I gained my PGCE in June 2011 and still haven’t got a job to start my induction. I have always dreamed of being a primary teacher, but it now looks as though I can say goodbye to teaching as a career.

When I read this sort of thing, I feel very sad and very angry. Sad that you have been disappointed so far in your search for a start to your career. And angry with the universities and colleges that took on so many students for the BEd and PGCE when there was less money available to employ teachers in schools.

But there is good news. Over the past few years more babies have been born and this bulge is now reaching reception age. So there will be an increased need for primary teachers in the coming years.

The second positive is that as you are not currently employed, you are available immediately for any job that comes up at short notice, owing to maternity leave, perhaps, or after the 31 October resignation deadline.

Ensure that you know of all vacancies. Monitor the employment section of your local authority website and set up a job alert on the TES website. (Click the “Help” button in the top right-hand corner of the home page, scroll down and you will find “Creating and editing a job alert”. This will send you a text or an email when jobs are advertised that fit your requirements.)

Then ensure that you are submitting the best possible application for each job. Write an application that shows how you meet the needs of that particular school, not just a general letter that you send out for every job going.

And finally, keep in touch with what’s going on in education and schools. Read TES from cover to cover each week; you never know when something you read there will be just what you need in an interview. Contact your local school and offer to work as a volunteer, and make sure you use it as a learning experience.

Don’t give up hope. Teaching is the best job in the world; it’s worth the wait.

Meet Theodora Griff online on the TES Jobseekers forum or in person at a TES Careers Advice Service seminar or individual consultation. bit.lyuWhqN2