Internal recruitment is the practice of selecting among existing employees to fill a vacancy. Sometimes the vacancy is advertised throughout a business, usually on its weekly or monthly job sheet – universities often use this practice. On occasion the practice is invoked because someone in the company is being made redundant in their current position and sometimes it is a way of promoting a certain employee sideways rather than up in the organization. Internal recruitment may be used as a means of saving advertising money and the cost of training an employee from outside of the organization.

Internal vacancies are advertised in a number of ways, either by an internal job sheet, employee notice boards or an organization’s intranet – that is a website that is only viewable by organization members. Some companies may have a company magazine in which they advertise while others will use staff meetings – this method is normally used when a company wishes to advertise the vacancy to a limited group of employees.

Internal recruitment does have advantages beyond the saving on advertising costs – it can greater opportunity for existing staff to go further in their careers. Internal recruitment may also be a way of retaining employees who may have considered leaving the organization, an advantage of this is that training costs are at best negligible and at worst a lot less than they would be if the company advertised outside. It is certainly quicker and less expensive than external recruitment and it has the added advantage that existing employees are a known entity. Sometimes organizations recruit from outside and then find they have a staff member who does not really fit into the overall environment and possible mission statement of the organization.

On the downside internal recruitment means that the number of potential applicants is very limited. It is likely that external recruitment gives the organization access to wider skill sets and greater experience than might be the case with internal recruitment. A member of staff who has responded to an internal advertisement and gets the job might find that colleagues resent their promotion and make life difficult for them in their new post. When an organization does some of its recruiting internally it is then left with another vacancy and the problem of how that might be filled. If an organization relies too heavily on internal recruitment then it could find that eventually it will have to advertise externally despite the extra cost. Existing staff may feel they are right for the job whether or not they have the correct experience and qualifications.

How and by whom children are educated can have a huge effect on their futures and the kind of employment they can hope to achieve. Because education is so critical to a child’s development teacher recruitment is a very important and highly specialized field. There is a shortage of teachers on both sides of the Atlantic and Governments have invested a lot of money in professional development for teachers and in teacher recruitment.

When it comes to teacher recruitment agencies have two loyalties, the first is to the school or college and the second is to the teacher. Most teacher recruitment agencies are run by people who have themselves been teachers – this makes them among the most apt people for recruiting the people who will be teaching the nation’s children. Schools and colleges usually have to inform the agencies of the type of teaching vacancies they are trying to fill. If there are no available specialists in the area then the agency might suggest that the school begin with a supply teacher until a suitably qualified person can be found. Once teachers’ permission has been obtained then their resumes are made available to schools and colleges looking to fill vacancies that these teachers are qualified for.

In both the UK and USA teaching agencies are now big business. A lot of permanent teaching jobs are being undertaken by supply teachers as teaching is a career where burnout is becoming more frequent. Some teacher recruitment agencies have a database of teachers. The database lists the teacher’s geographical location, their teaching experience and their areas of expertise. Most teacher recruitment is now concerned with addressing shortages in certain areas. For example there is a shortage of maths and religious education specialist in the UK and English, maths, and special education specialists in the US.

Teacher shortages in the UK have become so critical that there is an increased use of classroom assistants. Teacher recruitment has become a priority and the Government has introduced a graduate teachers program. With this program teachers receive pay while they are attached to a certain school and undergoing training. Sometimes they fill a vacancy at the school where they have been training and sometimes they have to apply to an agency for a permanent position. Some teachers will undertake supply teaching until a suitable job comes up. Newly qualified teachers in the UK are guaranteed a certain starting salary but there is still a shortage of secondary school teachers who may specialize in a particular subject. Some newly qualified teacher in both the UK and the US apply for teaching positions abroad. These positions are found at recruitment fairs and through agencies and newspapers.