Time for change in the recruitment of teachers?

The announcement by the Schools Recruitment Service of its new “innovative online system designed to streamline the application process for those applying for jobs in schools” offers Business Studies teachers a great opportunity to cover the topic of “developing an effective workforce: recruitment, selection, training” in a familiar context!

The Department for Children, Schools and Families has claimed that Schools could save up to £30m by using the new website to hire teachers and support staff. It’s estimated that English schools spend nearly £50m annually on advertising and filling 100,000 teaching vacancies, and a further 50,000 non-teaching positions such as administrative staff and school catering staff, so a typical payment of around £250 per year to use the service will inevitably sound very attractive to head teachers.

In an e-mail sent out to those would-be teachers already registered with the Training and Development Agency (TDA), candidates are informed of the following advantages of the new system:

Find suitable jobs - Search by your job preferences and apply online
Saves you time – Your details automatically pre-filled on new applications
Let employers come to you – Create your Talent Profile to join the talent pool
Receive job alerts – Find out about suitable vacancies as soon as they come up
Instant communication with schools - receive confirmation that your application has been received, every time.

Clearly the system is in its early stages (which possibly explains why there are currently a mere four teaching jobs live on the website!) but with 52 local authorities, representing more than 8,000 schools and 32 academies already interested in using it, the process of applying for jobs in the education sector looks set to change.

Anyone seen the Times Ed this week? Sure I left it around here somewhere . . .

Links, further information and space for comments (which are most welcome!) on HR Case Studies: Changing times for recruitment of teachers