By Jime Bopie
Written exclusively for dankreiness.com
According to a series of reports published by the Economic Policy Institute, the teacher shortage is worse than expected and is projected to grow in the coming years. The growing number of student enrolments resulted in a shortfall of 307,000 teaching jobs.
Across the US, Business Insider notes that teachers are going on strike and closing classes to demand better pay, lower student-teacher ratios, and better and well-funded facilities. These heart-breaking realities make it even more challenging to attract teachers. Fortunately, with the help of some changes in the hiring process, you could still be able to attract inspirational educators.
Write a clear job description
Being a teacher is more of a vocation than a profession, so you need to hire someone who possesses a lot of skills on top of an abundance mentality. As explained in our previous post on ‘Why All Educators Should Have an Abundance Mentality’, it refers to the understanding that someone becomes better by helping others grow and excel. Such a skill can help ensure that teachers will be able to advocate positive change. When looking for an educator, make sure that you clearly state not only what the job will entail but also some of the top qualities that you are looking for. Comeet explains that a clear job description is one of the most important aspects of recruitment because it tends to be the first thing that potential employees see. When writing a job description, make sure that you pay close attention to detail, do a grammar check and proofread your job description. Avoid the excessive use of superlatives, clichés and jargon, and try to place all the key information at the beginning through bullet points and lists that are easy to scan.
Streamline the application process
Thanks to technology, streamlining your hiring process has never been easier. With more teachers leaving than entering the profession, educational institutions should be more creative and competitive in bringing in talent. Fast Company suggests making your application short and mobile-friendly. Making your application mobile-friendly will effectively improve the employer brand and make keeping in touch with potential employees easier. A recent study cited by Worcester Business Journal found that around 86% of talents would not apply for or continue to work for a company that has a bad reputation. Improved employer branding through a streamlined application process will not only help you reduce employee turnover but also attract passive and active candidates.
Use effective hiring tools
Finding the right educators, who will successfully improve students’ academic scores, is an insurmountable challenge for many schools across the country. This is the reason why educational institutions should consider using advanced and effective hiring tools. For instance, you could think about using a data-driven applicant tracking software. Forbes outline that these tools can help schools identify and hire the right educators for their classrooms, as it gauges how apt a teacher is based on various data such as the number of other jobs a candidate has applied for and the number of days it took him/her to apply after a job was posted. Recruiting Daily also took note of the various software that helps place the right ads on the right sites to reach the ideal candidates. You could even use interview chatbots for early assessment and scheduling, and artificial intelligence (AI) to screen and grade resumes based on the criteria you set, and manage referrals from employees and other social connections.
While the shortage of teachers continues to be a very pressing issue that highlights a lot of problems within the educational system, it doesn’t mean that educational institutions should take recruitment lightly just to fill the demand. In fact, they should put more emphasis on making the process effective and efficient to find the right educators that can spark change. To do this, educational institutions should write clear job descriptions, streamline their application process and use effective tools.
