IPPN

Published: 03 November 2008

www.EducationPosts.ie Frequently Asked Questions

Q. How do I advertise a vacancy on EducationPosts.ie?

A. It is very simple. Access the website, select the level at which you wish to advertise a vacancy (pre-school, primary-level, second-level, third-level, other). Access the Employer's section for the relevant level. Click on the Advertise a Vacancy button and follow the simple steps to complete an on-line vacancy form. Once the vacancy has been reviewed and accepted by the webmaster, it is available on the site until the application closing date has been reached.

Q. How long does it take to make a vacancy available?

A. Monday to Friday during office hours it usually takes three to four hours. Outside those times, it can take up to a day. Vacancies posted on Saturday and Sunday will be reviewed and released the following Monday.

Q. How do I see what vacancies are posted on EducationPosts.ie?

A. If you are looking for a post at pre-school, third-level or other posts, you can manually search through the vacancies by specified search criteria or get a complete list of all vacancies for the level selected. The selection criteria vary depending on the level selected. Go to www.EducationPosts.ie, select the relevant level and click on the relevant Employee's Area button. Then click the Search for Vacancies button, choose your selection criteria and click on the Search the Vacancy Database button to get the list matching the selected search criteria

A. If you are a primary-level teacher or job-seeker, there are three options available:

1. Manually search through the vacancies by various search criteria directly on EducationPosts.ie in the Primary-level Employee's Area using the Search for Vacancies button, choose your selection criteria and click on the Search the Vacancy Database button to get the list matching the selected search criteria

2. Sign up to receive e-mail notification of vacancies that match the criteria you specify. You will need to register and log-in to do this. Click on Control Panel within the Primary-level Employee's Area and click on the E-mail notification button, fill in the on-line form and click Submit.

3. Sign up to receive mobile phone text message notification of substitute teacher vacancies. You will need to register and log-in at least once every 7 days to keep this service active. Click on Control Panel within the Primary-level Employee's Area and click on the Sign up for TextaSub button, fill in the on-line form and click Submit.

A. If you are a second-level teacher or job-seeker, there are two options available:

1. Manually search through the vacancies by various search criteria directly on EducationPosts.ie in the Second-level Employee's Area using the Search for Vacancies button, choose your selection criteria and click on the Search the Vacancy Database button to get the list matching the selected search criteria

2. Sign up to receive e-mail notification of vacancies that match the criteria you specify. You will need to register and log-in to do this. Click on E-mail notification button within the Second-level Employee's Area, fill in the on-line form and click Submit.

Q. What does it cost?

A. Advertising a vacancy in an Irish school (or educational organisation such as a VEC, college, professional association etc.) is free of charge to both schools and jobseekers. Agencies and other profit-making entities and individuals are permitted to place ads on the site for a fee of €100 per ad. Such ads will be placed in the Other Vacancies section.

Q. Why are the services available to primary-level not available to all levels e.g. substitute teacher vacancy text messages?

A. The website was designed and developed initially for the education sector, primary-level. As there were no similar services available to the other levels within education, and there was demand for the service, a basic advertising and job-search service was extended to the other levels and the additional services are being extended as determined by demand and cost effectiveness. The site is free of charge to both schools and jobseekers and the site host organisation, IPPN, needs to ensure cost effectiveness of the services provided.

Q. Why can I no longer upload my CV to the site?

A. The site is intended as a free-of-charge advertising service for schools, not as an agency service. In certain cases, schools were using the CVs posted on the site to find candidates rather than advertising vacant posts and giving the opportunity to jobseekers to apply for the posts. In addition, there were issues relating to the provision of personal contact information in CVs. For both of these reasons, it was decided to remove the CV upload facility.

Q. Is there any way to get my queries answered?

A. There is a message board facility that is accessible via the Primary level and Second level Employees areas. You need to register with the site to create a message or reply to a message. Anyone can view posted messages. It is used heavily by students in teacher training colleges and by jobseekers.

Q. How many teachers are registered with EducationPosts.ie?

A. Anyone can view job vacancies without being registered so it is very difficult to know how many teachers use the site. Approximately 20,000 users access www. EducationPosts.ie on a monthly basis. To avail of notification e-mails and text messages, users need to register. On average, there are over 3,000 active registered users at any one time. Once registered, there is an automatic "de-registration" after a month of inactivity (i.e. not logged in) so the number of registered users quoted on the homepage are all active within the last month.

Q. How many jobs are advertised on EducationPosts.ie?

A. During the busiest period (April to July) there would typically be 400 or more vacant posts advertised. At other times, there would be over 80 advertised at any time.

Q. How do I find out what qualifications I need to teach in an Irish school?

A. The Teaching Council handles queries about eligibility and qualifications to teach in Ireland, for both primary and second-level teachers. Their contact details and key website links are available through the Primary-level and Second-level Employee's areas of www.EducationPosts.ie under the Enquiries about Qualifications buttons. Their main website is www.teachingcouncil.ie.

Q. Why am I automatically de-registered after a month of not logging in to the site?

A. This applies to primary-level job-seekers only. There are two main reasons. Firstly, it is important that contact details, especially e-mail addresses, are up to date and active. It is all too easy to be blacklisted as a SPAM e-mailer if e-mails are sent to full mailboxes and redundant addresses as these "bounce-backs" are heavily monitored by internet and e-mail service-providers. Secondly, because it costs money to send text messages and e-mails and we want to ensure that only active, genuine job-seekers receive such notifications. Note that you receive an e-mail reminding you to log in to keep active so it doesn't happen without warning. Logging in again will reactivate your account.

Q. What if I've forgotten my password?

A. This applies to primary-level job-seekers only. Click on the Log-in/Register button and, in the Forgotten Password area of the active window, type in your e-mail address and click on the Send password button. You should receive your password within about an hour.

Q. What is the Other Posts section for?

A. It can be used by any education-related organisation, college, institution to advertise a job. For example, temporary volunteer teacher posts in overseas charitable organisations, teaching posts in the prison service, education officer posts in VECs or similar organisations, support office posts in IPPN and other education-related associations. The only restriction, as with the rest of the website, is that jobs advertised must be placed by the organisation seeking applicants, not by an agency.. Because the section is used by many different entities, the detailed job description part of the on-line vacancy form is free-form rather than validated data entry.