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.

Time travel

Wow, it's been two months since I last logged on. It feels like I should say that it's felt as though the time has flown by, which it has. But looking back, it's impossible to see how.

An Update on Work, Money...and Loafing

It's been a little quiet here on my end. Mainly because the last few weeks have consisted of the same activities - working and loafing.

Too Little, Too Late

You can't help but flinch when reading today's headlines, no matter what walk of life you're from or what paper you happen to read. It was the day everyone was dreading. The Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne promised cuts and boy did he give them.

Pleasantly Surprised, Rant Averted

Today I was going to go into the subject of unemployment, one that always manages to get my hackles up. I've been unemployed twice since I gained my degree in 2008 - once for a spell of 5 months before my old employer Tesco finally took pity on me and offered me my old part-time job back, and again presently as I moved to Bourne after arriving back in the country. 

I was dreading that I'd be stuck without any hope of work for as long as I was back in 2008, which I'm sure anyone who has been in a similar situation in the past