At the start of a new school year, vacancies for teachers are ripe for the picking
What began some 15 years ago as an ambition to reinvent education recruitment consultancy with our own unique new approach in which we actively support and nurture our candidates’ career development is now ‘in our blood’ at Teach Now. It’s just our way of getting things done – and making a difference to clients and candidates alike. Of course, as a recruitment agency our core role is still to match educational professionals to job openings – but for us there’s so much more to it than that. It’s a vital part of the Teach Now approach to share our insights, to help our candidates spot opportunities as they arise and to advise them how best to seize them… But we can’t be there with them all the time.
So how do you judge when’s the optimum time to land that perfect teaching role?
The first piece of advice we can offer is perhaps the simplest of all. Don’t leap into something before you know what you want and where you want to be – and until you’ve got yourself fully prepared for the application and interview process. When you understand where you’re heading, it’s much easier to plot your course – and you’ll be far more credible as a candidate.
That said, the time of year most of us associate with beginning new jobs and careers in education has got to be September – simply because it’s the start of the academic year. And who in education doesn’t think of new terms and new teams to join when they think of September!
Opportunities all year round
Of course, the education recruitment process doesn’t begin and end with the start and finish of the academic year – far from it. As an excellent article on the teachersoftomorrow.org website explains, the activity is more or less constant – but the nature and motivation of that activity is prone to changes with the ebb and flow of the academic timetable.
Post-Christmas staffing crises
For example, it’s not uncommon for teachers to change their minds about their jobs and decide not to return after the Christmas holidays. Which sometimes means emergency replacement positions arise as schools are desperate not to be short-staffed halfway through the academic year. As the year moves on, schools are in a better position to focus on their needs for the next year, making March through May a great time to start checking the job postings.
Hotter prospects as spring turns to summer…
The end of the school year leaves head teachers with time to clear their minds and to begin formulating their new academic year’s hiring plans in earnest – and even to start contacting agencies and candidates about their imminent vacancies. So now’s the optimum time to get prepared, stay at the ready, and to avoid commitments that might make you unavailable should a great opportunity suddenly arise.
But September is prime time!
The teachersoftomorrow.org article mentioned above includes a month-by-month analysis of the academic year, rating each month on the chances of getting hired. They mention that of all teacher hirings, one in five happen in September – so it’s no surprise that September scores 10/10 in their ranking, compared to November’s 5/10 or February’s 6/10 for instance. It doesn’t take a genius to work out why this is the case. With the start of the new school year just days away, the pressure’s on for recruiters to ensure they have a full staff complement in place. Of course, all diligent head teachers will have the process well under way by this stage – so if you’ve already got one or more applications under consideration, bear in mind that school administrators are likely to be coming home from their summer breaks keen to get second-round interviews going! That said, very often the hiring process continues well after the school year’s under way, so don’t be downhearted if you haven’t yet had that call!
Of course, no ranking or timetable can show the real-life machinations of a busy school and its staffing challenges – and in these times of teacher shortages, there’s no bad time to start your search. For more thoughts on timing your approach, here’s another informative article from teachersoftomorrow.org.
Watch this space as always for more updates on the outlook for opportunities in education – and indeed for insights on all the current and emerging issues facing new and established education professionals in these constantly changing and challenging times.