When you're looking for a new job (or your first job!) in education, it can be daunting and hard to know where to start. Using a recruitment agency can help, but with lots of them to choose from, where do you start? As education recruitment specialists, here at Smart Teachers, we find teachers and support staff jobs every day, so here are four things for you to consider when choosing your recruitment agency.

Find the right fit for you

It's ok to search around a few different agencies before you make your selection - we are all different and one agency might suit you better than another. To find the right agency, make sure you talk to the agency to see if they are friendly, trustworthy and give honest advice – and that they work with schools in the areas you are looking for. A good agency will have dedicated consultants who will take the time to get to know you and your skills and experience, to find the perfect role for you. And that's exactly what we provide at Smart Teachers, plus our consultants will be there for you the whole way through your time with us not just the application process, so they can support and guide you in any way they can.

How are they going to make your life easier?

Working in education has so many benefits and is rewarding in so many ways, but let's face it, every role has it's challenges - especially when there's a pandemic going on! So, you want an agency who will make your life easier, giving you time to focus on overcoming those challenges. You don't want to have to constantly be calling an agency because they haven't paid you on time and you don't want to feel uncertain about the supply of work you may or may not get.

Look out for agencies who are AWR (Agency Worked Regulations) compliant to make sure your pay and working conditions are protected. And look for agencies who avoid umbrella companies for payroll. Here at Smart Teachers, we are AWR compliant and process all our payroll in-house using PAYE (Pay As You Earn), so you can contact us directly about your pay with no umbrella company and no hidden charges. These things are important to you, so they are important to us too.

Do they offer the work that suits you?

It sounds obvious but remember to check carefully what roles the agency offers. We often find that people think we only find work for teachers, but actually we recruit for a whole host of roles in education – teachers, teaching assistants, NQTs, cover supervisors and other support staff and all across primary , secondary and SEND schools. We also have a range of contract types – we offer daily supply, short and long term placements and permanent roles. You never know, you might see a role you might not have considered before so it's worth checking.

It's a good idea to contact the agency even if you can't see the exact job role you are looking for because new opportunities come up every day and it may not have made it into the system yet.

To CV or not to CV?

Even if a recruitment agency is asking for a CV don't be put off if yours is not ready to go. It's often used for internal systems to start with, so isn't essential quite yet. A good agency will want you to talk through your previous roles and experience any way rather than read about it, and they can always help you fine-tune your CV later if needed. We always want to hear from candidates whether they've got a CV or not.

Start your job search today

We hope this has helped you on your way to your perfect education job. And if you want to find out more about us and the jobs we offer, take a look at our job vacancies or call your local branch today, we'd love to hear from you.