Using Realistic Job Previews to attract prospective teachers

Realistic Job Previews offer a ‘try before you buy’ insight into a profession, allowing users to experience aspects of daily life before commiting to training. 

They can promote early integration, leading to better retention rates and job success; they also:

1. communicate an honest and believable portrayal of a job, leading to higher levels of trust for potential applicants.
2. lower initial expectations so that new trainees are prepared for the inevitable ups and downs encountered in the job.
3. lead to appropriate self-selection where applicants will self-select out if the job is not a good fit.

We continue to work with the Department for Education and Teach for Australia offering Realistic Job Previews.

Research Question: Can we adopt tools from organizational psychology to reliably attract new entrants into teacher training?