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Recruitment case study: Karen Williams

Karen Williams

Schools considering recruiting a school business manager can either grow their own, develop the skills of an internal candidate, or look outside the organisation for a fresh perspective.

Vyners School is a mixed comprehensive, with 1200 pupils, situated in North West London. They decided to look outside the organisation for a school business manager (SBM) and they found Karen Williams after advertising on SBM jobs.

Karen says,

“This is my first SBM role, and I joined the profession after working for 17 years in the wider public sector. My career history is in a variety of roles relevant to the SBM role, for example, human resource manager and finance manager. I was attracted to the SBM role as it seemed so similar to my own job experience, but with the advantage of professional recognition for the multiplicity of roles undertaken.

I have always enjoyed the stimulation of a diverse role so the SBM role seemed ideal. Working in a school has taken my career into a new sector, one which continues to make a positive contribution to society.

I used the College website for valuable job research into the role of a school business manager and to identify suitable positions using the SBM jobs page.

It is good that, for aspiring applicants the College website lets you join up [as a member] and review discussion forums. Coupled with the wealth of background information on offer,it gives you a real window on what the profession is all about. I found my current vacancy through the SBM jobs page. I am not particularly local to my school, so it’s not a role I would have seen through the local press. Being able to see all SBM vacancies in one place makes the website a hugely valuable resource - both for stimulating applications and enabling applicants to benchmark the skills and attributes required by different schools.

The first three months have been really exciting. The SBM role is new at my school, so there has been a period of adjustment for everyone - I’ve been getting used to working in a school, and they’ve been getting used to having an SBM. I know that existing school staff have been getting used to having an SBM. I can see lots of ways already in which I can make a difference - already I've introduced an ID badge system, reviewed some of the school's policies, restructured part of the support staff structure and am currently involved in a major project to replace the school's main heating system.

Top advice for someone entering the profession for the first time?  Term-time and non-term-time feel very different.  Term-time is very much about trouble-shooting immediate problems, whereas holiday time can be used for more strategic, policy  and developmental work.

The discussion forums are really useful and I’ve already used them a number of times to benchmark what my own school is doing and to help out other SBMs.”

SBM jobs is a service provided (free of charge) by the College to support the school business management programme provision. It lists current job advertisements for school business managers and is dedicated to SBM roles. If you wish to advertise a vacancy please email nationalcollege@place-recruit.com.

Further reading