In response to 'A lack of professionalism' (Ajarn Postbox 5th July) I had a similar situation where I attended an interview with a reputable agency and was sent to do a demo lesson at one of their schools (not the school they needed a new teacher for). I was told to give a 40-minute demo from a book. The director told me which pages to work from and I prepared extra materials based on that lesson. She also told me that they had flashcards and extra resources on the topic which they would deliver to the school before my demo lesson. She shook my hand and told me she would meet me at the school the next morning.

I arrived early the next morning and waited and waited but no sign of the director. I finally found a member of the administration staff member and asked her where to go. She sent me into a small staff room where some other teachers from that particular agency were preparing lessons. They were very helpful and contacted the teacher whose lesson they presumed I would be teaching. They guessed correctly and I followed them upstairs, without the flashcards I had been expecting.

I was thrown into the classroom without any time to prepare the board or set up. My warm-up activity seemed to go down well and then I asked the students to open their books to the lesson I was going to teach. That's when my worst nightmare came true. They had already completed that lesson and multiple lessons after that. All of the extra materials I had prepared were practically worthless and I fumbled my way through the demo, improvising as best I could. The observing teacher then took over the rest of the class without so much as saying a word to me so I was not able to explain the blunder on the part of the director.

I found my own way out of the school as the director was still nowhere to be seen and I had no idea whether I was supposed to stick around and wait until the observing teacher had a teaching break or not. This teacher obviously gave me a poor review because I never heard from the agency again. Not that I am upset. Had I heard from the director, I would have turned down any job offer because the whole thing was conducted so poorly. I just can't understand why they have such a good reputation when they acted so unprofessionally.

Lauren