Last week, I was fortunate to come across a LinkedIn post from Sarah Tate explaining the launch of her new recruitment app, Teacher Recruit at FOBISIA Bangkok.
As ever curious, I messaged her to find out more. Later the same week, we held a discussion in which she provided more details about this innovative app she created with her business partners to support international teachers and schools. As a British parent with children in international schools for over a decade, Sarah was aware of the costs incurred by schools in order to find suitable teachers. She hoped that developing an app to reduce this cost, could be one way to support schools to reduce their costs to parents.
Over a year of extensive market research, Sarah and her team identified a gap in the international teacher hiring market and worked hard to design and refine their product. Their app simplifies and streamlines the hiring process for both international teachers and schools. They identified two main areas in which Teacher Recruit could help:
1. Each international school and/or recruiter requires a bespoke cover letter and application. This is time-consuming especially as multiple applications are often necessary. Even more frustrating is that some of the applications may never be considered by a school.
2. For Millennials and Gen Z teachers in particular, scrolling through endless job boards is highly off-putting.
Keen to find a solution, the Teacher Recruit app was developed. We all know about ‘swipe right’ in dating apps, but what if choosing a new teaching job was as easy as this?
The app requires the teacher to upload their profile once, in which they list their experience, the role sought, and their desired location. Once complete, a teacher can view schools that show up on their feed that match their profile. If the roles are interesting, a teacher can swipe. If not, they can simply scroll on. As schools receive only candidates who match their requirements, the hiring process is streamlined as they do not receive irrelevant replies.
What happens after ‘swiping right’?
The algorithm filters the teacher’s profile through to the school. The teacher appears in the school’s feed as an ‘interested candidate’. If there is a ‘good match’, HR can progress the application to the next stage, which the school decides. This could involve a chat, an interview or sharing more information.
Do teachers pay a fee?
They do not. Instead, the schools pay a yearly fee to add and remove as many jobs as they want over the year. Sarah explained this rate is around 10 percent of the cost of standard hiring companies.
Can any nationality apply?
Yes. Currently, the UK, America, Australia, and Canada are suffering a teacher shortage. These countries historically supplied teachers to international schools. However, as Teacher Recruit works with global teachers, they can expand the ‘pool’ of well-qualified teachers available to schools worldwide. This initiative strongly supports DEIJ in opening opportunities to local qualified teachers and teachers from other countries.
What coverage do Teacher Recruit have?
Teacher Recruit has a global support team based in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Dubai, and China, plus offices in the UK and Singapore. The team provides personalised support and has a deep understanding of local and global recruitment landscapes.
How can teachers be sure the schools are legit?
Sarah works with tier 1 schools, and the company is an affiliate of British Schools in the Middle East (BSME), the Council of British International Schools (COBIS), and the Federation of British International Schools in Asia (FOBISIA). Teacher Recruit allows teachers to filter for member schools that meet these high standards.
How do I sign up?
Simply download the app and start scrolling!
Contact details for Teacher Recruit
To download the app:
New to International Teaching with Jess Gosling 