In schools and other education providers, recruitment rarely happens evenly across the year. There are periods when vacancies increase, applications need to be processed quickly, and HR teams are coordinating hiring managers, interviews, approvals, and candidate communication at the same time.
For HR teams, these busy periods are already challenging. Finding the right staff takes time, and the pressure to attract and retain quality teachers is always there. Introducing a change of recruitment software in the middle of a peak hiring period can add to that pressure, ultimately affecting the hiring process and candidate experience.
As a result, strong candidates may accept other offers, and important roles could still be vacant. A better approach is to plan the switch by finding a practical transition period in your recruitment calendar and making sure the new system is ready before the next busy period begins.
If you are still deciding whether changing systems is worth the effort, our guide to switching recruitment software covers the concerns organisations often have about making the move.
If the decision has already been made, the next question is more practical: how do you change systems without disrupting recruitment that still needs to happen?
Some education providers have defined peak hiring months linked to their academic year, while others recruit steadily all year, with extra pressure at certain points. Before setting a go-live date, it’s worth understanding your own pattern.
Start by reviewing your previous hiring cycles, and note:
This usually shows a clear pattern: busy windows when almost everyone involved in hiring is under pressure, and quieter stretches when activity is manageable and your team has capacity to take on the switch. That quieter window is the time to make the change.
Once you understand the recruitment calendar, work backwards from the next period when hiring is expected to increase. List what needs to be in place before that point:
As a guide, BigRedSky recruitment can be live in four to six weeks, so plan for at least that.
Build in some extra time too. Things don’t always go to plan in schools. Someone may go on leave, another staffing issue may come up, or a decision may take longer than expected. If your plan only works when everything goes perfectly, it’s too tight.
It’s also helpful to let people know about the change early. Tell hiring panels and approvers when the change will happen, what will be different, and who they can contact for help. A quick heads-up can prevent a lot of confusion later.
Recruitment may still be underway while your new recruitment software is being introduced. The transition plan therefore needs to account for existing candidates and vacancies as well as the recruitment that will begin after go-live. The following steps help keep the hiring process moving:
You don’t have to move every live vacancy into the new recruitment system from day one. Instead, a simpler approach is to:
This way, no candidate is moved mid-process or asked to apply again. And when those roles close, the old system winds down.
There will be a period when both systems run in parallel, so agree up front on who looks after each one and when the old system will be switched off.
Data migration can take time, so start planning for it early. Moving to new ATS software doesn’t mean you have to migrate everything from your old system. Before migrating, work through these questions:
Where needed, candidate and recruitment data can be mapped and imported into the new system. What’s included depends on your school’s requirements, so discuss it with your provider early rather than planning for it later.
If you hold records you’re required to keep, such as evidence of screening checks, confirm how long they need to be kept and where they’ll live once the old system is switched off.
Templates such as offer letters, position descriptions and application forms are rebuilt in the new system. That’s a good chance to tidy up anything outdated or inconsistent before it carries over.
Any HR recruitment software is only helpful if people in the organisation know how to use it. In schools and educational institutions, that means the HR team, principals, heads of department, and other panel members who play a part in hiring should be trained to use the new system.
Schedule this training ahead of your next peak, not at the start of it. Then give them time to test the system. Create a practice vacancy, move a test candidate through each stage, and check that approvals go to the right people. Small issues are much easier to fix during testing than in the middle of a busy hiring round.
Planning the switch well matters, but so does choosing recruitment software your team can adopt easily and keep using long after go-live. BigRedSky is configurable around the way your school already hires, so it supports you during the switch and every hiring season after it. It gives your school:
For lean recruitment teams, a clear process is usually more useful than an elaborate workflow that becomes difficult to manage. Many schools don’t have a large HR department, and the people involved in hiring often juggle it alongside other responsibilities.
That’s why we’ve made BigRedSky configurable and easy to use, rather than a complex enterprise HR system. It adapts to your process, so your team can spend less time working around the system and more time finding the right people.
For schools comparing recruitment software in Australia, it’s also worth knowing that BigRedSky is locally supported by real people. When you need help, you talk to someone who knows your setup.
Getting started is supported too. A dedicated customer success manager guides your setup, our team builds your job board and question libraries, and your staff are trained before go-live. Your customer success manager then stays on as your ongoing point of contact.
The best time is during a quieter period in your hiring year, when fewer roles are open and your team has time to learn the new system. Map your hiring calendar first, then work backwards from your next peak, so setup, training and testing are finished before it begins.
Yes. A simple approach is to finish existing vacancies in your current system and start all new roles in the new system from an agreed date. That way, no candidate is moved mid-process, and your hiring keeps moving while the old system winds down.
Training should cover more than the HR team. Principals, heads of department, hiring panel members and anyone who approves roles or offers all play a part in hiring. Train them before go-live, and give them time to test the system with a practice vacancy first.
Hiring in education follows a particular pattern. You already know roughly when the hiring pressure builds and when it eases. That understanding is your biggest advantage when you’re planning to change recruitment software.
Map your busy periods, work backwards from the next peak, decide how live vacancies will be handled, sort out what data and materials need to move or be rebuilt, and make sure users are trained and confident before they rely on the system every day.
A planned transition gives your team the chance to become comfortable with the new system before recruitment pressure increases.
That way, when your next busy hiring period arrives, your team can focus on managing vacancies, supporting hiring managers and giving candidates a clear experience, rather than learning new software at the same time.
Planning a change? Talk to the BigRedSky team and see how our recruitment software can support your school’s hiring all year round.
