Viewpoint: Recruitment in Education - Breaking The Vicious Circle

    LONDON, ENGLAND, April 21, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The vagaries of supply and demand have always thrown up areas of saturation and shortage in education. Writing in TES First Appointments in February, Professor John Howson offered his roll-call of feast and famine for this year's trainee secondary teachers.

"Trainees in subjects such as English, Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry are likely to have the easiest time this year," he said, "whereas those looking for History, Drama, Art and posts in some languages, especially in the north of England, are most likely to face the hardest challenges."

Gemma Brookstein, Reed Education's Regional Manager for the north west of England, acknowledges recruitment can be tough in some areas but insists an over-reliance on supply teachers is a vicious circle that can be broken when schools channel their energies into attracting long-term or permanent staff.

"Temporary cover has its place," she says, "but schools are asking us to address the shortage areas with permanent solutions. Getting it right from the outset helps everybody and leads to better stability and morale in class.

"In return, we have developed a range of services to make it cost-effective to use Reed Education as the first point of call for permanent recruitment. Schools are saving on advertising by working with us on a 'No Find No Fee' basis.

"For those schools that have already advertised, we are also able to refund the difference with a reduction on our placement fee."

Gemma's counterpart in the south of England, Gavin Beart, agrees and has seen a change in attitudes to educational recruitment. "Many of our clients have developed a full understanding of the recruitment lifecycle, including the way they attract long-term and permanent staff.

"With our local knowledge and national reach, we are finding excellent candidates even for the most specialised subject areas. One recent case is how we connected an FE College in Sussex with one of the very few taxi driving assessors in the country and the contract is working very well."

Interested in recruiting for shortage areas? For more information on education recruitment and jobs offered by Reed Specialist Recruitment, please visit their website www.reedglobal.com.

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