When looking to learn more about a job, where’s the first place you go? If you said the organization’s career page, then you’d be in good company.
Research shows that nearly 90% of job seekers say an employer’s career page is an important source for gathering information, and over half report that they use a company’s career page as an indicator of what it would be like to work there. As you look to expand your recruitment efforts, it’s imperative that your employment page is informative and compelling for potential applicants. For many candidates, your school’s employment page is their first interaction with the school.
As part of our research on faculty recruitment and hiring, we developed the Employment Page Audit, which examines ten key components of independent school employment pages. The components are critical to enabling candidates to easily locate information about working at your school, the social and professional culture, and the many perks of being a member of your faculty. The audit assesses the following best-in-class features.
Our audit of 120 independent school employment pages revealed that most schools are not effectively using their employment page to showcase the many benefits of working at their school and all that their school community has to offer. Roughly half of schools did not provide any information about benefits or professional development opportunities, despite 60% of people citing benefits as a major factor in considering a job offer and 86% of people citing professional development as important to their job satisfaction. Less than a third of schools addressed diversity, equity and inclusion. And only 10% included information about their hiring process.
ISEF Member School’s Employment Page Features
While all ten best-in-class features play an important role in an effective employment page, our research suggests that the following three are particularly critical.
1) Showcase the benefits available to faculty
When considering new employment opportunities, candidates consider available benefits for themselves and their families. Healthcare, retirement plans, tuition remission, and conveniences like free lunch or childcare are all excellent benefits to highlight on your employment page. Providing information about eligibility and pricing helps paint a clear picture of what candidates can expect as a member of your faculty.
Best-In-Class Examples: Oregon Episcopal School links their Employee Benefits Guide directly on their employment page, showing candidates exactly what they offer current faculty. The Baylor School created a separate written section on their employment page that outlines benefits ranging from health insurance to pension plans.
2) Provide information on professional development opportunities
It’s no secret that Millennials are interested in professional development. The rising generation of independent schoolteachers want to know what opportunities will be available for their personal and professional growth at your school. Independent schools offer a wide range of professional development, including conferences, in-house training, and funding for continued education, research, and subject-specific travel. Highlighting both a broad overview of your professional development opportunities as well as tangible examples of what current faculty have done is a great way to help candidates see themselves growing at your school.
Best-In-Class Examples: Garrison Forest School’s professional development section outlines their available grants, summer sabbaticals, workshops and conferences. The Pingry School provides a section on professional development that highlights financial support for advanced degrees, endowed chairs for teachers, and summer fellowships.
3) Demonstrate commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)
As schools look to diversify their faculty body, it’s critical to include information on diversity, equity and inclusion directly on your employment page. This is a great place to highlight current and ongoing initiatives, how DEI ties in with your larger school mission, and what your school’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion looks like on campus.
Best-In-Class Examples: Berkeley Carroll School’s employment page contains a section titled “Commitment to Diversity” to highlight how diversity is connected to their mission, how it impacts their teaching, and all the ways in which they embrace different types of diversity on campus. The Gilman School’s “Our Commitment to Community, Inclusion and Equity” section provides both information directly on their page and a link to their full Community Inclusion and Equity site.
When a school brings all ten features together in one place, they create a useful and exciting employment page for potential candidates. An exemplary employment page goes beyond the basic needs of potential candidates and showcases the immense benefits of joining the school community. Best-in-class examples of such pages include The Pingry School, The Master’s School, and Wildwood School.
