Further education (and MAT) recruitment tips that you need to know

It’s a staffing crisis that looks set to worsen by the year, and right now, it feels like very few colleges or MATs are escaping it.

The core of the problem is this: with so many staff leaving, how do you replace them?

The growing staff shortage crisis in the UK

The teacher shortage in the UK – and likewise, the shortage of back-office staff – has become a pressing issue. This shortage of teachers and their colleagues isn’t new, but it has reached critical levels in recent years, with schools and colleges feeling the strain.

One of the primary causes of the back-office staff and teacher shortage is the workload and pressure placed on educators – from administrative tasks and large class sizes to the demands of standardised testing. This has led to high stress levels and burnout, causing many to leave the profession early.

Additionally, the shortage of teachers in the UK (and their colleagues) is exacerbated by budget cuts; you can’t always pay them what you would want to. While you struggle to find the money, competitive salaries and better working conditions in other professions lure many away from teaching or providing back-office support.

Handling the impact

The impact of this teacher shortage and lack of back-office staff means colleges and MATs are often forced to rely on temporary or unqualified personnel.

Addressing the shortage of teachers and their colleagues requires a far-reaching approach. That might include legislation and national funding. But while the UK’s leaders grapple with the causes of teacher shortages and lack of supporting staff, what can you do?

No matter how it feels, there are answers. People still want to be teachers and do other jobs in your college or school; your goal is to capture their attention, hold their interest, and get them to apply.

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The reasons people ignore your job adverts – or drop out of your recruitment processes

Let’s explore common issues and pitfalls surrounding the recruiting process – before considering practical solutions to help colleges and MATs attract the best candidates.

The pain of applying for an education role compared to other sectors

The conventional way of recruiting for the education sector is not doing schools or colleges any favours. For example, it’s fairly common now for people to find a job on a platform like LinkedIn, hit “Quick Apply,” maybe attach a CV or cover letter... and the task is done.

By contrast, if you apply for a job at a college or a MAT, chances are you have to get a coffee before filling in a long form. You must put in an extensive history and competencies and tick any boxes for safeguarding.

It can also feel like a comparatively dated process if a candidate is asked to download documents, complete them and then email them back.

Location, location, location... vacancy, vacancy, vacancy!

Sadly, your college or school might not be where people will want to rent or buy a home.

Why? House prices continue rising; however, new teachers still start on less than £40k.

Both colleges and MATs face this problem, but it becomes more acute for colleges, which often need specialist teachers to help them fulfil their teaching niche. An engineering college, for instance, requires the best of the best in that field.

Recruitment in education feels like a dated process

Whether it’s college recruitment or recruiting for a MAT, education’s traditional way of doing things feels very different from other sectors.

All those spreadsheets your HR team juggles – or, worse, physical paperwork – not only slows recruitment down but can cause errors, confusion, and delays in the process, leaving potential hires to be lured away by a rival employer.

This can happen even after making a job offer if you leave someone waiting too long for a contract.

It’s a busy market

As we alluded to earlier, many people are leaving the education sector behind.

This affects the pool of talent. As people leave the profession for other sectors, this pool gets smaller. Some academic subjects and senior roles are much more difficult to fill when that happens. When colleges need specialised teachers and MATs need world-beating talent, you can see how both feel the pain.

So, how do you fix these hiring problems?

You can’t change the jobs market, but you can become more competitive. Here’s how you can make your advertised roles more appealing.

Optimise your job advertisements

Make the application process as easy as possible – and as engaging as possible. That starts with an advert that is easy to read and adequately conveys what the job is about.

Unfortunately, what happens over time is the list of requirements gets longer. As a result, job candidates might get tired just reading it – or have counted themselves out of the process because your “nice to have” experience looks like a “must have” to a prospect.

Remember, the job advert is not the job description; it’s a marketing tool to attract interest.

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Fine-tune your job titles

To some searchers who are laser-focused on a new job – perhaps at one of the few colleges in a specific area – the position’s title will not matter as long as it’s not too obscure. These people will take the time to carefully evaluate every job opening.

But some people, including those looking more casually and widely, can have their attention and imagination captured by a strong, clear job title.

Ask yourself: what are these people searching for, and what makes them feel good about a job they see advertised?

While considering this, look at the top competition and see how they advertise a role you want to fill in your own college or MAT. For example, do they say “English Teacher” or use terms like “Teacher of English” to make it sound more prestigious?

Make life easy for applicants

The more difficult it is to apply, the less likely people are to keep going.

That means you should make the application form as short as is reasonable.

It also means that after people have made an effort to apply, you should have a way of keeping their information in your system.

This is great for two sets of applicants: 1) those who get a role in your organisation and later want to move to another job and 2) those who applied for a job with you and didn’t get it but want to be considered for other opportunities where they might be suitable.

Think about this, even for the major hires

Make life easier regardless of whether you are advertising for an early career teacher (ECT), college leadership or beginning a MAT Board recruitment process.

Nobody likes to waste their time; it’s not just the social-media savvy Gen Z.

Always try to make applicants’ lives easy, no matter how senior the role – the qualities college leadership and MAT executive recruitment drives want to uncover lie well outside what you can capture in a form.

Get back to people faster

The slicker your systems, the easier it is to shortlist, schedule interviews, and collect relevant information like references.

When you’re not fighting with your own paperwork, you can also see where any holdups are, so each job advert becomes a valuable, positive learning process for your recruitment team.

Look beyond recruitment boards

Of course, your college or MAT needs to advertise on job boards – but they are not the end of the advertising process. You must show up wherever people are, including social media platforms, specialised recruitment sites, and aggregators.

It might be worth speaking to your most recent recruits and asking them where they were looking before they applied for a job at your college or school. You could also consider investing in agency or headhunter services to reach the more casual, passive market. This might be an especially effective route to finding top talent if you are hiring for SLT in a college.

Make onboarding easy

First impressions in recruitment count for a lot. That means you need to ensure a positive experience, even after you have made a job offer. Losing someone’s CV, messing up their DBS check, or taking a long time to provide any onboarding instructions sets off alarm bells – ones which people can act on with relatively little warning.

Even if they don’t back out of the process, they will share their concerns with colleagues, resulting in bad “word of mouth”.

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Do you need a new recruitment system... or a recruitment service?

The great news is that good software or recruitment services will help you with all the above problems and remedies.

And we can help you with whichever solution fits your needs.

IRIS Education provides an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) and also a recruitment service that will search for top talent on your behalf. We offer a fixed price for a campaign, so whether you are hiring a Lecturer of English or a Director, the cost is the same. You can also hire multiple candidates from one campaign, driving the costs down further.

ATS software for colleges and MATs from IRIS Education

• When to Use: Software is ideal for organisations with internal resources to manage the recruitment process, including job postings, candidate tracking, and communication.
  • Benefits: IRIS recruitment software provides a centralised system to manage applications, streamline the hiring process, and comply with regulations like GDPR. It’s perfect for organisations that need a scalable solution to handle a high volume of applications and want to maintain control over the recruitment process.

Recruitment services for colleges and MATs by IRIS Education

• When to Use: Our services are great for organisations that need additional support in attracting and managing candidates, especially for hard-to-fill roles or when internal resources are limited.
  • Benefits: We do all the work. Our service includes job advertising, candidate sourcing, pre-sifting, and interview coordination. Because we price based on success at each stage of recruitment, this can be more cost-effective than traditional recruitment agencies, especially for senior or specialised roles.

Take a look at IRIS Recruitment solutions today.

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