Tackling Australia’s teacher shortage with effective hiring

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As the teacher talent pool shrinks, Australian schools are struggling to hire. Recruitment expert SchoolHouse shares its secrets to making recruitment processes more efficient and consistently effective

AUSTRALIA IS facing a critical teacher shortage, and recruitment is becoming increasingly challenging for schools across the country. According to modelling from the Federal Education Department, Australia’s high schools can expect to see a teacher shortfall of around 4,000 by 2025. Falling numbers of graduate teachers, a growing student population and an ageing teacher workforce all play a role in this, and the ongoing impact of COVID-19 has also toughened competition for talent. When it comes to recruitment in the education sector, the process is becoming more difficult year by year. A rising number of job boards means higher costs, and the risks of hiring someone who isn’t a good fit for the school are also increasing.

SchoolHouse has four teams of education recruitment specialists who work Australia-wide to save time and money in finding the right candidates and filling teaching vacancies. Our consultants and education recruiters have over 50 years of collective experience assisting Australian schools. Over time, we’ve built trusting relationships across the industry – giving us access to teaching opportunities before they’ve been advertised to the masses.

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“The view from school leaders is that whether you’re a metropolitan or a regional school, the [recruitment] process has the potential to be a very negative one. There is a call to change the way we recruit”

Tyson Wood, SchoolHouse

According to SchoolHouse consultant Tyson Wood, the teacher shortage isn’t going away any time soon. This mean schools need to rethink how they hire, and to move away from the traditional method of advertising on one platform. It wasn’t too long ago that a school could advertise on one job board, maybe two, and find a quality fit. Flash forward to today and the market is fiercely competitive, with more places to advertise or search for candidates. This is promising, but it can also make the recruitment process challenging for schools and candidates. “The view from school leaders is that whether you’re a metropolitan or a regional school, the process has the potential be a very negative one. There is a call to change the way we recruit, which can’t be the way it used to be – vacancy comes in, post an ad up on one job board. That may help you once in a while, but most of the time it won’t.”

While recruitment has typically involved reactive advertising, SchoolHouse education consultant Chris Wilson says it now needs to be a proactive, ongoing process. Schools should also be clearly communicating their employee value proposition and offering information on their culture, values and workplace environment. Wilson notes that covering all the job boards and social platforms is also important, rather than just relying on one or two. It’s often not so much about the role but about the school the teacher will be stepping into, Wilson says. “We’re at a point where, when teachers are looking for a job,

Wilson says a well-presented employee value proposition is something recruiters know makes a big difference in converting jobseekers into applicants. He notes that SchoolHouse recruiters often speak to candidates who have overlooked a school because of misconceptions or lack of knowledge, but once the EVP is presented and the organisational fit is realised, they put their hands up quite quickly. With recent changes to visa requirements, Wilson notes that it’s also worth looking at the international market. “There is some very exciting talent coming over from the UK and Ireland right now,” he says.

SchoolHouse offers an external recruitment service, but schools also have the option of handling recruitment themselves with its new tool, SchoolHouse Plus. Schools can use this tool to create a searchable employee value proposition for teachers to follow, which helps push more candidates into their hands. SchoolHouse Plus also allows schools to post job vacancies to 15-plus job boards at once – a task that might previously have taken several days. When working with clients, SchoolHouse’s recruiters gather in-depth insights into the needs of each school. This usually

involves in-person visits, as well as discussions with prospective teachers about what they’re looking for in their new role.

“We like to visit all the schools we work with. We even enjoy visiting our regional schools. It’s absolutely imperative that we know what it’s like to live and work out there, and to get a sense of the culture of the school.” According to Wilson and Wood, “SchoolHouse harnesses the power of the schools we work with. Whether a school uses our recruitment service or prefers to self-manage its recruitment with SchoolHouse Plus, customer choice and decision-making are paramount. We simply help by using our expertise and/or innovative technology to increase recruitment productivity and reduce school costs.” To find out more about hiring with SchoolHouse, visit: SchoolHouse Recruitment Service SchoolHouse Plus Recruitment Or simply email recruitment@the-schoolhouse.com.au

teachers walking behind a group of schoolgirls

Hiring in the right way

“To attract teachers, schools need to be able to support and guide them, and give them a really good insight into what it’s like to work there”

Chris Wilson, SchoolHouse

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they often don’t know where to go – whether that’s the school website, Seek, Indeed, Teachers-On-Net, Educator HQ, etc. – so you need to make sure you’re covering all bases. To attract teachers, schools also need to be able to support and guide them, and give them a really good insight into what it’s like to work there.”

Over the last 18 months, SchoolHouse has been helping more than 200 schools to register and fill their vacancies. With recruitment becoming increasingly stressful and costly, SchoolHouse uses its network of teachers to quickly shortlist appropriate candidates. It takes a detailed look at each school’s needs, and applies a strong level of insight from both sides to ensure a good fit. With the challenges of recruitment growing, Wood says schools are often daunted by the task – but they don’t need to be. “Some of the words often associated with recruitment nowadays are ‘scared, hesitant, time-poor, competitive, complicated, expensive, draining’, etc. Those are all very negative, emotional terms,” Wood says.

Getting the right support

“There are more places to advertise now, which creates a time and cost problem, and schools often fail to promote their organisations. As much as they know their schools very well and might have a great website, most don’t have information about what it’s like to work there. These are all areas where we offer support.”

SchoolHouse at a glance

Established in 2021 with a team of recruiters, marketers and school leaders offering combined experience of 50 years in education recruitment in Australia

Over 50 schools signed up for a free trial of SchoolHouse Plus

Assists 200+ schools with vacancies

Nationwide presence across six states and two territories

Factors contributing to teacher shortage

Source: Teacher Workforce Shortages Issues Paper, 2022

Secondary school enrolments forecast to grow by 10% from 2021 to 2031

45% of teachers aged 50+ intend to leave the profession in the next five years

4,100 shortfall in graduate teachers expected between 2021 and 2025