Applying for Jobs in Ireland: What I’ve Learned

Securing a teaching job in Ireland is hard!

I’m now home in Ireland since the end of June and have applied for close to 40 jobs. I’m no closer (at this moment) to securing a job for the next academic year and that worries me! I’ve not lived in Ireland for 5 years now and essentially don’t “have my foot in the door” with any school. In this post, I would like to highlight the points I’ve picked up along the way in hope to make your application process smoother.

The competition is fierce

This is something I knew but naively thought my experience abroad had a good shot at! To put it into perspective for you, I spoke to my brother’s girlfriend (a current primary teacher in Ireland) about her experience with applying for jobs over the years. She told me that to make her application stand out, she made envelopes in the school colours with her business card (which she had made) attached to the front and personally delivered her application. Can you imagine how eye catching that would be in a sea of white envelopes?

To be fair, schools receive a large volume of applications for each post that they advertise. If they know a teacher from subbing in their school or from teaching practice, the chances are that they’ll take them on simply because they know how excellent they are as a teacher. This is something we cannot do anything about unfortunately. Who’s to blame the schools really? Knowing someone personally beats knowing someone through their application- hands down!

Finding out that a lot of the jobs advertised are already earmarked for internal candidates is difficult for the likes of me and many more in a similar predicament. But what can we do?

Don’t beat yourself up about it- not having a job doesn’t mean you’re not a good teacher. In actual fact, when you do get a job or a substitute contract, a school will see how amazing you are. This time next year, schools will know you as a teacher personally and then it’ll hopefully be your turn to be earmarked for these positions!
Send your CV to local schools, informing them that you’re available for subbing come September- if you’ve already applied for a job in the school and didn’t hear back, don’t re-send your application. This can be seen as canvassing! But do let them know you’re available for subbing! Who knows, they make review your application then? At the very worst, your name is out there for subbing!
Keep applying to posts that appear on education posts and staffroom.ie- it’s still early on in the summer. Put the same level of effort into each application and if you have the opportunity to deliver it personally, do it!

How I prepare for the interviews.

I was lucky enough to be called to three interviews in June. To prepare for these interviews, I used Niamh’s fantastic blog over on irishprimaryteacher.ie to look at common asked questions. But also made notes on the following topics myself.

About me and my experience.
Planning and preparation.
Behaviour management.
Subject Knowledge- with focus on the New Oral Language Curriculum.
Extra Curricular Activities.
Working as part of a team.
How to include all children in lessons.
My teaching philosophy/what I can bring to the school.

To prepare, I write notes on flash cards just to familiarize myself with what I want to say. Then lately, I’ve started to record myself answering the questions on my phone, so I can listen back the day before/day of the interview to make me feel even more prepared.

I’ve been told that a lot of the jobs advertised in June are already filled, so if you’re getting nowhere with your applications- don’t panic! I’m hopeful that I’ll get something come August and if not, I’ll be grateful to get subbing in September. Securing a teaching job in Ireland is hard! Especially when you still don’t have your Teaching Council Number…but that’s a topic for another day!

Best of luck and let me know how you get on with your application/interview.

Interested in attending my webinar on an insight into the Irish Language Requirement? See more information here: https://rahoo.ie/events/an-insight-into-the-irish-language-requirement/