“What's right for you won’t pass you by.”
“To ‘fail’ is just a first attempt in learning.”
“Nothing worth having comes easily.”
Anyone who has been unsuccessful at interview has probably had these cliches thrown at them by kind and well-meaning friends and colleagues.
However trite, there is a truth in them, and the reality is that, given the number of applicants for a job, of course you can’t expect to be successful every time. Anyone starting out on their job-hunting journey should pack an extra thick skin to cope with the chance of rejection.
This is never more true than it is for a headship role. The interview for a headteacher position is far more involved than any other job interview in a school – and so it should be. The position that commands the most authority and money should involve a thorough interview process.
Sana is a headteacher in the Channel Islands who applied for four different headship positions, and was successful on her fourth attempt. Rather than finding the negatives in the rejections, Sana built her confidence and used her experiences to improve her interview technique.
Just relax
In her first interview, Sana found that her nerves were winning in the war of self-confidence; it doesn’t matter how many interviews you’ve conducted, actually being in the interviewee seat can disarm even the most self-assured candidate.
“As with so many aspects of our job, practice helps,” Sana explains. “You become more relaxed about the process when it isn’t the first time you’ve presented to a panel or taken headship questions. It is definitely less daunting once you’ve experienced it a couple of times.”
Listen to the feedback
After each interview, you will normally be offered feedback – and if not, then ask for it. Your perception of the interview might not match the reality, and even if you are told you missed out owing to a reason not connected to your interview performance, the feedback could still contain a useful insight that could help you next time.
Through the feedback Sana received, she was then able to adjust her approach in future interviews.
“One school gave really helpful feedback about needing to ‘show off’ more about achievements,” she says. “This meant that I could change my presentation, and the next time I found I wasn’t afraid to be more assertive about my thoughts for developing and improving the school.”
It’s not always about you
All rejection can feel personal; it is hard to not take the news that you weren’t the right person for the job as a slight upon your person. However, when it comes to appointing a headteacher, there are always bigger issues being considered.
“There are things that are beyond your control on the interview day,” says Sana. “It’s about the other candidates who are being interviewed and, also, who the school sees as the best fit for their organisation. These are things you have no control over.”
Sana advises that you should think about the interview day as a chance to see if the advertisement matches up to the reality.
An interview isn’t just about the school deciding if you are right for them but about you deciding if the school is right for you. “Don’t be afraid to walk away if you aren’t 100 per cent sure.”