6 JUN 2018

Stand out from the College crowd - Target a wider audience when advertising your FE jobs

In today’s competitive teaching employment market, it is more important than ever to ensure your recruitment advertising campaign for your Further Education College considers all the resources available to it in order to create far reaching awareness of your vacancy.

With the plethora of specialist job boards, publications and social media at your disposal, and with networking now considered a successful way to recruit, you could be forgiven for assuming that general job boards would be too broad a medium and a waste of your budget that misses the mark.

But with a diminishing pool of experienced teaching professionals available, increasing the visibility of your opportunity to and attracting those from outside of the profession is crucial.

Specialised or General Job Boards: what’s right for your College?

Specialist job boards are obviously great for targeting experienced individuals who are already teaching. These sites will most likely be the first place they would begin their search for a new role, making them an important part of your recruitment advertising strategy. But with the shortage of teaching staff becoming an ever-increasing issue, wider options must be considered.

For someone who has already made the decision to move into teaching, they may not be aware of all the specialist resources available. And also consider that many industry professionals may not have even considered teaching as a viable option. Making your opportunity visible outside of the teaching realm is critical. By not creating an awareness of your role in the wider recruitment arena, the opportunity to attract new talent will be greatly reduced.

Using General Job Boards to Increase Awareness

General job boards such as Monster.co.uk or Reed.co.uk are often the first port of call for job seekers in any industry. Their broad geographical, professional and demographic nature makes them a great place to reach a new audience. Plus, they also give those that are actively looking for a new role the ability to easily see what opportunities exist in other industries without them having to research for the appropriate specialist job boards.

Utilising sites that potential candidates are familiar with and used to using reduces the first barrier to entry of a new industry and takes your opportunity to them, rather than only those that are already seeking out a role in the new area of teaching. Also consider using more than one general job board – although it may sound like overkill, most people will return to the site that they find most easy to use or are familiar with, so don’t assume that by advertising on just one general site, you will have exhausted this potential pool of new talent.

Keywords are King

The use of carefully selected keywords in the job title and job description of your vacancy is ultimately how potential candidates will find it, via Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). Make sure you consider who might have experience relevant to your role and ensure you list it under the appropriate industry categories. As obvious as it sounds, an Engineering Lecturer vacancy should be listed under ‘Teaching’ and ‘Engineering’, for example.

Before signing up to the first general job board you can think of, make sure you research your options carefully. The board will be representing your College and the page will form the readers first impression of it. Make sure you choose a site with a good reputation that’s reliable, easy for the candidates to use, displays your vacancy clearly and obviously offers you good value for money.

A Multi-tiered Strategy to Help your College Stand Out from the Crowd

When competition for filling teaching roles is at its most competitive, adopting a multi-tiered strategy to reach a wide audience should be your approach. Finding new talent to revive the teaching arena requires casting your recruitment advertising net far and wide, and general job boards remain an important element.

If you’re unsure of the direction you should take in advertising your next recruitment opportunity, we’d be only too happy to help. Contact us today to find out more.