Career-move case study: the PGCE student
Teacher: Harriet Clark, English PGCE student and trainee teacher in Salisbury 

Harriet Clark is coming to the end of her PGCE, and is preparing to start her NQT year.

Just before lockdown, she secured a job as a classroom teacher and is now getting ready for her new role.

However, the situation she finds herself in is a little complicated: all PGCE student placements have been put on hold, and although Clark’s QTS status has now been confirmed, she still doesn’t know whether schools will be reopened by the time she begins her first school term in September.

Here, she tells Tes about the process of securing a job in the run-up to school closures, and explains how she is preparing to start work as a qualified teacher in these uncertain times.

Looking for classroom roles

When Clark was job hunting, the first thing she did was to narrow her search down by geographical location. From there, the next criterion to tick was whether the school’s ethos was in line with her own.

“If I saw a job that interested me, I would do some more research into it to try to find out a bit more about the school,” says Clark. “[I would ask myself] did it look like the sort of school I wanted to work at?”

Clark reached her conclusions by studying school websites and seeking out the opinions of her colleagues. “I would ask around my department and see if anyone knew the school or what it was like,” she says.

Preparing for the NQT interview

Once Clark had an interview lined up, it was time to carry out some more in-depth research into her potential new school.

The current lockdown is preventing prospective candidates from doing pre-interview school visits, but unlike the job hunters of just a few years ago, teachers today can find a wealth of information online without having to leave their sofas.

In her search to find out as much as she could about the school, Clark came across some talking points that would help her to demonstrate her subject knowledge at interview.

“I looked online at [the school’s] curriculum plans to see what texts their students studied so I would be able to talk about this in the interview,” she says.

Interviewing for a NQT role

Interview nerves are to be expected for teachers at any stage of their career, but for a teacher who has only just finished their training, the first school interview can seem like a daunting task.

For Clark, the anticipation was much worse than the interview itself. “I found I was more nervous before the tasks than I was during them, and actually doing them felt OK,” she says.

Fortunately, once Clark overcame her nerves, she found the interview to be a positive experience. “I did actually enjoy it; it was nerve racking, but it was fun,” she says.

A bright new start

But what does the future hold for Clark, now that she has secured her role? After all, we don’t have any firm date for the reopening of schools, and nor do we know what reopening will look like. With the whole country in lockdown, any teacher would be forgiven for feeling a little downhearted about the new school year.

Clark is coping with the situation by trying to focus on the positives. Instead of thinking about all the uncertainty, she’s concentrating on the things she does know.

“I’m most excited to just get to know the teachers and staff, to integrate into the school community. On placements, that was definitely what I enjoyed the most. I’m looking forward to getting involved,” she says.

Advice for job hunters

However, while Clark has been lucky enough to have secured her first job, she recognises that there are plenty of other PGCE students still looking - and feeling nervous about the prospect of a new school year starting before they manage to find a position.

Pressure from peers is one thing that can exacerbate those feelings, Clark says.  

“When I was applying for jobs, everyone was applying for jobs, so that was quite scary,” she explains. 

Her advice to PGCE job hunters struggling with this is to try to put the success of others out of your mind. Instead, she suggests, focus on yourself and hold out for the right position, rather than feeling pressured to accept a role that might not be the best fit. 

“Don’t worry; don’t panic,” Clark says. “Apply for jobs where you really want to work at that school, where you think you will fit the school, otherwise you’ll end up somewhere you don’t want to be.”