Education and Teacher Recruitment
How and by whom children are educated can have a huge effect on their futures and the kind of employment they can hope to achieve. Because education is so critical to a child's development teacher recruitment is a very important and highly specialized field. There is a shortage of teachers on both sides of the Atlantic and Governments have invested a lot of money in professional development for teachers and in teacher recruitment.
When it comes to teacher recruitment agencies have two loyalties, the first is to the school or college and the second is to the teacher. Most teacher recruitment agencies are run by people who have themselves been teachers - this makes them among the most apt people for recruiting the people who will be teaching the nation's children. Schools and colleges usually have to inform the agencies of the type of teaching vacancies they are trying to fill. If there are no available specialists in the area then the agency might suggest that the school begin with a supply teacher until a suitably qualified person can be found. Once teachers' permission has been obtained then their resumes are made available to schools and colleges looking to fill vacancies that these teachers are qualified for.
In both the UK and USA teaching agencies are now big business. A lot of permanent teaching jobs are being undertaken by supply teachers as teaching is a career where burnout is becoming more frequent. Some teacher recruitment agencies have a database of teachers. The database lists the teacher's geographical location, their teaching experience and their areas of expertise. Most teacher recruitment is now concerned with addressing shortages in certain areas. For example there is a shortage of math's and religious education specialist in the UK and English, maths, and special education specialists in the US.
Teacher shortages in the UK have become so critical that there is an increased use of classroom assistants. Teacher recruitment has become a priority and the Government has introduced a graduate teachers program. With this program teachers receive pay while they are attached to a certain school and undergoing training. Sometimes they fill a vacancy at the school where they have been training and sometimes they have to apply to an agency for a permanent position. Some teachers will undertake supply teaching until a suitable job comes up. Newly qualified teachers in the UK are guaranteed a certain starting salary but there is still a shortage of secondary school teachers who may specialize in a particular subject. Some newly qualified teacher in both the UK and the US apply for teaching positions abroad. These positions are found at recruitment fairs and through agencies and newspapers.