My journey - Billy Jackson - Managing Director

I have been working in education recruitment since the age of 25, where I started as a young confident trainee at Protocol Education. The last 15 years have certainly been a rollercoaster, one that I have thoroughly enjoyed to date. 15 years working in any profession is a long time, and naturally, throughout that time I had the pleasure of working with a few different agencies and seen the different ways in which they operate. Having had the time to reflect, I now realise that those experiences were instrumental in my development as a recruiter. I am confident that most education recruiters who read this would agree that the longer you work in education, the more your relationship with education changes.

Relationship with education?

What does that mean? When I first started out in education recruitment, of course, it was about building relationships with candidates and schools, but it was equally about making placements and accumulating that margin, which resulted in making that all-important commission and enhanced my career development opportunities. Over the course of time, you learn more about schools and candidates, the efforts that go into making schools a safe environment for pupils to learn. This is when my relationship with education began to shift.

By becoming more aware of what it takes to run a school and the emotional rollercoaster that the staff and pupils go through, my working priorities began to change. By working in partnership with schools it became more about how I could help support them beyond recruitment. When dealing with candidates, I had to evaluate the lengths that we go to, ensuring that we do right by them and help with their careers and not just their next job in education. I also looked inhouse at my teams, how could I help support them and give them the same opportunities to grow that I had. Finally, and most importantly the pupils, we have as much a responsibility as anyone of ensuring that we are providing the calibre of candidates that are able to give all pupils the education and support that they deserve.

"What is Create Education?" 

In January 2018, the outlook on my current working situation changed, coincidentally that was a few months after the birth of my daughter, and incidentally when the initial thoughts of "Create Education" began. I had known for a while that I wanted to eventually start my own business, I had been a successful consultant, a successful manager, and a successful associate director. So, what was next for me? I could have stayed and continued my development at the company that I was working for, but I wanted more, and the moment that those thoughts began to manifest in my head, the more they became impossible to ignore. I knew then that I had to kick start the process of transforming the initial thought of Create Education and turn that into a reality.

The idea may have started off in my head, but by no way does that mean I am doing it alone, I am working with some truly inspirational people and together we have a combined experience of more than 40 years within education recruitment. Not only has each member of the team been successful in their own right, but we also share the same values that Create Education will be built upon. Honesty, trust, transparency, and a genuine desire to make a difference within the Education Sector.

"Every child is unique. Every school is unique and so are we".

"Is your future at Create Education?"

I have been very fortunate to work for a few recruitment businesses throughout my career, and each of them has had something special, something unique and something that made them great places to work. We know what kind of company we would like to work for, so that is exactly the kind of company that we are going to create. Working in recruitment provides you with an opportunity to earn some of the most incredible experiences, and although it can be a very rewarding industry, you must ensure that you give it the respect and attention that it deserves.

I am passionate about building an inclusive environment at Create, one that has a healthy balance of youth and experience and provides a multicultural environment that allows all individuals to thrive. We all want to ensure that we give every member the opportunity to experience some of the amazing benefits that come with working in one of the world's leading industries.

Being part of Create Education means exactly that "being part of a team" we will all go the extra mile for our candidates and clients, and as a business, we will do everything we can to support our team to ensure that they experience the joys of making a positive impact within the schools and communities that they work with, as well the satisfaction that comes with finding that perfect job for the candidates that we represent.

A tricky start ahead

I think that we can all agree that the past 10 months have been near on impossible for everyone, we have all had to make sacrifices in some way over the past year and the education sector has been no different. Our schools, teaching staff, support staff, parents, local authorities, charities, and many more have all been inspirational in their approach, ensuring that all pupils get an education. I have personally been impressed by the teachers and support staff that have represented us via an agency during the first lockdown. To be on hand to attend schools and put themselves at risk so that they can play their part, it is one of the many reasons we love this job.

Without them, no education recruitment business would exist, and it is those people that we will build our business around, along with graduates coming through and the countless other members of school staff that move to London to experience the wonderful opportunities that our capital has to offer.

At Create Education its "Our staff, your schools".