Finding a teaching job in London - iday

So my move to teaching in London was in part fuelled by the ease of using a recruitment company. The one I went with is called Engage Education. I remembered speaking to them at a Beginning and Pre-service Teachers conference organised by the Science Teacher's Association of Queensland (STAQ) (who I am currently a member of the Executive Council for).

They have a program where they are able to send a handful of Australian teachers over to the UK for iday (I will be one of 7 - not sure if it was 7 this trip or 7 in total since they started including Aussies). You go and interview in person with schools who the recruiters believe match up with you, a day of curriculum PD, and the chance to go and visit some of the schools you like and possibly even teach in their classrooms. By the end of the week you sign a contract, and that's that! You come back to Aus with a job and a mentor at the school you will be teaching in. This program is obviously quite appealing - the best part of iday is that the only things you need to pay for are some meals and possibly the hotel wifi. Yes, they pay for your flights, accomm and transport so that you can find the best possible job available at the time.

To be a part of this program I had to complete a few application forms and do a recorded Skype interview. This info then gets sent over to the UK branch, who decide if you're worthy of being selected for the next iday. Apparently part of the reason I was attractive to them is because I am a science teacher, not a PE + science teacher. Science is my first teaching area, and it is apparently quite rare for them to have interest from people like me.

For me, this whole process will be happening this week. I fly out on Friday, and will be taking part in 6-8 interviews on Monday. This will be my first trip over to the UK, so the whole thing is terribly exciting!

I will post updates of what happens while I'm there (or when I get back), so stay tuned!

STAQ - http://www.staq.qld.edu.au/
Engage Education - http://www.engageeducation.co.uk/