The Long Haul

A good fortnight ago now I endured what was quite possibly the most tense, nail-shredding interview in my short little life. As I may have mentioned, I have been looking at routes into teaching for some time, as well as doing some voluntary work experience at a nearby school. The work experience has been incredibly useful - for showing me what the job really entails, how hard and stressful it can be and also how rewarding it is to see your pupils learning and developing. Work experience is also a little extra padding to fluff up the CV, always useful in a crowded job market i.e. the rest of my working life. Anyway, I took my experience (still rather fledgling at this time) and applied for the GTP (Graduate Teacher Programme) at a centre called Education Management Direct in Grantham, Lincolnshire. The GTP differs from the standard PGCE as a training course in many ways, the fundamental difference being that you are in the employ of a particular school and you earn a wage as you train for your qualification there.

I was pleased to see that I had made it through the first hoop and was invited to an interview at EM Direct's Grantham headquarters. The interview itself was mentioned rather sketchily in the letter from the organisation so I really wasn't all too sure of how it was going to play out, but it was certainly as difficult as I was anticipating. More so, even. Anybody interested in applying for the GTP might be interested in reading how my interview unfolded.