Each evening when I come home from work I do apply for 2/3 jobs that are due. On a day off I try to get as many as possible done in the morning and leave my afternoon free to do something no job related. Today I may chocolate biscuit cake and tried as many different fillings as I could find (jelly tots are AMAZING in chocolate biscuit cake) and also spent over half an hour in the garda station getting documents certified - the garda will never want to see me anywhere near the station again.
There is a lot of confusion about what we should be doing when sending applications. At this stage I am going to highlight that this is purely my views, my opinions and is based on advice from principals, however each interview panel is different and may have different expectations. This in itself causes confusion.
When I read an advert I look to see what they have requested as part of their application. Each school has their own criteria and will want different things. The Standard Application Form (SAF) gives instructions on its first page to not include a letter of application, CV or any certificates, it includes spaces for Teaching Council registration details, teaching practice grades and all other information possibly required by a school yet a school can still ask for all these items - what should we be doing??
Personally I only send what the school asks for. If they ask for a letter of application I send it, if they don't I don't. I know of principals who will disregard an application without a second glance because they didn't follow instructions. There are other principals who wouldn't be bothered by this. When emailing applications I do send a short (2 line) cover note. I would also send this if a school was requesting teaching council registration as this is currently pending for me.
I'm curious about how others are finding the process and your opinions about it. Please leave a comment about how you interpret it. After all it is very much open to interpretation.
Happy job hunting!!
PS Congrats to all who have gotten their jobs secured for next year. Well done adnd please share your tips as well :D