How to Write a Job Post That Makes Teachers WANT to Apply

The teaching profession is experiencing a critical shortage across the country, making the competition for attracting and hiring talented educators fiercer than ever.

As someone who used to be in charge of teacher recruitment, I can personally attest that the market was tough back then. And it’s only gotten tougher.

You NEED great teachers in order to provide quality education, but if there aren’t qualified applicants applying to your job posts, what can you do about it?

To attract the best candidates and hire teachers and other faculty, you need job postings that not only outline the requirements and expectations but also genuinely excite and engage potential applicants.

But what does a great job description look like? Let’s dive in.

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1. Highlight Your School Culture 

Start with an introduction that shares the culture of your workplace.

For a lot of schools, we focus on sharing the culture of our school from an education- and student-focused perspective. While this is certainly an important part of your school, what you really want to do here is to focus on the culture of your school from a workplace perspective.

Too often we appeal to the teacher’s emotions with the idea of “teachers are in it for the kids.” While the students are at the heart of our mission, it’s unfair of schools to expect teachers to apply for jobs or work “just” for the kids.

It’s important to not only talk about how you support teachers but also to actually do the hard work of supporting teachers. You can easily highlight the ways your school supports teachers through:

• Social media testimonials
• Teacher stories and teacher recruitment videos on your careers page
• Review sites, such as Glassdoor (which 86% of job seekers look at before applying)

If you’re saying you support and value teachers at your school but your Glassdoor rating says otherwise, you need to look at the feedback you’re getting and focus on improving.

2. Showcase Opportunities for Career Development 

Teachers are in the business of learning, so it might seem obvious they’re likely interested in ways they can grow in their career.

In your teacher job listing, share the ways you support a teacher’s goals:

• Tuition for ongoing education and professional development
• How potential teachers will grow with your teacher coaching program
• Other career development support

By sharing these things in your job descriptions, you’ll show you’re as invested in your teachers as they are in their students.

As many teachers will attest, professional development provided by their school is frequently mediocre at best.

Now for an organization that prides itself on providing good education, you need to make sure you’re putting your money where your mouth is regarding professional development and training.

If you want to know what kind of professional development teachers want, all you have to do is ask! Don’t forget to ask for feedback in an anonymous survey after PD sessions to gain an understanding of what trainings were most impactful.

By the way, if you're interested in elevating your current coaching and PD efforts, check out SchoolMint Grow! Our partner schools regularly report how SchoolMint Grow helps them grow first-year teachers into fifth-year teachers.

3. Clearly Define the Role 

When outlining daily responsibilities, focus on keeping them clear while still emphasizing the flexibility and agency that teachers have in their own role. Clearly define the expectations your school has of teachers while also focusing on the positives of doing these duties at YOUR school rather than at a competing school.

All of you are vying for the same teacher candidates, so your school(s) must stand out!

Defining the role is a great way for you to highlight the little things your school does differently. For example:

• Are you on a block schedule?
• Do elementary school students have specials built into their schedule every day?
• Do you give teachers a longer-than-average prep and lunch break?

Whatever you do to positively impact your teachers’ workloads and life on a day-to-day basis should be baked into your job description.

4. Highlight Support and Agency 

In a changing cultural landscape with a high degree of contention surrounding education, teachers need to know they have the support and trust of the administration.

This can be challenging to demonstrate in a job post, so a great idea is to have a section that breaks down WHY a teacher should choose your school instead of another.

It’s perfectly acceptable to have a section that says “Why Choose [School Name]?” This way, you have an area to highlight all of the great aspects of working at your school.

5. Create Excitement Around Benefits 

Speaking of highlighting the best parts of working at your school, don’t forget to also share the tangible benefits your school provides.

These include things like:

• Health insurance
• PTO
• Gym/wellness benefits
• Tuition reimbursement
• Maternity/paternity leave
• Preferential enrollment for dependents

Don’t discount how strongly benefits factor into a teacher’s decision to apply for your role. If a teacher is deciding between two organizations with similar jobs and salaries, the benefits are often enough to push someone over to your side of the fence.

6. Use Engaging and Inclusive Language 

If you’re in HR or administration, chances are you don’t have a background in marketing, so you’ve never had to think about how to write like a marketer!

That’s why it’s so important to be really intentional about the language and tone of your job postings.

Try your best to write in a casual, friendly, and encouraging tone. You want to showcase your school as a fun and exciting place to work, so nix the stuffy, formal teacher recruitment language.

Consider adding a statement that specifically encourages candidates to apply even if they don’t meet every single requirement. If you’re serious about hiring diverse talent, make sure to encourage everyone to apply.

7. Make it Easy to Apply 

Now, you might be thinking that this isn’t REALLY part of the job description. Fair enough! But it’s still important enough that I want to emphasize it.

If you are serious about hiring, you need to get serious about making it EASY for prospective teachers to apply to your school.

In fact, with the talent shortage and stiff competition to hire teachers, you need to recognize that most teachers are in the position to be picky about where they apply.

A difficult application process or interview process sends a signal that your school doesn’t really value the needs and time of your prospective employees. Not a great way to start.

• Additional reading: Don’t Make These Teacher Interview Mistakes

8. Market Your School(s) to Teacher Candidates

Once you’ve got a strong teacher job description, how do you ensure the right candidates see it?

The first step is to post it on major job boards and work on improving your Glassdoor reviews.

But what if you’re still struggling to find and hire highly qualified teachers?

Consider working with a digital marketing agency to get the word out about your school and your career opportunities!

SchoolMint has an incredibly talented team of digital and social media marketing professionals who can help your school/district with staff and teacher recruitment. 

So if you’re ready to get eyes on that great job description, reach out to our team, and we’ll share how we can help you fill those open positions with the right candidates.

Learn more about our highly effective teacher and staff recruitment service here.

Additionally, be sure to register for my upcoming recruitment-focused webinar, From Teacher Shortage to Staffing Success: How to Fill Your Classrooms — Fast.