How to simplify your school's staff recruitment

How to simplify your school

For a principal hiring a staff member, determining whether the candidate will be a ‘right fit’ in terms of personality, qualifications and experience are just a few considerations that principals must make.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), there are 330,000 Australian school teachers with an estimated 33,000 relief placements every day, which can take hours to fill.

To address this, the Federal Government recently provided a $50,000 grant to ASX-listed technology company, Schrole, and Edith Cowan University (ECU). The aim of the grant was to fund a research program into the effective placement of teachers in international schools.

Schrole recently established a strategic alliance with International School Services (ISS) to provide comprehensive integrated recruitment services to a network of 380 international schools and 75,000 teachers in key global markets.

Rob Graham, managing director of Schrole Group, outlined some of the common challenges school leaders face around simplifying their teacher recruitment process.

"Anthony Bourdain said that 'skills can be taught. Character you either have, or you don’t have'," Graham told The Educator.

"Establishing whether a candidate has the character to work effectively as part of your team can be very challenging." 

Graham said traditional hiring processes "are often focused purely on experience and academic success, meaning the first opportunity to evaluate character is at the interview stage, after the vast majority of applicants have already been declined".

In turn, says Graham, this makes it near impossible to ensure that schools are hiring the best of the applicant pool for each position.

Graham said that through gathering information that goes beyond the basics, Schrole Group’s online recruitment platform, Schrole Connect, gives hiring managers an opportunity to evaluate more than just paperwork.

"With a significant focus on extra-curricular experience, the facility to upload personal videos and answers to school-specific questions included as part of each-and-every application, school leaders are presented with a much broader picture of each applicant," Graham said. 

"In addition, a research study currently underway in collaboration with Edith Cowan University will power a new values-based algorithm to give schools an even stronger indication of ‘fit’ when reviewing applicants."

Related stories:
How to lift your teacher recruitment game
What kind of teachers will your school need in 2018?