This is Why Facebook Will Be the Best Teacher Recruitment Platform of 2020

Facebook is the largest user platform out there. Many, however, still doubt its potential as a teacher recruiting tool in terms of both quantity and quality of candidates.

But increasingly we're getting inquiries by school heads wanting to give facebook recruiting a try. Why?

1. Deteriorating quality of most job boards out there.
2. LinkedIn has become a shark tank filled mostly with recruiters rather than candidates.

With Facebook, your pool of candidates is 2 billion people…
Simply put, EVERYONE is suddenly accessible.
The ability to extend your reach as a recruiter through Facebook is beyond any doubt.
On the flip side, educational recruiters often say that candidates on Facebook are mostly 'passive' - meaning they are not actively looking for a job.

In fact, the distinction between 'passive' and 'active' candidates is growing more and more blurred these days. With the millennial workforce in play, I would argue that most,  if not all, teachers and staff are open to new opportunities any and every day of the week…

As LinkedIn’s Talent Trends states:

“It turns out that … a whopping 45% are totally open to considering a new opportunity when approached by a recruiter. In other words, when you add these 'approachable' passive candidates to the 25% who say they are actively looking for a new job, 85% of the global workforce should be considered fair game.”

That’s not to say that 'passive' candidates don’t require more work and effort. While recruiters typically don’t have to spend too much effort to convert active candidates, passive candidates need coaxing.
For example, job postings don’t work on 'passive' candidates; aggressive outreach tactics also fall flat.

Recruiting passive candidates is about developing relationships, which takes time, energy, and resources.
'Passive' candidates typically have higher expectations and demands than 'active' candidates. Since they hold more leverage, they might require a higher salary, more scheduling flexibility, or further incentives than the school is willing to offer.
On the other hand, 'passive' candidates often turn usually turn out to be better hires. Being a valuable asset to their current schools or districts is usually a validation of their worth.
Their lack of urgency for a new job means they are less likely to be interviewing with other schools, which in turn means less competition for you.
It is also unlikely that they will lie or stretch the truth about their skills on their resumes; they don’t feel like they need to because you reached out to them first.
The CEB Recruiting Leadership Council Global Labour Market Briefing found that 'passive' candidates’ performance was rated 9 percent higher than active candidates; passive candidates were also 25 percent more likely to stay with the school for over 5 years.

So yes, with Facebook you can reach ‘anybody and everybody’.
Most of ‘anybody and everybody’ is passive when it comes to job seeking and thus require a little more effort. But at the end of the day, the passive candidate is more often than not the candidate you want to be spending your time on.
It is time well spent if you are a professional educational recruiter.

Moving on, while you CAN reach ‘anybody and everybody’ on Facebook, this is precisely what you do not want to do.
Recruitment advertising is following the core principles of marketing.
The search for talent is becoming more targeted, with messages that are more authentic and, at times, personal.
In this light, Facebook can give you powerful levers to drive better applicants to your job post. These targeting optimizations can mean the difference between a rush of unqualified resumes and a steady flow of qualified talent.

Unlike traditional ‘posting and praying’ on job boards, hoping that great candidates respond with the right qualifications, Facebook recruiting gives you control over the process.

And as a result, these days, small schools—not just the big districts— are able to take advantage of the trends.

Facebook is truly turning the job board industry on its head. You can now serve ads only to relevant and eager candidates using filters such as educational background, work experience, geographical location, and interests.

Facebook gives you the most detailed targeting options out there:

• Interests: Facebook has more interest-based data than anyone else in the world – and it is about things that actually matter to us as recruitment marketers. Thanks to that good ole “Like” button, Facebook knows what you’re interested in: the restaurants you like, the TV shows you watch, the music you listen to, the causes you believe in, the people who inspire you. On and on…
• Demographics: Reach people based on age, gender, language, education, employment, household, and lifestyle details. For example, just last month we switched up our targeting at a K-8 Arizona school and went after teachers in Minnesota yearning for warm weather. In 2 short weeks, we had tripled their applications.
• Online behavior: Reach educators based on their online activity (ie, visiting job boards).
• Location: one or more countries, regions, states, cities, postal codes, addresses. Targeting is so precise that you can, for example, create ads that only target teachers who have just move into your school's neighborhood.

In conclusion, tracking your results is one of the best things about using Facebook recruiting; you'll know exactly the impact of each and every dollar spent.

The platform will tell you how many applicants clicked on your ad, visited your page, and actually applied to your position.
You'll be able to measure and prove your cost-per-hire better than ever.
You'll also shift from the typical passive recruiting process to a performance recruitment mindset.
Facebook's rich suite of advertising options together with its detailed tracking dashboard serve as powerful levers to optimize your recruiting and drive better results!