Is a TES recruitment subscription package right for your school?
15 September 2023
Independent advice from one of the leading recruitment advertising and marketing agencies within the education sector
When it comes to recruiting Teachers and School Leaders, our media analysis continues to prove the TES is the leading platform to reach active job seekers who are looking for new opportunities within the education sector. However, with the TES being a premium product, it comes at a premium price which can result in the costs of the TES taking up a very significant portion of school recruitment advertising budgets.
Whether choosing to use the TES on a pay as you go basis or taking advantage of one of their annual subscription packages, ensuring you have engaging and relevant advertising copy is key in being able to recruit successfully. Our highly skilled copywriters are on hand to assist you with this.
If you are exploring the idea of taking up a TES recruitment subscription, there are several factors worth considering
Advertising Spend
TES recruitment subscription packages are not designed for schools to reduce the amount they spend with the TES. However, they do enable you to gain more value for money from your advertising spend, i.e. allowing advertisements to be placed in multiple categories for no extra cost, thereby increasing your reach. Similarly, you’re not faced with another big advertising bill should you need to re-advertise a role. Further, the fixed costs provide greater certainty over budgets.
Recruitment Budgets
It is important to consider your total recruitment budget, as supposed to solely your advertising spend alone. If you are finding you are needing to go to recruitment agencies frequently, an improved advertising strategy will reduce agency costs. A TES recruitment subscription can play a key part in this along with improved advertising content, and a more efficient candidate journey and engagement strategy. Please contact us to discuss how we can help you with this.
From a budgeting perspective, there are of course benefits to having a fixed cost for the year. However, not all subscription packages cover all roles such as Senior Leadership (Principals, Head Teachers, Assistant Heads, and Deputy Heads) and therefore you will need to factor in the possibility of contingency budgets. This is also the case for support roles, for which other media should be considered alongside the TES.
Location
The shortage of teachers, particularly in STEM subjects, is well documented. But the national picture is not always the same on a local level. Is your school in an area where there’s intense competition or do you find that you have no trouble in attracting applications? If the former, how do you stand out ahead of your local competition for the best candidates? If the latter, how do you ensure you are getting more relevant applications from candidates that will make a long-lasting impact on your school?
Recruitment Forecasts
Estimating how many posts will need to be filled in the next 12 months is one of the hardest tasks for any HR/Recruitment professional, even more so in schools where recruitment is often very reactive to last-minute resignations at the end of the term. However, there are indicators that can help predict an increase in volume, i.e. change in Senior Leadership, upcoming retirees, and availability of promotion opportunities – for instance if your Heads of Departments are newly in post it is unlikely they will be looking to change roles in the next 12 months, but if they have been in the role for a while and there is no room for them to progress there is a strong chance they may decide to move on.
Media Effectiveness and Return on Investment
How are you currently tracking your spend and the source of your candidates, i.e. when a candidate says they saw the job on your site, how did they know to look there? Which of your advertising media are resulting in applications and more importantly interviews and hires? It can be easy to assume that the TES are delivering all your candidates but this may not be the case for all subjects and roles, particularly non teaching posts. Our management reporting tools track and monitor media performance on an ongoing basis to ensure our clients receive the maximum return on investment from their advertising spend. Our extensive data also plays a key role in media buying, enabling evidence based buying decisions and assisting in media negotiations, ensuring greater value for money.
Speak to us today for impartial and independent advice on how you can get more out of your advertising with TES and other media platforms as well as alternative attraction strategies, including using social media to reach passive job seekers.
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