Recruiting

There's still time to apply for the chem tech job but we've had a few applicants already.


Earlier this week my HoD said that he'd like me to be involved in the selection process. I guess normally the chemistry HoD would be in charge of this, but he's leaving us at Christmas so it's mostly fallen to my HoD, since he's overall head of science as well as physics. It certainly makes sense for both me and bio tech to at least meet the candidates, since although we don't work very closely we do need to coordinate resources etc at times, but I did point out that generally helping to draw up the shortlist and even maybe being in the interviews is really more of a senior technician thing, 'and I'm not senior technician'. 'Ah, but you will be' was the answer to that one, so he obviously hasn't forgotten the carrot HR dangled under my nose last term when I was thinking of leaving.


This morning he passed me a bunch of application forms to look at. One out of the five is already working as a technician, but all of them have strong science backgrounds. I kind of have a favourite, but that's only on paper. Looking forward to meeting them in the flesh once we set an interview date.

Chemistry vacancy

The rumours turned out to be true, and chem tech is definitely leaving us. The advert for his job has gone live on the school website today along with the job description so fingers crossed we get lots of lovely applicants.


I know I grumble a lot about work, but this is a good place to be most of the time, so don't let me put you off applying!

Job Application

I applied for a job last week. I've no idea if I actually want it or not, but at the moment I seem to be at a bit of a career crossroads. If I stay where I am then the only way to get any sort of career progression (and hence more money!) is to head down the teaching route - initially as a TA alongside my technician job and then ultimately perhaps going for QTS and moving into teaching full time or working as some weird teacher/technician hybrid. I'm still very unsure as to whether teaching is the right path for me, so my only other option is to look elsewhere for a Senior Technician post.


The job I applied for is one I normally would have ignored. The advert is for a general technician, said 'full or part time' and there was no indication of salary or working hours given which generally suggests to me that it probably wouldn't be worth my while. However, I happen to have a bit of background information on this one.


You see, my best friend is the Head of Biology at this particular school and is very keen for me to apply. At the moment they have a full time technician and a part time assistant. The full timer is now retiring and it looks as though they are waiting to see what sort of applicants they get before deciding whether the part timer gets more hours or whether they appoint a new full time technician. I also happen to know that as of 24 hours before the job closed, they had no applicants at all (mine was a bit late!).


In theory this could put me in a strong position. I've got lots of experience and I know that physics specialists tend to be a bit of a rarity. If I get an interview, and like what I see, I could try to push for a better salary and see what happens. Even if I decide I don't fancy it, or they aren't offering a good enough deal, the fact that I've applied for something else might give my HoD the kick up the backside he needs to get on to HR and sort out my contract and start the process of deciding what my TA salary should be. Could be onto a win-win here!

A fond farewell

We said goodbye to our PGCE student today.
It's been really nice having a physicist. They're usually biologists.

He's coming back at the end of the week to interview for our vacant teaching position though, so hopefully we've not seen the last of him.

Job Vacancy

My colleague in biology is retiring at the end of term, so we're now looking for a replacement.

The ad went in the paper the other day, and all the info is on the college website HERE. If you're an experienced biology tech we'd love to hear from you.