From a tiny startup on Sydney’s North Shore, ClassCover has grown to be used by over 80,000 casual teachers and 2,200 schools across Australia and New Zealand. To celebrate our 10th birthday, we decided to track down some of our original users to hear their stories and learn how they have grown with us. Meet our 10th ever user, Dilek.
How did you start using ClassCover?
Back in 2011 not many people had heard of ClassCover and only a few select schools were using it. One day I happened to work at a school that was trialing the platform and I was blown away. I remember thinking at the time what a good idea it was because it made it so easy for schools to see when I was or wasn’t available. It was so much easier than any other way of doing things.
Because not many schools were using ClassCover at that point, as I would go to different schools I would introduce them to the platform because I thought it was such a good idea, and I was sick of getting lots of phone calls trying to book me when I was unavailable.
“I decided early on that I would only work with schools that used ClassCover because it just saved so much time.”
Slowly but surely more schools started to use the platform and the difference was massively noticeable to me because they could see my availability easily and didn’t waste their time calling me on days when I was already booked.
What was life like for casual teachers before ClassCover came along?
Prior to the launch of ClassCover there were other solutions and while I’m sure they were great at the time, technology has advanced so ClassCover is a solution that works for the industry today.
Do you have any advice for new casual teachers?
When I was first starting out as a casual teacher I didn’t work every day. I might have worked a couple of days a week or so and it took time for me to establish relationships with those schools and build up a steady stream of work. Apps like ClassCover make it so much easier for new teachers today to hit the ground running and reach out to schools.
“My advice to new casual teachers is to broaden your horizons. Don’t put your name down at two schools and be surprised when there’s no work.”
In the old days, you might drop off your resume at a school and it would just sit on the desk of the admin team gathering dust without ever getting to the person who is actually doing the booking. ClassCover is great because it cuts out the middleman. As a teacher, all our details are available in the app for anyone at the school to see.
How has education changed in the past 10 years?
While in the past schools would focus on their tight knit group of loyal casual teachers, platforms like ClassCover have democratised the process and given teachers access to a wide range of schools, and vice versa. New feature updates like the ability for teachers to request to be added to a school’s list make this even better.
What do you like most about ClassCover?
I like everything! I think it’s just how much it streamlines my life. Being able to look at the app and know that I’m booked for the next day or the next week, it just feels like a weight off my shoulders. I can put my phone down and get on with my day.
Schools can try ClassCover free for 30 days. As always, teachers can create a profile for free.