Recruitment Room 101: Insights for Education Hiring

By Senploy in BLOG on November 19th 2025

Our Founder and Managing Director, Amy Allen, attended a brilliantly structured Recruitment Room 101 webinar hosted by Natasha Preocanin of IHR, featuring insights from Tribepad’s Matt Ingram-Smith and a panel of experienced in-house Talent Acquisition (TA) professionals.

For anyone unfamiliar with the format, Room 101 is the idea of banishing the most frustrating parts of a process by pulling an imaginary lever and saying goodbye to poor practices forever. In the webinar version, the panel explored the recruitment habits, barriers and outdated approaches they would happily remove from hiring altogether.

Although the conversation drew in people from many sectors, the themes raised felt incredibly relevant to the world of education recruitment. Whether you’re hiring teachers, teaching assistants, SEND specialists or school support staff, the frustrations voiced by in-house TA teams offer valuable insights for agencies, schools and MATs looking to attract better candidates.

Below is a closer look at the key themes, and what they mean for improving recruitment in schools.

A Widespread Candidate Shortage and Why It Matters for Education

One of the first shared frustrations was the shortage of suitable applicants. This challenge was echoed across every industry represented, and education is no exception. Schools, MATs and education recruitment agencies are all competing for candidates who have the right values, mindset and resilience to thrive in learning environments.

What made this insight especially relevant was the source. These comments came directly from in-house recruiters; the hiring partners agencies rely on. Their frustrations reflect the expectations and pressures shaping the modern recruitment landscape.

For agencies supporting the education sector, understanding what TA teams want (and what they find unhelpful) is essential. Aligning with their expectations leads to better shortlisting, stronger partnerships, and ultimately more successful placements.

But the discussion also revealed something more surprising: many of the barriers to attracting candidates are not external but built into the hiring process itself.

Room 101 Issue #1: Recruitment Processes That Exclude Strong Candidates

One of the most powerful insights was how traditional recruitment processes unintentionally shut out brilliant applicants. Many TA leaders highlighted the harmful assumptions that affect candidate behaviour:

Harmful Assumptions

the assumption that everyone can produce a strong, polished CV
the assumption that all applicants understand sector jargon
the assumption that candidates will apply even if they don’t meet every requirement
the assumption that everyone has equal digital confidence
the assumption that people will ‘just apply’ if they’re interested

These assumptions are especially limiting in education recruitment, where many excellent teaching assistants, SEND workers, mentors and pastoral staff come from non-traditional backgrounds.

A career changer leaving the corporate world may feel intimidated by school-specific terms. A parent returning to work may worry their skills don’t ‘count.’ A young person looking for their first job in education may feel discouraged by rigid requirements.

When advert language is overly formal or intimidating, those doubts only grow.

This is why Senploy encourages schools and agencies to create multiple advert versions, tailored to different types of candidates. Clear, accessible language helps more people see themselves in the role, widening the talent pool and improving candidate quality.

For further tips, visit Niche Job Boards in the Age of AI - Senploy and When Health & Social Care Meets Education: Shared Challenges ....

Room 101 Issue #2: When CVs (and AI Screening) Block the Best People

CVs, and the rise of AI-screened CVs, was another major frustration. Many in-house recruiters expressed concern about:

Main Concerns

AI-generated CVs increasing application volume
keyword-based filtering removing candidates prematurely
highly capable applicants being rejected before a human sees them

This creates a significant challenge for education employers. Many qualities that matter most in the classroom such as empathy, patience, rapport-building and resilience sometimes do not shine through clearly on a CV. Yet traditional processes still rely heavily on CVs as the first (and sometimes only) screening tool.

Other industries are now moving toward question-based applications, allowing candidates to demonstrate mindset and attributes rather than polished formatting. This is particularly effective for early-career candidates, career changers, and those without formal experience.

The education sector has a real opportunity to adopt similar approaches, especially for teaching assistant roles, SEND support posts and early-career pathways.

Room 101 Issue #3: Jargon-Heavy Job Adverts That Push Candidates Away

Another frustration that sparked lively debate was the overuse of jargon in job adverts. Overly acronym-heavy descriptions, long lists of duties and extensive terminology create an unnecessary barrier, especially for those entering the education sector for the first time.

A potential teaching assistant might read phrases like ‘differentiated curriculum delivery’ or ‘scaffolded instruction’ and feel unsure, even if they’d be brilliant in practice. Career changers, returners and newly qualified candidates are often the first to be discouraged.

Advert Language

In a sector where candidate shortages are a real concern, we cannot afford to lose people because of avoidable language choices. Clear, friendly, purpose-focused adverts attract more diverse, more confident and more engaged applicants.

What This Means for Improving Education Recruitment

The message from in-house TA leaders was simple:

‘Recruitment processes need to be more accessible, more human and better aligned with how people actually search and apply for jobs today.’

For the education sector, this means:

looking beyond rigid experience requirements
focusing more on the qualities that support children and young people
creating adverts that empower rather than intimidate
exploring application methods that reveal potential (not just previous experience)
reducing reliance on keyword-filtered CVs
making every part of the process welcoming to career changers and early-career applicants

The pressures on schools are growing, needs are becoming more complex, and competition for great people is increasing. This is exactly the moment to rethink how we identify and nurture potential.

Senploy’s Perspective: Supporting Better Hiring Across Education

At Senploy, CVs remain part of the application process because schools, MATs and agencies still expect them. They offer structure, consistency and a familiar starting point for shortlisting. However, we also recognise that a CV only tells part of someone’s story, and for many roles in education, it often isn’t the part that matters most.

It’s also important to acknowledge that many schools and MATs still require lengthy application forms. While these forms support DfE safer recruitment guidance, they can create an additional barrier for candidates, particularly those new to the sector. There is also some ambiguity about whether such forms must be completed at the initial stage of applying, which is why increasing numbers of schools are now adopting a CV-first approach. This allows applicants to express interest more quickly and confidently, with the full application form introduced later in the process once engagement is established.

If the sector continues moving toward more accessible, attribute-focused or question-based early-stage applications, Senploy will evolve with it. Our priority has always been to help schools and agencies find the right people, and to ensure that the recruitment journey welcomes rather than discourages new talent.

We remain committed to promoting inclusive, accessible job adverts, supporting career changers and new entrants into education, helping organisations attract more diverse talent, and encouraging practices that remove barriers rather than reinforce them.

Recruitment should open doors and not close them.

For further sector insights and updates, see Government Announces New Teacher Training Incentives to Boost Recruitment and Blog Hub - Senploy.

Final Thought

The Recruitment Room 101 webinar may not have been designed specifically for education, but its insights feel especially urgent for a sector facing rising demand and increasing complexity. Recruitment has always been about people; their potential, their values, and their ability to make a difference.

If education wants to secure the workforce it needs, the sector must embrace processes that welcome, include and empower the very people who could thrive within it.

So now we ask:

If you could banish one thing from the education recruitment process, what would it be?
We’d love to hear your perspective.