WhatsApp is short. But we can do better.

WhatsApp is built for short, direct messages. We love it for that. But there is a real difference between short and unspecific — and most of the messages we receive sit firmly in the unspecific camp. We say this with love, not frustration. We want to help you find your next teaching role, and a vague message makes that harder than it needs to be for both of us.

So let us be honest with you about what arrives on our phones every day, what goes through our minds when we read it, and what a great first message actually looks like.

What we usually get.

The most common first message we receive looks almost exactly like this:

It's polite. It's well-meaning. We appreciate that you reached out at all. But that single sentence does not give us anything to work with. We do not know who you are, what you teach, where you'd like to go, when you'd be available, or whether you've already submitted your CV. Before we can even begin to help you, we have to ask you five or six follow-up questions — and the conversation that should have started somewhere useful starts back at the beginning instead.

What goes through our minds.

When a message like that lands, two honest thoughts cross our minds in the same breath:

The first: you found our website. That is genuinely a good thing. It also means most of what you're about to ask us is already there, written up properly, with the detail it deserves. Our vacancies live on /roles. Our local placement work is on /local. Our international placements are on /international. The CV portal is on /apply. If you've already read those pages, you'll come to us with a much sharper question — and we'll be far more useful to you in return.

The second: we wish you'd asked us something specific. A specific question lets us point you to the right vacancy, give you a real timeline, or tell you exactly which document you'll need. A vague question forces us into another vague answer, or worse, another set of questions. Neither of us actually moves forward.

Most of what you need is already on our website.

This is not a brush-off. It is a head start. Before you message us, give yourself ten minutes on the site. You'll often find:

• The current open vacancies, with country, curriculum, subjects, and start dates
• Whether we're looking for local South African placements or international roles right now
• What documents you'll need ready before you apply
• How our CV review and Loom video introduction process works
• The difference between our local and international placement service

Once you've spent that ten minutes, the message you write us afterwards will be ten times more useful — because you'll be asking about something real instead of asking in general.

Specific is kinder — for both of us.

The teachers who get the fastest, most useful responses from us are the ones who tell us, in one or two short sentences, who they are and what they actually need. That is genuinely all it takes. Look at the difference:

Each one of those messages tells us, in one breath, who is on the other end of the phone and what they need. We can answer in a single reply. We can pull your file. We can match you against a real vacancy. The conversation moves forward instead of starting from scratch.

The one-line formula.

If you remember nothing else, remember this. A great first message has three small pieces:

• Who you are: phase or subject, years of experience, curriculum.
• What you need: a specific question or a specific kind of role.
• When, if it matters: when you'd want to start, or when you applied.

Three short pieces. One short message. We will be far better placed to help you, and you will be far better placed to be helped.

WhatsApp is short. But your message can carry weight. Tell us who you are. Tell us what you need. Send. We'll be on the other end, ready.

— The Eduplace Family