Over time, questions for which he was ill-prepared had resulted in this conditional reflex. Prep school, King Charles II Boys, then Oxford, and finally the merchant bank in the city; every phase of his life seemed to him to have been one long Pavlov experiment aimed at damaging his mouth.

Why is the square root of two irrational? Why are the Halogens so alike and yet so different? Why had he poured millions of pounds of investor’s money into risky derivatives?At least he could afford the lip cream. The £80k bonuses meant that he was financially secure for the moment, and the Mercedes hadn’t depreciated as much as his stocks, so he could always downsize to an Audi.

Idle hands, the devil’s work he had thought, so he looked for new employment in insurance and in high street banks, but the crisis had hit hard.

A friend mentioned teaching. New six-month courses for talented individuals who were interested, fast-tracked upwards in the system. He felt he had all the skills that a new recruit needed. The 2.1 (tick), an ability to make spreadsheets and flowcharts (tick), experience outside school in the real world of international investment funds (tick), occasional babysitting for the nephews on weekend leave from St. Agatha’s (tick) – all present and correct. No need for him to waste a whole year with mumbo jumbo pseudo-psychology, learning about the latest education methodologies.

The interview had been going so well, until that thin faced woman with the glasses had asked him “Why is it that boys, who used to lag behind girls in maturity and academic development before closing the gap around year 9, now seem no longer able to? What changes in teaching style do you think could positively benefit them, whilst still maintaining the interest of girls?

Quentin St. John Warder bit his lip.

Recently you may have read in our weekly newsletter or seen on our website that we’ve teamed up with Alpha Plus to support them in their recruitment. Their motto is ‘the gold standard in education’ and they strive for the very best standards across all their schools.

Recently, whilst at one of their meetings , the discussion turned to how to recruit a good Deputy Head and whether Psychometric tests should be used in education the same way they are in business? Are psychometric tests relevant for managerial roles within schools or can Heads and Governors spot a good candidate anyway? Is the best Deputy for a school one who is similar to the Heads in their aspirations and personality or should they be different so that the school have different management styles to offer their staff?

From my experience a good Deputy has to be one that can act as the ‘jam in the sandwich’. This is one of the hardest roles in a school. You have to straddle both the Senior Management Team and the rest of the staff with ease. Your role is to make the staff understand why they have to undertake the things they are asked to do and keep them gelled together. Even when you disagree with what the senior management team decide you must not let your personal opinions get in the way and you have to deliver. For this reason alone I think a Deputy and a Head have to think in the same way and have the same goals for a school. Otherwise it is a ‘marriage that will end in divorce!’

Tell me what you think makes a good Deputy? What are the highs of the post? Should schools use Psychometric tests to help select staff?

There is a culture of job browsing in teaching. Teachers are passive job seekers most of the time, merely browsing to see what’s out there.

Whether you’re happy in your job or you’re looking to move on, it’s important to keep your options open and to progress.

When we launched Eteach we changed the whole behaviour of teacher job seekers ….Until then everyone waited until Friday to see what jobs were available the whole sector was held to ransom by newspaper deadlines and extortionate advertising rates. Now we all benefit from jobs on demand at any time of day making job seeking and advertising more accessible.These days its made ever more easy because by setting up your searches and job alerts you dont even have to go to a website or buy a newspaper the jobs come to your inbox via email. Most good recruitment websites provide jobs and career advice tools to support your development at any stage of your career. Most importantly like Eteach, they’ve probably established strong partnerships with a number of schools and authorities who load their jobs when they like and the site updates them immediately.

Some simple things you might want to do are visit Eteach register FREE online and upload your most recent CV, subscribe to personalised job alerts, newsletters and newsfeeds, career advice- keep yourself in the loop, you never know what’s out there.

You could say we ‘ve changed the landscape forever and we will continue to do so when it benefits teachers and schools………………………….

Hi, I’m Peter and I’m the Commercial Director for Eteach. I’ll introduce myself at a later stage. I know this is a popular time when a number of us are looking for a new job. There are a number of ways how we find that perfect role. Have you ever thought using social networks online when looking for a job in education?

Here are my tip top tips on job hunting from Eteach through the “social network way.”

- Social networking continues to increasingly becoming the preferred tool for recruitment. If you’re on a social network platform like Facebook, market yourself online, promote your profile and make your career history visible for everyone to see. Why not join our Eteach Facebook Group? Alternatively, Eteach have a Facebook Application to find jobs, so you’ll never need to leave the site!

-You can never have too many friends…LinkedIn is probably one of the most popular social networks for recruiters. Get your profile online and let recruiters come to you. Or why not get in contact with them directly. Any forward thinking educational recruitment agency is bound to have an online social media platform where they can be found easily

- Get involved in the debate- there are a number of well-known blogs, forums and news opinions in the world of education. Your opinion is a pro-active way of demonstrating your views in the education sector. It may also become part of the interview process. Why not start debating on our Eteach blog. Or why not provide advice to your fellow teachers online

- Socialise online and build relationships with people who have similar interests- these are not always necessarily people who work in education. Again, social networks are a great way of networking with fellow peers. You immediately become part of a passive pool of candidates. You could be closer to finding your perfect role in teaching than you thought

-Think outside the box. Don’t be scared to try new ways of finding a job online. Social Networks have been around forever. They are simple tools for anyone and everyone to use… so go on and take advantage of them. Take a look at how fellow educational gurus promote themselves online…it’s now becoming the norm

-Social media platforms allow you to promote yourself on a global and local level. If you didn’t know, Eteach have job vacancies in the UK and Internationally

-Most importantly be honest when self-promoting yourself. Increasing your prospects is key in the world of teaching but most importantly being a trustworthy candidate with integrity increases your chances, through the grape vine online.

Most importantly register with http://www.eteach.com/ and apply for perfect job. Good Luck!