Hiring In The Digital Age: The Trends You Can’t Afford To Ignore
We’ve all had that one teacher who made a difference in our lives.
For me, it was Edna Widenmaier my Grade 8 English teacher at Brentwood College.
Mrs. Widenmaier was simply the best — an enthusiastic, animated educator who truly believed in the subject matter. So much so, she convinced me to read Rudyard Kipling’s, ‘A Way Through The Woods’ at a public speaking competition… nerve-wracking, admittedly. But this experience would go on to shape me as a person.
Years later, I’m proud to work in Education Technology where, through my work at Teach Away, I help international schools and government education organizations improve their recruitment strategies and ultimately — reach their growth objectives. By building a pipeline of passionate educators — much like Mrs. Widenmaier — our partners can ensure their students receive the best education possible.
After surveying 10,500 international educators from native English-speaking countries, Teach Away created our 2017 International Education Recruitment Report. In the report, we’ve gleaned new insights on teachers’ job search behaviour and motivations for teaching abroad.
Next week I’m excited to be speaking on these topics at the 2017 AdvancED Latin America Conference. Afterwards, our team will be onsite at the Teach Away Atlanta job fair, held in partnership with ISS. In advance of both events, I wanted to share a sneak-peek of my presentation and provide some insights your organization, district or school can start using to attract and retain top teaching talent.
In this article, I’d like to focus on two market trends:
- Global Teacher Shortage: ISC (International School Consultancy) is forecasting a teacher shortage of 150,000 teachers by 2021. As a result, the talent market for international schools is becoming increasingly hyper-competitive.
- Digital Transformation: The job search methods of international educators have evolved. As a result, there is a huge opportunity for schools to obtain an unfair advantage in attracting the best candidates by bolstering their digital marketing strategy.
The Looming International Teacher Shortage: Unprecedented Growth has Resulted in a Power Shift
We’re experiencing a time of unprecedented growth. According to ISC Research, today there are 8,300 English-medium, K-12 international schools globally that teach 4.3 million students. Both figures are forecasted to double by 2026.
As a result, the demand for international educators will rise from 426,000 in 2017 to 581,000 in 2021. Meaning that in the next four years, an additional 150,000 qualified teachers will be needed.
According to Nicholas Brummitt, Chairman of the International School Consultancy: ‘The most significant concern for international schools will be the sourcing and hiring of enough suitably qualified teachers and leaders.’ But no one knows where they will come from.
Once upon a time, schools could have their pick of the crop from a flood of applicants. But today the tables have turned and teachers have more options for teaching locations and multiple job offers to weigh.
So how will your school adapt? What are the key factors that motivate an educator to select your organization over others?
Travel is a Key Motivator for Teaching Abroad, but Goals Vary
Our survey found that 43% of respondents are — first and foremost — looking to teach abroad as a means to travel the world. Living in a new country can be an exotic and exciting experience for teachers. The call of adventure — the sights, sounds, and smells of a foreign land — can greatly influence where teachers end up.
But travel is not the only reason why candidates want to teach abroad. 37% of respondents said they are looking to teach abroad for career progression, 15% are seeking financial benefits, and 5% are searching abroad because of a lack of job opportunities at home.
To successfully recruit top teachers, focus your marketing efforts on teachers’ needs and motivations for going abroad.
School Branding Can Make or Break the Effectiveness of Your Recruitment Campaign
Make your school stand out from the crowd. Give great job candidate’s reasons for wanting to come to your school, and your city or town.
To compete in a competitive hiring environment, schools will need to become savvy marketers to attract candidates.
That means:
- Talking up your school’s location and travel opportunities
- Emphasizing career progression and professional development programs
- Speaking to your school’s positive reputation
- Providing enticing compensation packages
The onus is now on international schools to ensure that teachers are offered a rewarding and memorable teaching abroad experience.
Job Search Methods Have Changed
The motivations for teaching abroad are evolving, but so is the way that candidates are searching for their dream jobs overseas.
It is no longer business as usual for job searches. The report shows that traditional recruitment methods, such as international job fairs and print advertising, can no longer be the sole source of finding the best candidates.
This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, but 97% of respondents said they are now searching online for international teaching jobs. And most prefer searching online or receiving a personal referral for a job. It’s with good reason. Online job searches are free and dramatically decrease the time and cost of travelling to job fairs.
But the survey also showed the best way to find great candidates online is not through general job boards, such as LinkedIn, Indeed, and Monster; candidates seeking teaching positions are less likely to be searching there. Rather, the survey found that teachers are increasingly turning to industry-specific job boards that cater to the education industry and that job seekers are often arriving at these career websites via Google searches.
Schools can find the best candidates by posting their jobs online where candidates are looking: education-specific job board websites -like Teach Away- and social media channels.
Finally, the survey found that candidates are using — more and more — their smartphones and mobile devices to look for teaching jobs overseas and they are often starting their job searches many months in advance of the position’s start date. Is your website mobile friendly?
How Will You Attract the Best Talent?
If you are seeking great teachers it will be important to adapt to respond to the needs and motivations of this scarce group of qualified candidates, and their preferred methods of finding their next career. It’s an ‘applicant controlled market’. To put it another way, schools must change their recruitment mentality from: ‘How can we find the best talent?’ to ‘ How can we help the best talent find us?’
That means pairing creative marketing efforts that effectively brand your school and location with agile, digital hiring campaigns that make your school stand out from the crowd. Think forward to 2021. Will the strategies you currently employ, put you in a position to attract the educators you need?
‘Think forward to 2021. Will the strategies you currently employ put you in a position to attract the educators you need?’
If you’re attending AdvancED or the Teach Away Atlanta job fair, held in partnership with ISS, I’d love to sit down for a coffee to discuss your recruitment strategy and challenges and how Teach Away can support. Follow this link to select a time that suits your schedule.
Shameless Plug
I’ll be speaking at AdvancED on ‘International Education Recruitment: The Hiring Trends You Can’t Afford To Ignore in 2018', on:
- Wednesday, November 29 from 2:00–3:15 pm in the ‘Cascade’ Room.
- Thursday, November 30 from 10:45 am-12:00 pm in ‘Highland III’.
I look forward to meeting you there!
Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.
