Ever considered a career in Education Recruitment, or you’d like to know more about what goes into being a recruitment consultant?

Thrive (Education) Recruitment Limited specialise in roles within the Education sector. Today we thought it may be useful to share the day-to-day experiences of our recruitment consultant. Ellis has shared below how a typical day at Thrive Education runs including recruiting for roles such as:

• Early years practitioners
• Teaching Assistants
• Primary Teachers
• SEN / SEMH specialists
• School Business Managers
• Senior Leadership
• School Support

Let us take you through a typical day in the life of an Education recruitment consultant here at Thrive Education. In the words of Ellis Thorne:

Early morning

Routine is so important for me. I wake up, check emails and get ready for the day ahead. My suit is freshly ironed, and lunch/breakfast has already been made the evening before. Being organised allows me to be ready for the influx of phone calls we’ll receive later that morning from the school cover coordinators. It’s not unusual for them to call in requesting supply teachers anywhere from 6.30am onwards. Being up and ready to help and support these school even at these early hours is a must, I love being able to support my schools at any time of the day.

After supply bookings are filled, I arrive at the office and start sending candidate confirmations to the schools who have booked that morning, ensuring the schools receive the information prior to the practitioner arriving at each setting.

Morning

Now the chaos of the early morning is over I can now review my to-do-list (usually written the day before) and prioritise all my tasks ensuring I have a productive plan for the day.
Responding to emails is always top of my list. Regardless of whether it is from a candidate, client or even a work colleague. After all, being a good recruiter is all about delivering a high-quality service and being punctual is a key trait.
With the types of jobs, I recruit for, more often than not, I can receive a large number of applications, so taking the time to review the applications is paramount to ensure I am making the right decisions. The candidates who are most suitable and comparable to the setting I am recruiting for I will call later that morning. Those not so suitable I will send a follow up email highlighting why they are not suitable and what they need to do to become successful in the future. I always try to ensure that the feedback I provide is constructive, just because one role isn’t suitable doesn’t mean another role isn’t.
The rest of the morning consists of CV Searching, Social Media engagement and business development.

Afternoon

Successful candidate attraction is one of the most important components to any recruitment agency, especially in a candidate short market like the Education sector. Once I have exhausted the job boards at my disposal, I will then get on the phone and start calling applicants to have an initial chat with them. An important thing to remember as a recruiter is that you are ALWAYS selling in some shape or form, regardless of who you are speaking to. When speaking to the prospective candidates it is important to know your business, know what USP’s you can offer that your competitors don’t and for crying out loud, BE GENUINE AND TRANSPARENT!

At Thrive Education we aim to ensure that all of our candidates are dedicated, enthusiastic and passionate about education just like we are. Therefore, I like to establish the reason behind why each individual has applied for the specific role, qualifying their suitability for the role as well as ensuring we are the right company for them. If a candidate is eligible to work for Thrive Education and can pass our vigorous safeguarding and compliance checks I will then arrange a meeting with them to get them registered and onboarded. I always prefer to do these in person, however due to recent Covid-19 restrictions I will set up a Skype/Zoom call. The purpose of this meeting is to go into further detail about the candidates’ skills, work history, personality, motivations, and establish what type of school settings and roles they will be best suited to.

The majority of our clients tend to look for a ‘personality fit’ along with qualifications and experience. So being able to speak to my candidates face to face allows me to get to know them better. Whether it be a single day of supply or a permanent role, I always ensure that the people I put forward for a role is not just a skills match, I genuinely believe that they would be a great fit for my clients setting; more importantly the BEST match for the pupils.
My afternoon is spent calling my client and candidates to receive feedback on how placements have gone. In recruitment it is quite easy to get lost in the day-to-day running of the business and assuming that everything is running smoothly.

People commonly say that a day in recruitment is never the same, I completely agree. I believe a good recruiter to be someone that focuses on productivity, opposed to who spends the most time in the office.

Evening

Recruiting for the day isn’t over once I get home. Having an out of hours mobile allows candidates and clients communicate with me throughout the evenings, as most of them are working throughout the day. Being available 24/7 is crucial to the running of Thrive Education – we’re a small agency but a personable one, I want all our candidates to be able to come us with anything.

Recruitment is very fast-paced, demanding, and incredibly challenging on a day-to-day basis. It’s not a 9-5 kind of job. You need to use so many different skills every day and wear lots of different hats. That being said it is super rewarding – especially in the education sector.

If you are looking for a career where you get out what you put in, being a recruitment consultant is for you!