MANAGING THE HIRING PROCESS

Principles and Procedures for Successful Teacher Recruitment and

HiringPeter Gow

Beaver Country Day SchoolNAIS 2007

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OVERVIEW

• Principles• Preparation• Mission-driven recruiting• Managing the process• Getting to know the candidate• Making the hire• Induction and the first year• Retention and the long term

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PRINCIPLES

• Hiring is for keeps• Match is everything• Each hire is an opportunity for school

improvement and advancement• Sam Student’s need come first• Patience is a virtue• The hire isn’t over until the end of the

first evaluation cycle—i.e., Year One

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PREPARATION• Making the Hiring Case

– Bottom-line needs determination: what positions must be filled

– The hiring “self-study” (see next slide)– “Why Saint Basalt’s” —content and

supporting materials

• Mapping out the campaign• Designating the Hiring Team, including

“Hiring Central”• The Budget (little-known facts…)

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HIRING SELF-STUDY• Exit-interview data• Reflection on success

– Who are we?– Who has succeeded here? (“The successful

teacher is …”)– Who has struggled here?

• Needs assessment—beyond the obvious– Community needs on a cultural/moral level?– Broader programmatic needs and desiderata?

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THE TEAM• Who does what?• Clarify roles and rules

– Advertising/listing/agency contact– Management of candidate papers– Invitations & interview management– Reference checks– Offers

• Consider institutionalizing broader initiatives– E.g., Exit interviews

• Plan overall campaign strategy• “Hiring Central” —one place, one person

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USING THE MISSION

• Look closely at school’s stated values and standards

• Get serious about diversity—of all kinds• Use strategic goals to point the way• Find language that can be extracted

verbatim—hold your own feet to the fire• Make rules if you have to—and be

prepared to follow them

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JOB DESCRIPTIONS• No position too minor or too generic for

thoughtful description• Some like descriptions detailed, some

like them flexible• Describe the school• Describe the community• Describe the work to be done• “The successful candidate will …”• Specific invitations okay

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THE CAMPAIGN• Cast the widest net you can afford• Demand personalized service from

wholesalers: agencies, college placement offices—you’ll get what you pay for

• Walk the walk of diversity—find the resources and utilize them

• Look for non-traditional sources: Troops to Teachers, Teach for America, unions

• Consider pooling for regional non-academic job fairs in professional and tech sectors

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MATERIALS• Customize materials to maximize space

limitations or mission focus for external resources

• “Careers/Employment/Working at …” webpages—as comprehensive and inviting as possible; make important work-related materials downloadable

• Consider dedicated print materials• Create links (digital or otherwise) to

community resources that will help serve your needs (realtors, religious institutions, cultural and recreational resources)

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THE PROCESS—Papers

• Centralize at “Hiring Central” and create a generic e-mail address: ”careers@stbasalts.org”

• First reader a Hiring Team member• Treat “lone rangers” with respect;

acknowledge independent inquiries in kind• Keep records of every official contact• Designate a process for making “first

contact” —who, and what content• Courtesy, courtesy, courtesy

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THE PROCESS—Fairs

• Choose to maximize reach and effect• Don’t just send graybeards and honchos• “Train” participants, provide a rough script

and talking points• Handouts a plus, but not too many• Clarify process for candidates• KEEP RECORDS of interviews on a standard

form (“Could you see …?”), make notes of other conversations of promise

• Consider fair work as leadership development

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THE PROCESS—Openers

• “First impressions always last”• All interviewers need expertise

– Talking points– Standard questions– “Improper line of questioning” knowledge

• Explain process to candidates; give rough timeline if possible

• Keep records in a standard format (“Could you see X working here?” is the question to ask)

• Have internal process for deciding who moves through

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THE PROCESS—Visits• A formal employment application provides material

“for the record” on which to base reference and credential checks

• Host function should be warm and comfortable– Be extra clear on expense issues– Make time for food, water, restroom

• Candidates should meet all prospective supervisors• Meetings with peers and students a plus• Sample lessons have pros and cons; maybe a plan

is enough• Collect impressions from all interviewers in

standard format; don’t elicit comparisons

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THE PROCESS—Choices• Check references! Reference checks must be

professionally conducted and thorough• Strongly discourage rogue reference checks and

informal feedback • Don’t be impatient; remember your “Case”• If you are in love but have rules, follow the rules• Be consistent! Give each finalist the same

consideration; fill each position in the same way• Check references!• Inform unsuccessful candidates ASAP; be brave

and do it right!

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THE PROCESS—Offers• Clarify who is making the offer• Offerer should have all information at hand—

salary, job wrinkles, benefits• Be clear up front about moving expenses• Be clear up front about pre-school

expectations (trainings, summer work, etc.)• Be circumspect about promises beyond the

first year—stuff happens • Give folks enough time to take a deep breath

and think things over (and hope that candidates—and other schools!—will do the same for you)

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HIRING MISCELLANY • Consider a bounty system for hiring

referrals• Make sure that internal candidacies are

considered, or be clear that they will not be—post consistently

• E-mail chatter regarding candidates is a very bad idea

• Check on regulations before clearing candidate files when a hire has been made

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AFTER YES• All contracts are tentative pending successful

completion of criminal background check• Checks should exceed statutory requirements;

think ahead (driving? foreign travel?)• Credential checks maybe well worth it• (If hire is international, solve the visa issue before

you’ve gone too far)• Prepare “electronic induction”—e-mail, server

access, curriculum map, other school e-resources• Calendar and other resources (texts! syllabi!)

available ASAP; knowledge is confidence• Map out and urge opportunities for new teachers to

collaborate with veterans before school starts

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INDUCTION• Comprehensive and complete—take the time

to do it right• See new teachers as a cohort whose

effectiveness as a group is to be maximized• Priorities (think like an anthropologist!):

– Culture and values– People– Language– Curriculum– Policies and procedures– Geography and resources

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NEW TEACHER NEEDS• Local norms, local standards (sources: peers

and department/division leadership)• Life-management (sources: mentors, peers;

facilitated by thoughtful leadership)• Feedback (sources: peers, leadership,

students)• Friend/foe recognition (sources: leadership,

mentors, peers)• Identity in the community (can be facilitated

by thoughtful leadership that provides opportunities for public success)

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MENTORING• Build the best program you can afford; put

someone in charge• Designate time to make it work• Structure the time to meet specific needs

—human as well as institutional• Choose wise, smart optimists as mentors• Mentoring should not be evaluative or

supervisory• Mentoring is a leadership-development

opportunity

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RETENTION NOTES• School culture matters most• Then come money and benefits• Maximize positive factors

– Geography– Benefits– Perks of membership

• Compensate for negatives– Geography– Social (i.e., dating) opportunities– Remuneration limitations

• Comprehensive professional development

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RESOURCESNotes from this presentation at

www.nais.org/go/annualconference

NAIS Principles of Good Practice for the Hiring Process (2006)

Gow, An Admirable Faculty (NAIS, 2005)

Your school attorney and regional association for special issues and circumstances