Rethinking your Hiring: Why a Multichannel Approach Works

This article was featured in the BSME Newsletter 2024-25 | Edition 3

The hiring challenges that international schools can’t ignore, and how to solve them.

With talent shortages affecting education on a worldwide scale, the pressure to find and retain high-quality, best-fit educators for international schools – especially across specialist hard-to-fill subjects and a diverse curriculum – has never been greater.

Add in the logistical challenges of reaching out to teachers based in various locations, often across different time zones, coupled with fast-moving hiring needs, and the task becomes even tougher.

Yet, many international schools are still relying on the same traditional hiring routes, expecting different results - even as we see a greater shift towards recruitment modernisation across many other sectors. Considering recruitment and retention difficulties affecting schools globally, it’s crucial that schools keep pace with other industries to which they could be losing talent - and adapt their hiring to successfully engage talented, modern-day educators across the globe.

Shifting to a multichannel mindset: reaching the right talent, in the right places

A multichannel recruitment strategy may sound daunting, but it’s crucial for international schools to consider when trying to enhance their talent attraction. Simply put, multichannel means casting your hiring net wider than your usual channels – using targeted, low-cost digital outreach across social media, email and search, and boosting your school’s brand online to reach active and passive education jobseekers.

It may be a surprising statistic, but on average, only 30% of the talent pool can be classed as ‘active’; that is, intentionally seeking a new role. The other 70% - most of the candidate market – are passive jobseekers, who may not be actively searching for a new role but can be persuaded to move for the right opportunity, presented at the right time.

Educators are also more digitally savvy than ever, with over 70% searching for jobs via their mobile phone. This is why multichannel school visibility matters – placing your brand and roles where candidates spend their down-time, scrolling social media platforms and other channels on their phones, for example.

For many international schools, there are unique benefits and perks, which are a distinct attraction to best-in-class educators and you should be reinforcing these with multichannel outreach to pique the interest of passive talent. It's more than just posting the role itself; it’s allowing educators to buy into the lifestyle of living and working abroad, and the values of your school.

Practical next steps for international schools to start thinking multichannel

Effectively using multichannel strategies doesn’t have to be expensive or time-consuming. For example, it might help to start with a review of your current channel presence.

• Are you relying too heavily on traditional methods for your hiring?
• Are your job adverts mobile-friendly?
• Do you post on social channels for brand visibility?
• Have you got a dedicated career site where candidates can sign up for your talent pool?
• Are you tracking performance of your candidate attraction sources to optimise your strategy?

Being proactive with modern recruitment is critical; just a few simple changes to your processes can ensure your international school is recognised as an employer of choice and acknowledged by the very best educators.

To learn more, visit the eteach website.