Using LinkedIn to Address the National Teacher Shortage
SUCCESS STORY
The American public school system is facing a historic talent shortage for teachers. According to a recent survey by the Department of Education, almost half (45%) of schools nationwide report being understaffed, and a majority of schools say they have difficulty filling vacant teaching positions.
Schools have had to get creative with recruiting efforts, while still finding qualified candidates. The same survey stated that two-thirds of public schools reported their biggest challenge in hiring teachers was a need for more qualified candidates. LinkedIn enables schools to source, recruit, and hire qualified candidates.
LinkedIn can be a valuable tool for school systems like New York City Public Schools in addressing the historic talent shortage for teachers. NYC Public Schools, the largest school district in the United States, undertook a strategic initiative to improve their hiring process. By partnering with LinkedIn as part of a pilot program with 9 school districts across the US, they successfully and efficiently reached qualified candidates, particularly for high-need certification areas. LinkedIn can enhance a school system’s ability to build a strong, talented workforce to support student success.
THE CHALLENGE
Find qualified candidates who want to educate the next generation
As mentioned, NYC Public Schools is the largest school district in the United States, and this district’s biggest challenge is hiring 5,000 teachers annually to fill critical vacancies. The national teacher shortage exacerbated this challenge as the district needed to find candidates who were not only qualified but also met the eligibility requirements for specialized areas such as math, science, world languages, and career & technical education.
Filling the teacher gap requires both finding certified teachers with the right credentials and identifying professionals who might be interested in teaching and have the technical knowledge needed for the job. Usually, school systems have small recruitment teams, with only a few recruiters per district, making it difficult to conduct comprehensive searches of prospective teachers. The NYC Public Schools recruitment team is no different in that their resources are limited. Additionally, the number of candidates graduating from local colleges and univiersities do not fully satisfy the total open teacher vacancies in a given year.
“We can't be at every single education conference,” says Julie Gilmartin, Senior Marketing Communications Coordinator at New York City Public Schools. “We can't be meeting in person with every single university across the country. There’s only so much you can do with Google Ads. That's why LinkedIn is so important for us.”
THE SOLUTION
Use LinkedIn Jobs to create a steady pipeline of qualified candidates
To combat limited resources, the NYC Public Schools recruitment team partnered with LinkedIn to find professionals qualified for their open teaching positions. The district utilized the platform’s extensive professional network and targeting capabilities to recruit certified teachers in high-need subject areas. This strategy allowed the recruitment team to source candidates that would most likely be eligible to teach, whether they are a certified teacher or even a career changer with the right credentials to become a Career & Technical Education teacher.
LinkedIn enabled the district to analyze robust metrics to measure the traffic to jobs that were posted. Julie Gilmartin also explained, “our school system wanted to take a different approach and custom-create our jobs versus using the ATS integration. LinkedIn partnered with us to ensure the process was smooth in creating our jobs and optimizing them to maximize performance”.
Using these metrics enabled the district to see that their job posts were being surfaced to the right job seekers that matched their exact criteria. This targeted approach allowed them to efficiently extend their reach to qualified candidates and ultimately fill teaching positions.
By using LinkedIn Jobs, school districts like NYC Public Schools can tap into a vast network of professionals and reach a wider pool of qualified candidates. Whether it’s filling a single vacancy or building a long-term talent pipeline, LinkedIn Jobs can help K-12 school systems meet their hiring needs and achieve business goals.
Main products used:
THE RESULTS
NYC Public Schools took part in a 6-month pilot program with LinkedIn Jobs and saw the following results:
Increased Job Views
69% increase on job views, specific to roles posted during the pilot period.
Increased Apply-Clicks
129% increase on total apply-clicks, specific to roles posted during the pilot period
Increasing job views and apply-clicks on LinkedIn can lead to a higher number of job applications, which can increase the chances of finding the right candidate for the desired, open role.
“If you want to reach career changers, if you want to reach a high caliber candidate, you have to be active on LinkedIn. It’s an extremely critical channel for us.”
About New York City Public Schools.
Our Mission at the New York City Public Schools is to ensure that each student graduates on a pathway to a rewarding career and long-term economic security, equipped to be a positive force for change.
INDUSTRY
Education
HEADQUARTERS
New York, NY
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