Over the years, we have seen a LOT of school district websites, and almost all of them had at least one page dedicated to applying for jobs at that school district. Indeed, as we’ve surveyed district webmasters about traffic statistics, we’ve found that “Employment” or “Jobs” pages are almost always among the top 3 most heavily-trafficked pages on the entire site. So, we’ve put together a 6.1 tips on how to have a “Good,” “Better,” and “Best” website for prospective employees at your school or district…
GOOD
Every school district HR website needs the following components for recruiting:
1) An overview of the hiring process, including how and when communications occur
For example: “We will only contact you if you have been selected for an interview…” or “You will receive a confirmation email once we have received your electronic application…” or even “Please do not contact the hiring managers directly; we will provide them with your information.”
2) Access to current job vacancies/listings/postings
This is the page that EVERY job-seeker wants to get to, so make it obvious–maybe even from your district’s home page. Ideally, you will be using an online system that maintains a list for you, and you can provide a link, button, or icon to direct users to that list.
BETTER
Consider adding these other components that would be useful to a prospective job-seeker:
3) An introduction to employment policies and practices
These may include collective bargaining (union) agreements, standard policies (e.g. workplace harassment, substance abuse, etc.), and practices/procedures (e.g. who-to-contact directory, grievance process, supervisory relationships, etc.)
4) Compensation and benefits information
Provide information that will help a prospective employee know what to expect in terms of compensation rates, health and retirement benefits, time off, etc. Without compromising your ability to negotiate, or being so specific that it becomes tedious, present enough information about compensation that it will not become a focus of an interview or a “deal-breaker” at the offer stage.
BEST
The “Best” school district HR recruiting websites are organized around anticipating what the job-seeker will be asking for, and providing it in such a way that minimizes staff time, effort, and frustration.
5) Links to other resources
Does your HR office get lots of calls asking about teacher licensing/certification? Provide a link to your state agency responsible for that, or even to NASDTEC (National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification). Do they ask about local housing accommodations? Athletics programs? Whatever they tend to ask about by phone, consider putting a link on your webpage to save them (and you!) the call.
6) Promotional materials
Don’t be shy about promoting your district as a great place to work! Consider teacher testimonials–at least on the HR pages, if not throughout the whole district site–on how great it is to work in your district. Maybe a message from the HR Director or the Superintendent about the district’s philosophy around employment and taking care of its teachers and staff, or if you have special mentoring/First-Year-Teacher or professional development programs…Think of it almost like YOU interviewing with the CANDIDATES via your website; get them excited!
6.1) Link to EdZapp
Ok: this is shameless marketing on our part, but EdZapp is the only recruiting and applicant tracking system for K-12 education that has services designed to help job-seekers manage their documents and send applications to any public school district in the U.S. Just as your district HR website should be designed to help the applicant through the process, EdZapp provides services to help applicants save time and money.
