I recently had an applicant for a deputy head position who decided not to take part in the traditional pre-interview school visit - before or after their application had been sent in - on the basis of advice that “someone” had given them. They’d also been advised not to contact the school at all before they were offered an interview. They followed these suggestions despite the fact that I had explicitly encouraged visiting in the job advert.

As you may have guessed, that candidate had received some very bad advice indeed.

The school visit when you are applying for a leadership role is a strange beast, but I believe that it is an important part of the process. At the most basic level, it puts your name into the minds of the people you hope will offer you a job and, perhaps more importantly, helps you to decide whether you want to work in that particular school.

It also enables the senior leader who shows you around to form initial impressions on suitability and acceptance by pupils and staff in a more relaxed situation than a high-pressure interview. Some defects in the application form may well be ignored if the applicant has made an effort to come and see what the school is all about.

Of course, it is possible to badly mess the visit up. In an effort to avoid that, I offer a very personal viewpoint on what you should be doing on a school visit and, if you are a senior leader, what you should be looking out for when showing somebody around.

Everybody is important

The school visit starts as soon as you walk in the door. Before reaching a senior manager, you will be viewed according to the strict criteria employed by the office staff. Treat them well - there are many instances of heads talking to receptionists and clerical staff after an applicant has departed only to be told how rude they were. If you can’t treat everyone in the building with the same respect, you will not be the one for the job.

Impress with prior knowledge

For any senior management role, it is likely to be the head who shows you around. So, even though you’re on a fact-finding mission, it’s a good idea to have done your research.

Ask relevant questions and make good points. Have a look at the school website and ask for a copy of the school improvement plan (and departmental improvement plans if applying for a principal teacher job). Read the most recent inspection report and maybe search out some old newspaper cuttings. You can then impress by asking for further details on priorities for attainment instead of acting surprised when told that the school lies in an area of multiple deprivation.

Sycophants need not apply

In certain circumstances, and by certain people, I may like to be told how much the school has advanced under my leadership (whether it’s true or not). Don’t use this as an opening gambit with a potential new boss, however - brown-nosing is not valued by a decent school leader.

Soak up the ethos

The visit is your chance to see if you fit in, so immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the school as you’re shown around. If you’re a strict disciplinarian and notice the school works on a more laissez-faire model of classroom management, with pupils running around the corridors, ask about the behaviour policy and judge whether you could work in such a system.

Look out for the subtle indicators, such as the number of children outside the classroom kicking their heels or on their mobile phones in the corridors. Listen for shouty teachers - never a good sign if, at the same moment, the head is busily extolling the success of their restorative practice programme to you.

Think twice about going back

It may be that you are now looking to return to a school as a senior manager. This could be a good idea but, equally, it could be a major disaster waiting to happen.

Walking around the school, you will probably bump into former colleagues. If they greet you, smiling, as a long-lost friend, and ask eagerly for a detailed description of where you’ve been for the past few years, the headteacher will not fail to be impressed. If your hellos are met with a grunt, a sneer or you are simply ignored, you probably do not elicit the fondest of memories.

Always focus on the pupils

Remember, even if the job is advertised as one for a number-crunching data-analysis guru, we’re all teachers: if we don’t love the children, we won’t get very far. At some point during the visit, make sure to mention how wonderful they all seem.

Watch your words

And finally, never, under any circumstances, finish with: “I really didn’t expect it to be like this at all” (as I have heard on more than one occasion). Remember that any horror stories and rumours of riots in the corridors and general abuse of staff never really happened or lie far in the past, and are exactly what the school has spent the past five years trying to get everyone to move away from.

John Rutter is head of Inverness High School. He tweets at @invernesshigh