts out there, which will no doubt terrify you and put you off so don't believe everything you read, it's easy to over exaggerate when you are feeling stressed.

Whilst I'm not promising that I won't post anything negative, I do have a lot of positives to share with you and hopefully some tips on how to stay on top of paperwork and make the most of the experiences.

I will begin with where I am at the moment though, because it is a rather exciting time right now.  I am hunting for my first teaching job.  It is such a huge decision and I have promised myself that I will find one that is right for me.  I was given some advice to apply for everything and anything that comes up, and whilst I can see the benefit in that, as I'm sure you will get a better feel for the job from the interview.

I can see some flaws in this plan though, surely I want to make sure I am right for the school and the school is right for me.  I am therefore carefully selecting where I am applying to, I've found an incredible school and have applied today (my first application!) so I have my fingers, toes, everything crossed for this.

The application is a bit like a UCAS one, all of your details and then a personal statement, usually 2 pages long rather than to a set amount though.  It is so difficult to get everything down in that length but I found a brilliant way of easily writing one.

1. Take the personal specification which will come with the application and jot down all of the points in a word document.
2. From there use bullet points under each item and note down an example of where you have shown this attribute.
3. It's then much easier to make sure you cover all of the points in your statement.

I have yet to hear whether I will be getting an interview from my application so I will save the details of what I have put in mine for when I know it's a good personal statement!

If there's anything you wish to ask just leave a comment and I will be sure to answer them in future posts.