The International Schools Review Forum

I am a SEARCH candidate, and will attend an upcoming fair. A colleague told me today that schools posting vacancies on SEARCH don't actually tend to read or respond to messages sent within SEARCH. Is this true? I've gotten a few replies and two interviews this week, but have sent many more messages on SEARCH with no response. Is there something about Schrole that makes it easier/preferable to schools than looking at the profiles of candidates on SEARCH?

Some of the school websites include instructions to apply via Schrole, even though they say nothing about this on their vacancy page on SEARCH. Does this mean they are not checking SEARCH message replies, and I need to sign up for Schrole?

This is not good because all of my references (who were kind enough to submit letters of rec for me on SEARCH earlier this year) are on vacation, and I feel bad having Schrole send them all more requests for references now. There is a good chance that they will not be able to do this during the break if they are traveling, too....

So, do I need to sign up with Schrole? This is so disappointing because I had thought SEARCH was a complete service...and it looks like signing up for Schrole is pretty much a duplication of the SEARCH sign up process/requirements.

it is very annoying. i wish there was an agreement of some sort between the big recruitment companies that share one anonymous reference app or something.

if a school uses schrole, thats who you should apply through. search? use search.

good luck!

v.

No you don't. In the email to the HR department (each school contact on Search lists the HR email - simply include you are a Search member.

I find the Schrole schools to be pretty annoying. They know exactly what they are doing and they think so highly of themselves that they think they can get away with it. As if I want to work in Brussels anyway. You list the same positions every year. It must be great!

In all seriousness, Schrole's recommendation system stinks, their app is not clear or intuitive and I predict Schrole won't be around too much longer because of its tendency to alienate candidates who don't need the bother.

Understand that in the relative distant past in recruiting, premium agencies were a necessity. It was a process of putting ads in newspapers and contacting Uni career services offices and conducting interviews and eventually submitting a recommendation to the IS for approval. Agencies at that time fronted significant travel costs in flights and visas in a system that was all based on post, telephone and faxes. As technology and communication have developed (specifically the internet) more and more options have opened up to ISs. The role of the agency has changed significantly becoming more of a clearinghouse, and meeting point than a recruitment service. Costs have changed as well, and more and more cheaper options have become available.
Understand though that Schrole is not a recruiting agency, they are a third . application management provider. They provide a web application the same way Google provides an office suite of apps for documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Schrole provides a system for ISs to organize and manage applications digitally without the cost overhead of everything from storage to data security without getting too technical. You the IT are not really their client or customer. The cost of Schrole is significantly less than the cost of SA or ISS. An IS is simply saving some coin by using resources that they have already paid for by making use of their Schrole subscription over the placement fee associated with a premium agency. So yes a Schrole placement is cheaper compared to an SA placement, considering the IS has already paid for the Schrole subscription.

You do not need to register for a premium account with Schrole. You can apply and complete a profile for free.

SA is a complete service, its just not a service for you (and neither is Schrole), you arent the client, youre the commodity.

@vandsmith

How would such an agreement work? It certainly wouldnt work for the agencies, sharing means losing revenue. It also dilutes loyalty.

@reisgio

I agree the reference system isnt user friendly, especially for a reference provider.
They do think highly of themselves, what makes you think it isnt working for them? Compared to where they were at inception they are doing AMAZING amounts of growth over a relatively short period of time.
I dont see Schrole going anywhere. They dont care about candidates they care about ISs, and for what they provide the IS they are doing very well. What would the alternative be, providing a reference for each and every IS that wants one, your references will get tired of writing. It might be a bother but the alternatives are worse.