Recruiting for 2025-2026… Now?
When is the right time to find your next rockstar teacher? Always!!! Recruitment of solid educators is a constant in the work of a school leader. Understanding the impacts on recruitment at different times of the year is important and can influence a school leader’s ability to recruit top talent. There are the peaks of hiring season and the lows of hiring season for educators. Given the trends with educator hiring over the last few years it will only help to ramp up recruitment activity NOW.
Seasonal Trends
Teacher hiring typically follows a seasonal pattern, with the majority of recruitment occurring in the spring and summer months. If you considered what your recruitment activity should probably look like by month you should refer to the above graphic. Schools often begin the hiring process in late winter or early spring to fill positions for the upcoming academic year, aiming to have staff in place before the school year starts in late summer or early fall. Visibility is key. So beginning your recruitment campaign in January makes you visible and causes people to think about you.
Peak Hiring Periods
The peak hiring period usually spans from March to August. During this time, schools actively post job openings, conduct interviews, and extend offers to candidates. This timeline allows for onboarding and professional development before the academic year commences. However, In Florida, teacher vacancies have been a significant concern. The Florida Department of Education reported a 13.3% decrease in teacher vacancies for the 2024-2025 school year compared to the previous year, averaging 1.11 vacancies per school. This improvement follows a prior year’s drop of over 8% and to find continued improvement, we believe that is important to start the recruitment process earlier.
January is an important month to impact and influence mindset as it is the season of new resolutions and goal setting for many individuals. Some people may want to level up in their careers acknowledging their experience, some might want a change of scenery and some may simply have been thinking about your school community. Either way it is a great time to get people thinking about learning more about your school as they begin planning for the next year and goal set for themselves.
Here are some ideas to help you launch your campaign and begin your recruitment activity for the upcoming school year.
Host a Winter Recruitment Fair/ Open House
Organize a virtual or in-person hiring fair focused on filling teaching positions early. Partner with local universities, colleges, and teacher certification programs. Offer immediate interviews or on-the-spot hiring opportunities.
Organize an Information Session Happy Hour
Host a happy hour for individuals who want to learn about the school. Invitesome staff ambassadors (i.e. department heads, veteran teachers, teachers trying to have their friends join the community) to speak on behalf of the community during the networking time. Share a brief welcome and a targeted message.
Partner with Teacher Preparation Programs
Collaborate with colleges and universities to connect with student-teachers and recent graduates. Offer job previews, student teaching placements, or mentorship programs to build a pipeline of talent.
Leverage Social Media Campaigns
Launch a January campaign highlighting why teachers love working at your school. Share engaging videos, testimonials, and school success stories to build excitement. Use hashtags like #TeachWithUs or #JoinOurTeam to increase reach.
Provide Referral Bonuses
Leverage Current Staff for Outreach. Ask current teachers to share job openings within their networks and on their personal social media accounts.Involve staff in January recruiting events as ambassadors. Advertise and offer current staff incentives for referring qualified candidates, such as monetary bonuses, gift cards, or additional time off.
Attend Job Fairs and Networking Events
Participate in January job fairs hosted by universities, educational organizations, or local employment agencies.Bring representatives who can speak about your school’s culture, growth opportunities, and benefits.
Launch Early Signing Bonuses
Offer early signing bonuses to incentivize teachers to commit during January. Structure bonuses with retention clauses to ensure long-term hires.
Develop a Recruitment Video
Create a professional video showcasing your school’s culture, mission, and what sets it apart. Include visuals of classrooms, extracurriculars, and teacher testimonials.
Use Local Media
Advertise job openings on local radio, newspapers, and community bulletin boards. Send press releases about your recruitment efforts to local outlets.
Retention
Retention is a pivotal strategy for recruitment that is often overlooked. If staff are happy they stay and if they stay then there are less roles to try and fill. Hence, staff satisfaction is a strategy to ensure an effective recruitment season. Additionally, it will have a substantial positive impact on your community to retain your staff and keep the ecosystem of the school community consistent and stable. There are a couple of strategies that can assist with retention of staff from year to year. Here are three very critical strategies:
Build a Positive and Supportive Work Culture
A school’s culture has a direct impact on teacher satisfaction and morale. A supportive environment where staff feel valued, respected, and part of a collaborative community can significantly increase retention. To ensure that you are creating a positive and supportive culture, build strong relationships among staff and leadership, celebrate achievements and milestones, and provide consistent emotional and professional support.
Provide Opportunities for Professional Growth
Teachers are more likely to stay when they see clear pathways for career development and opportunities to grow in their skills. Stagnation often leads to disengagement and turnover. You can provide space for development by offering ongoing professional development and mentorship programs, creating leadership pathways (e.g., instructional coaching or department head roles), and funding teacher participation in workshops, conferences, or advanced degree programs.
Offer Competitive Compensation and Workload Support
While passion drives many educators, financial security and manageable workloads are essential to prevent burnout and turnover. Competitive pay and reducing unnecessary administrative burdens directly impact retention. Potential ways to create the space for competitive compensation and workload support are by advocating for higher salaries and benefits packages during renewal season if appropriate, providing stipends for extra responsibilities or advanced certifications, and streamlining processes and offering additional staffing (e.g., aides, counselors) to reduce teacher workload.
Recruiting should always be on the mind of a school leader as it is their responsibility to manage the success of the ecosystem. A success that is driven by the people that you have “aboard your ship”, in your school to help the young people you serve succeed. A school leader is responsible for driving succession plans so that the ecosystem maintains its health and does not take a step back when there is a transition. So start early, be a visionary and see your people. Begin your recruitment activity NOW.
