Recruitment, Interview and Employment Compliance Guidance Pack

A comprehensive guidance pack with accompanying templates to help you plan and prepare the entire recruitment process for any role in a school setting, from shortlisting and interviewing, to pre-employment and appointment.

When you make your purchase, you'll receive a ZIP file containing the whole pack, including:

• A 25-page Guidance PDF in full colour containing all the guidance, research and information you need.
• A low-colour, print-friendly version of the same PDF.
• 13 fully editable and easy-to-use templates that can be adapted for your setting. These include:

1. Recruitment Timeline Template
2. Job Role Description Template
3. Person Specification Template
4. Application Form Shortlisting Template
5. Shortlisting and Interview Letters
6. Interview Timetable and SchedulE
7. Interview Task Template
8. Interview Questions Template
9. Pre-Employment Checklist
10. Single Central Record Checklist
11. Safer Recruitment Checklist
12. Induction Checklist
13. Staff Handover Checklist

These thirteen editable templates will support you in planning the full recruitment process and they're not specific to certain roles, so can be used again and again each time you're faced with recruiting a new staff member. However, if you're looking for role-specific interview questions and tasks, we've got this too - see the "What else is available to support recruitment?" question for more details. 

With this pack, you'll explore how to design your recruitment timeline, including consideration of what to include in the job description and person specification for the role. It'll walk you through how to lead and manage an effective shortlisting process, including who to have on your interview panel, plus there are handy letter templates for each stage of the process so you can inform applicants and candidates of the outcomes whilst saving you time.

Planning an interview day, including all the tasks, interviews themselves and general organisation, can be daunting but the guidance supports you with how to tackle this. Included are editable templates to plan a timetable for your interview day as well as standard school interview questions you can select from. You may wish to set candidates an interview task as well, and we've included a template to support your thinking around this. 

This pack gives an overview of some of your legal responsibilities during recruitment, including what to add and update on your single central record and the necessary pre-employment and safer recruitment checks that need to take place. Included are checklists to support this, helping you to ensure all necessary checks and processes have taken place. 

Lastly, there's a staff handover and induction checklist to help you consider how to ensure your new staff member has the best possible start to their role. For more support on staff induction, we've got a separate pack available too: Staff Induction Pack

Headteachers, trust leaders, senior leaders, members of the governing body or MAT trustees who lead recruitment processes will find this time-saving pack useful, especially if you've never recruited a new staff member before.

Planning and leading an effective recruitment process ensures you've put your school in the best position possible to recruit a new staff member who's going to support pupils and staff to great effect. Thinking carefully about this and taking the time to consider each part of the process will help to ensure this is a positive experience for both those on the panel and those applying for the role. This pack also ensures you consider your legal obligations and conduct a fair and transparent process.

Key questions answered:

• What should I consider before starting to recruit for a vacancy?
• What is a recruitment timeline?
• Why is a job role description and person specification important?
• How can I decide what to include in the job role description?
• How can I decide what to include in the person specification?
• What do I need to include on the application form template when recruiting a new staff member in school?
• How should I select who will be involved in the recruitment process for a school-based role?
• What safer recruitment processes and procedures need to be considered?
• What is shortlisting and why is it important?
• What should I consider when arranging interviews?
• What should I consider when organising an interview panel for a new post?
• How can I shortlist prospective candidates effectively?
• How can I select appropriate interview questions?
• What are the benefits of using different types of questions during an interview for a new school staff members?
• How can I decide which interview task is best to conduct when appointing a new school staff member?
• How should candidates be informed of the interview outcome?
• What is induction for a new school staff member and why is it important?
• Who is responsible for staff induction in school?
• What induction support needs to take place?
• What can the successful candidate do to prepare for the role?
• What is the single central record?
• Who should monitor the single central record?
• How can I ensure all necessary checks have taken place?
• How can I assess a candidate’s suitability?

As well as this guidance for those leading the recruitment and hiring process, we have interview packs available for many school roles. Each one contains interview questions and interview tasks that are bespoke to each role, as well as a ready-made, role-specific job specification and person specification. Best of all, if you're looking to support your new staff members with induction, or you're looking to recruit for multiple roles, you can get 20% off each item if you buy 3 or more resources about recruitment and induction. 

So why not take a look at what's available:

• Headteacher Interview Pack
• Assistant and Deputy Headteacher Interview Pack
• Head of Year / Phase Interview Pack
• School Business Manager Interview Pack
• SENDCo Interview Pack
• ECTs and Class Teachers Interview Pack
• Class Teachers with Subject Leadership Interview Pack
• Department / Curriculum Leader Interview Pack
• Teaching Assistant Interview Pack
• DSL and Safeguarding Role Interview Pack
• School Administrator Interview Pack
• Premises Caretaker and Site Manger Interview Pack
• EYFS Practitioner Interview Pack
• Midday and Wrap-Around Care Role Interview Pack
• Attendance Co-ordinator Interview Pack
• Pastoral and Mental Health Role Interview Pack
• Outdoor Learning Role Interview Pack

Support for the induction process is also available:

• Staff Induction Pack
• Skills Audits for a range of job roles