Demand for great lecturers and educators is extremely high in the UK right now. This makes the task of creating lecturing job ads that really stand out to candidates more important than ever.
When the job market is like this, lecturers can afford to be selective. Why should they choose to apply to your roles over another college’s opportunity? To fill your teaching vacancies, you need job ads that attract the right candidates, and as many of them as possible.
6 elements to the perfect lecturer job advert
Include all the below elements in your lecturer job ads and you’ll set yourself up well for a successful recruitment process:
1. An engaging title
It’s not an exaggeration to say that a good title is the most important part of any job ad. Job boards are busy places, so candidates will scroll quickly through multiple adverts a minute until a role jumps out at them.
Therefore, no matter how convincing your advert is, if the job ad title doesn’t catch their eye, they won’t read it.
There are a few things to consider when creating your job ad title. For example, how long is your title? Research has shown that the optimum length for a job ad title is 50-60 characters.
And have you included the right SEO keywords for that job? We know that a large proportion of job candidates will go to Google first when job hunting - which is why Google created its own job search feature, Google for Jobs.
What would your ideal candidate type into a search engine when looking for a new role? Weave this into your title to increase the chances of your roles appearing in their search results.
Try to be as clear and concise as possible with your title too. Avoid including acronyms and any other internal jargon that might alienate perfectly qualified candidates at the first hurdle. If you have some important acronyms to include, save them for the job description, where you have the character space to explain them in full.
For example, consider the difference between these two examples:
Learning Support Assistant - Hybrid role
KS5 SEN Learning Support
Option one is likely to pull in more interest because it’s clear, uses the right keywords and is likely to stand out because it mentions the role is hybrid.
Option two, on the other hand, is acronym-heavy and wastes valuable character space on information that isn’t immediately important. Let candidates click through to read your job advert in full before they learn this info - keep your title short and engaging.
When you create your job ad title on an education job board like FEjobs, the title you use will pre-fill the job categorisation fields for your vacancy, including the role, phase and subject, where appropriate. It’s worth reviewing these and changing them where necessary so that they match the vacancy you’re advertising for, as they will affect who sees your vacancy in the job search.
2. Clear salary information
If you’ve ever advertised for a teaching position before, you’ll know that adding salary information for these types of roles is less than straight forward.
Depending on what level of education, role, contract type and even region of the UK you’re recruiting for, there will be a different way of talking about pay scales. But regardless of what your teaching salary acronyms are, it’s still important to include that information in your job ad. Candidates need this information to help them decide if a role is worth taking the time to apply for.
It’s never a good idea to substitute salary information with words like ‘competitive’. You might think this is the best option to avoid alienating those who might not be familiar with your salary structure, but in reality, all this does is frustrate jobseekers and put them off applying to your roles. It also creates extra work for you, as you’ll have to sift through a whole lot of applications that aren’t going to be suitable.
Salary brackets give candidates the tools they need to self-select. If they have to ask Google to explain a salary acronym, that’s a better situation than them skipping over your ad entirely because there’s no salary included.
Be sure to also include any additional allowances you offer beyond wages, too. For example, do you have a cycle-to-work scheme, or offer employees tax-free childcare? These kinds of non-monetary benefits can have a big impact on salary consideration for some candidates.
3. A teacher job description that sells the job
When you’re writing any job description, the first two sentences are always the most important. Like a sales pitch, if you don’t hook the reader in quickly, you’ll lose them completely. For the same reason, you want to keep your job description as short and concise as possible - studies have shown that 500 words is the optimum length for a job description.
Think about your ideal candidate - what drives them, and what are their goals? Agency recruiters use the WIIFM (what’s in it for me?) acronym a lot when writing job descriptions - a technique commonly used in advertising. Put yourself in the candidate’s shoes and use the description as a sales pitch to appeal directly to them.
Don’t just regurgitate the job specification, as this will result in a job description that focuses too heavily on what you as the employer are looking for rather than what’s in it for the candidate. Small details like always addressing the candidate directly with ‘you’ instead of ‘the candidate’ can also make a big difference.
4. Job requirements that help teachers self-select
It’s a common misconception that your job requirements should be woven into your job description. While it’s likely you’ll input the information in the same text box when creating job adverts on a job board, these are still two very different things.
The job requirements (the skills and experience required for an applicant to be successful) need to be clear and scannable for candidates to self-select. It’s important to frame the requirements around the applicant rather than what you are looking for. For example, use phrases like ‘You’ll love this job if…’ rather than ‘The ideal candidate for this role will have…’.
Take care around confusing must-haves with nice-to-haves as this will lose you perfectly qualified educators. When the job market is candidate-short, the less must-have requirements you can include in your job ads, the better.
5. College information
Including the name and location of your college isn’t enough information to sell your opportunity to candidates. For most industries, a company summary is included at the top of the job advert because candidates want to know exactly what sort of business they’re applying to. Education is no different.
What is it about your college that makes it such a great place to work? Give a brief but convincing summary of your college’s values, any recent notable achievements and other factors that make you different from other colleges. This is the kind of information that will help you stand out to great lecturers in a busy job market.
6. A clear call-to-action (CTA)
It should be immediately clear to any candidates who scan your job ad what they need to do to apply to the role. If you want them to download a recruitment package, or contact you directly for more details, make your call-to-action extremely clear. And don’t forget to include application deadlines!
If your college still follows a manual application processes, it’s worth mentioning that switching to an online application will make your recruitment process a whole lot more efficient. By handling all applications to your job ads online through an Applicant Tracking Software, you can include a clear ‘apply now’ button that will increase your application numbers substantially.
Not only does offering candidates an online application get you more candidates, but it also makes the whole process of managing candidate applications much easier for you too.
Education job advert dos and don’ts
Now that we’ve covered all the main elements that make up a greatlecturer teacher job advert, here are some basic rules to follow to ensure your job ads are always engaging for candidates.
- Don't use inhouse jargon - you and your colleagues might know what it means, but will an external candidate? Jargon can alienate qualified candidates and could put them off applying to your roles.
- Do use job ad templates - any good recruitment software will come with job ad templates that ensure you cover all the important information your ads.
- Don’t use acronyms without explaining them - never assume applicants will know what they mean. Spell each acronym out in full the first time you use it and link out to an additional source of information where necessary.
- Do include a safeguarding statement - this is a legal requirement in England, so if you’re recruiting for teaching roles within this part of the UK, be sure to include this.
- Don’t forget to test how your job ad looks on mobile - almost 70% of candidates apply for jobs entirely on mobile. Use an education job board that has mobile optimised job ads as standard.
- Do apply to your job ads - putting yourself in the candidate’s shoes by applying to your own jobs is the best way to identify and fix any potential issues.
- Don’t repeat information - don’t waste space repeating information in the description that’s already clarified in a separate field somewhere else.
- Do abide by employment legislation - avoid any references to age or gender, and phrases like ‘recent graduate’ in your job adverts.
If you’re struggling to recruit great teachers, our specialists are here to help. From job ad support to applicant tracking software, speak to an FEjobs expert to get the support you need.
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Originally published on Eteach.
About the author
Katie Paterson
Katie Paterson is a writer and digital marketer specialising in recruitment, marketing, HR technology, and business growth. She lives in Glasgow, Scotland.