I constantly speak with Universities and other HE institutes about how to attract the right people for their Academic & Research roles. More often than not this tends to be about how to find a particularly highly skilled individual, how to target a specific demographic, or how best to advertise for a ‘hard to fill’ position?

The one thing that is often overlooked though, is the fact that almost 90% of the HE workforce in Oceania (and most other regions) is homegrown!

I absolutely understand that we want the ‘best person for the job’, and that sometimes we have to look outside of our region for someone with the right skills, cultural difference, knowledge, research expertise and experience to teach the ever growing cohort of students, but I can’t help but feel that sometimes we neglect what’s on our own doorstep in the pursuit of perceived Academic excellence.

Most of us are crazy busy most of the time, but I believe that when you’re advertising it’s important to stop and ask the questions: Is this the right medium to be advertising on and will I reach the right audience? If you can tick both of these boxes then you know you’ve chosen the right platform, but if there’s a question in the back of your mind, then it’s time to pull up the handbrake.

I’ve always maintained the position that as a job board representative, and now as one of the job board owners of Uni Roles, that as platforms we all have our unique differences and we all have a specific type of audience. 

I also know that when it comes to advertising I can deliver a specific and targeted audience which addresses the needs of Higher Ed advertisers, but it’s not always simple and sometimes we should be thinking about the desired outcome ahead of the actual advertising. 

Sometimes the key to understanding how best to achieve an outcome is through transparency and honesty and it’s often best just to have a quick conversation to understand what will and won’t work, but who has the time for that? We do so feel free to contact us!