State of the job market

[Zammo]

Hello all,

 

I have been monitoring the jobs forum on edugeek for a number of years, and it seems to me that recently (the last 12 months) the number of adverts has gone through the roof. In particular adverts for data managers, medium sized school network managers and standard technicians.

 

Is that what other people are seeing?

 

Also, from my own experiences of recruiting to these positions there seems to be a huge shortage of quality applicants. Those that we do get are 90% of the time through an agency.*

 

So what's causing this? Do people not want to work in a School? Is it the pay (an obvious answer, but i'm not convinced)? Is there just a general shortage of IT technicians, not just in education? Maybe Schools are too insular and try too hard to hire people who have already worked in Schools, when they should be looking to industry more?

 

I am really interested to see what other people think.

 

 

* maybe people just don't want to work with me

[pcstru]

IMO the biggest single issue in attracting a consistent response from quality candidates is pay. That's not to say you won't get quality candidates, just that the numbers will be lower. I think generally there is a shortage of people with good tech skills in breadth and depth.

[Ephelyon]

Agreed - I think another issue is that technical knowledge and skills aren't really valued as something to pay well for in this sector. The pay only goes up when you take on more management responsibilities, which is appropriate in its own right but it shouldn't be restricted to that alone. It's often different in industry, where you pay more money to hire a better programmer, say, rather than only for a programming team leader.

[Techykev]

Agree with all the above, I have been looking for a move to a more local school for several months now but all of the posts that come up have been for 15hrs per week term time plus one or two weeks. Either that or they were ridiculously low payed, ie: a full time (35hrs a week, term time plus 5 weeks) ICT Technician post for £5.57 per hour? This was a MAT that obviously doesn't apply LEA pay guidelines.

Really makes me depressed that support staff are so undervalued at so many schools these days, especially MAT's that think non-teaching posts are unimportant and the job market is such that they can offer whatever they like and someone will be desperate enough to apply.

[Lonix]

Hello all,I have been monitoring the jobs forum on edugeek for a number of years, and it seems to me that recently (the last 12 months) the number of adverts has gone through the roof. In particular adverts for data managers, medium sized school network managers and standard technicians.Is that what other people are seeing?Also, from my own experiences of recruiting to these positions there seems to be a huge shortage of quality applicants. Those that we do get are 90% of the time through an agency.*So what's causing this? Do people not want to work in a School? Is it the pay (an obvious answer, but i'm not convinced)? Is there just a general shortage of IT technicians, not just in education? Maybe Schools are too insular and try too hard to hire people who have already worked in Schools, when they should be looking to industry more?I am really interested to see what other people think.* maybe people just don't want to work with me

 

You're not the only one that's noticed this. I've been saying a similar thing (even other lists/forums more local to me and not EduGeek).

 

There seems to be a rise in required technical staff for education and yes I'd say a drop in experience/qualified applicants. I've done interviews and I consider my self very lucky to the team I have. We had around 30 job applicants for each job for a technician and we'd only put through around 20% that had some level of experience and/or qualifications.

 

Problem is most of my friends who worked in education have all gone to business. I've lost technicians who have walked away from lowest pay > £20,000 to a job offering £24,000 for a starting point. Not only are the majority of them much happier and less stressed, they have also gained promotions and pay rises.

 

I consider my self lucky to be on what I'm on in education but I can't deny that I've been tempted to go. The friends I have who do interviews don't mention the same concerns I have every time we have to employ a new technician but that's only our experience. Even junior/trainee technicians don't stick around for more than two years and I can't blame them.

 

More and more Schools need IT to work and can't keep employing ex students to fill the gap. Instead they need people to walk in and get on with the job - it's also why at times I may choose experience over qualifications. I really am last of all my old crew that's still in education....

[Zammo]

Agreed - I think another issue is that technical knowledge and skills aren't really valued as something to pay well for in this sector. The pay only goes up when you take on more management responsibilities, which is appropriate in its own right but it shouldn't be restricted to that alone. It's often different in industry, where you pay more money to hire a better programmer, say, rather than only for a programming team leader.

 

I think this may be a valid point. We are currently advertising for a "Systems Admin" which is quite uncommon in Schools believe - someone in the 30-35k bracket but without management responsibilities.

[Ephelyon]

... which is what you'd expect to see for that role elsewhere (and should here too), yes. Then again, I think @GrumbleDook and I may disagree on this point...

[3s-gtech]

We discussed this in another topic - I believe that a number of schools are bringing tech back in-house after using external contractors (hence RM's woes, perhaps) while the requirement for more (and more specialist) IT skills within education is growing. Unfortunately, this requirement is pushing against ever tightening budgets and is perhaps supporting a 'tech instead of teachers' approach. Huge variance in pay that I've noticed - everything from "woooah, that's double what I'm on" to "I don't think that would pay my fuel bill each month".

[Lonix]

We discussed this in another topic - I believe that a number of schools are bringing tech back in-house after using external contractors (hence RM's woes, perhaps) while the requirement for more (and more specialist) IT skills within education is growing. Unfortunately, this requirement is pushing against ever tightening budgets and is perhaps supporting a 'tech instead of teachers' approach. Huge variance in pay that I've noticed - everything from "woooah, that's double what I'm on" to "I don't think that would pay my fuel bill each month".

Good point, plus the whole BSF catch-up where Schools are on their own again.

[GrumbleDook]

@Ephelyon and I have been looking at the breadth and depth of jobs that come up, and it looks like the common factor on low pay is lack of strategic responsibility ... but it all depends on how schools phrased that responsibility.

 

Some will phrase it as Leadership, some as Management, some as Strategic ... and they can mean exactly the same or wildly different things. That is the frustrating part.

 

We have tried to look at where adherence to the NJC scales happens, and find that the skill sets ask for don't meet some of the interpretations of JDs and Person Specs ... then again, after the problems with single status and so on, is that surprising. What is surprising is the number of academies that are opting to stay with the LA scales when they convert ... for those who have been involved as Governors, you will know how much fun changing the support staff scales can be!

 

Unfortunately my general workload over the last 2 years has not allowed me to finish of the investigation (still cataloging things are they are found though) but I hope to do this this next year, possibly with the support of a professional body (not BCS ... they honestly don't give a crap about NMs and techies in schools, in spite of the SFIA+ framework ... and unless some brave soul wants to spend a long tie trying to engage with them on behalf of EG, this is unlikely to change).

 

In short, quite a lot of jobs out there, the grade and salary do not always reflect what is being asked for but people are still applying ... would people say it is an employer's market right now? Looks that way.

[jmak]

Hello all,

 

I have been monitoring the jobs forum on edugeek for a number of years, and it seems to me that recently (the last 12 months) the number of adverts has gone through the roof. In particular adverts for data managers, medium sized school network managers and standard technicians.

 

Is that what other people are seeing?

 

Also, from my own experiences of recruiting to these positions there seems to be a huge shortage of quality applicants. Those that we do get are 90% of the time through an agency.*

 

So what's causing this? Do people not want to work in a School? Is it the pay (an obvious answer, but i'm not convinced)? Is there just a general shortage of IT technicians, not just in education? Maybe Schools are too insular and try too hard to hire people who have already worked in Schools, when they should be looking to industry more?

 

I am really interested to see what other people think.

 

 

* maybe people just don't want to work with me

Could it also be to do with the fact that @elsiegee40 has taken it upon herself to identify relevant job opportunities from a variety of sources and post on here as a service to members?

[LeMarchand]

Is it the pay (an obvious answer, but i'm not convinced)?

 

If I could get more with my lack of paper qualifications elsewhere, I certainly would! I'd love to work at one of the many schools within walking distance of my house rather than cover 3 schools that are 30-60 minutes away (depending on traffic).

Agree with all the above, I have been looking for a move to a more local school for several months now but all of the posts that come up have been for 15hrs per week term time plus one or two weeks. Either that or they were ridiculously low payed, ie: a full time (35hrs a week, term time plus 5 weeks) ICT Technician post for £5.57 per hour? This was a MAT that obviously doesn't apply LEA pay guidelines.

 

Possibly not minimum wage, either! Yep, last MAT I was involved in was happy to pay mates/"valued" teachers above the going rate - support staff were supposed to think themselves lucky they had a job.

 

maybe people just don't want to work with me

 

It's all that saying "no" .

[Geoff]

As for pay, a quick search on IT Jobs Watch can be educational.

 

IT Jobs Watch, Tracking the IT Job Market

[elsiegee40]

Could it also be to do with the fact that @elsiegee40 has taken it upon herself to identify relevant job opportunities from a variety of sources and post on here as a service to members?

 

Yep. In January 2015 I decided to start a 12 month voluntary project to prove to the "there's never any jobs being advertised" moaners that they were wrong. There are jobs being advertised, but you have to look for them.

 

If people are assuming that I post everything from the sites I reference then they're missing out - Jobs.theguardian.com, jobs.ac.uk and s1jobs in particular I only take the most relevant from.

 

I continued in 2016, but only if I have time.

[JoeBloggs]

The forum has increased soley down to @elsiegee40

[elsiegee40]

The forum has increased soley down to @elsiegee40

 

Nice of you to say so, but I rather think Edugeek's very high google ranking is rather more to do with the ever increasing membership. The jobs are a very small proportion of the hits; people searching for solutions to "computer won't work" (and cow puns ) are the route for most new members:)

[Ephelyon]

Yep. In January 2015 I decided to start a 12 month voluntary project to prove to the "there's never any jobs being advertised" moaners that they were wrong. There are jobs being advertised, but you have to look for them.

 

If people are assuming that I post everything from the sites I reference then they're missing out - Jobs.theguardian.com, jobs.ac.uk and s1jobs in particular I only take the most relevant from.

 

I continued in 2016, but only if I have time.

 

It's also where Tony and I get a lot of our "jobs for the list" from (Y)

[andydis]

IMO the biggest single issue in attracting a consistent response from quality candidates is pay. That's not to say you won't get quality candidates, just that the numbers will be lower. I think generally there is a shortage of people with good tech skills in breadth and depth.

 

I agree with the above but also I have seen alot of Edu IT'ers go into the private sector, (including myself) the pay in the private sector is simply too tempting

[elsiegee40]

It's also where Tony and I get a lot of our "jobs for the list" from (Y)

 

It's going to skew your results I think.

 

What I have noticed is that schools seem to be trying keep costs down by not paying for year round.

 

There are some truly carp salaries, some of which I have felt reluctant to post, but my feeling is that hourly rates have been becoming more realistic generally of late... but schools then cut back by reducing the number of weeks instead.

 

I can pretty much guarantee which of the jobs I will see readvertised now. Some of them come up 3 or 4 times before the school realises it's on to a loser.

 

I frequently don't post the part time or short term contract posts I see either. Again this will skew your results.

[Ephelyon]

Well, to be honest, we're looking for typicality, and quite a lot of Technician roles are part-time. It's also useful in the context of the debate that Voice is raising around TTO TAs in Derbyshire and Durham. Lower-rate jobs are what I mainly go for, aside from the NJC payscales stuff, because they're the ones where the school isn't recruiting properly. Maybe Tony could share his spreadsheet so far with you so you could see which ones are being picked up?

 

And, once again, thank you

[Nixon77]

In London, there are lots of jobs also for techies, schools have a lot of trouble, because anyone good will go to the city unless they are starting out or like the school environment. Even if you like working in a school, the pay can only go so high, most techies end up leaving education to get higher pay elsewhere, when they get older etc.

 

Some companies in the city pay crazy wages, it can almost be double what a school would pay. But you have to remember also that London housing is very very expensive, so even on such a high wage, a person might not have much left at the end of the month after paying rent. Also a problem for schools, staff cannot afford to live here.

Edited December 7, 2016 by Nixon77

[googlemad]

Could be the case that they're not getting candidates because of the safeguarding business meaning you have to complete (often very poorly designed!) application forms and supporting statements rather than firing off a cover letter and CV. Once you have a 'template' it becomes quite easy but still slightly annoying.

 

I've noticed quite a few primary schools seem to have suddenly realised how much IT has expanded over the years and are now hiring for IT managers / dedicated technicians rather than just nicking them part time from another school too recently!

[LincolnE]

I'm throwing another one into the low pay corner.

 

I could quite easier get another £10k (at the minimum) for doing pretty much the same role in the private sector, with more options to progress and more training availability.

 

The problem with schools is that whilst there are many low paid technician advertisements, moving on from that involves either great luck for the most part. Most IT managers in schools don't move on (because there's no where up to go) and those that do often don't get replaced by a full IT manager but a senior technician on a cheaper wage.

[Remiel]

We recently had a technician job going for £17,547 – £19,939 full time, which on the scale of things is pretty good for a technician especially in the North West. It was posted here, TES, ETeach, council jobs, Local papers etc. We had less than 10 applicants in total and of those only 3 were acceptable to take to interview. I was pretty mind blow by the lack of interest in it, especially as we're in Greater Manchester. Luckily we employed a great candidate who's also an edugeeker!

[NB9457]

We recently had a technician job going for £17,547 – £19,939 full time, which on the scale of things is pretty good for a technician especially in the North West. It was posted here, TES, ETeach, council jobs, Local papers etc. We had less than 10 applicants in total and of those only 3 were acceptable to take to interview. I was pretty mind blow by the lack of interest in it, especially as we're in Greater Manchester. Luckily we employed a great candidate who's also an edugeeker!

 

Makes me wish I applied now, Bolton is only round the corner!

 

I'll have to keep my eyes peeled