Hi Kim
After going through the steps of the topic, "Recruiting Instructors" what do you think your school does well? It is sometimes difficult to get newspaper advertisements to work, so your experience could be helpful to schools having difficulty with newspaper advertising.
Thanks.
We use the local newspaper and the applicant is requred to respond via emal. The email is then directed to appropriate director or department. This works well.
Hi Lucinda
You use a lot of sources. That is one of the most effective ways to have a stream of good, qualified applicants.
Why do you think your ads in other media are successfull? Why do you think newspaper ads didn't work?
My school uses a variety of sources for recruiting. We use professional organizations such as the American Culinary Federation, employment agencies, advisory board members, Pennsylvania Career Link, the internet, and referrals from current instructors and staff. We discontinued newspaper advertising. It just did not work out. The source we use for each opening depends on the field we are recruiting for.
Recruiting at my school is mostly done by advertisement. However, I have personally asked instructors to recommend instructors. That seems to be equally effective. The instructors can almost pre-interview prospective instructors by telling them what job qualifications are needed, and what the job is like.
We have primarily used the newspaper to post openings. We also get a number of referrals from instructors currently teaching at the college. By far referral are the most beneficial.
Hi Maureen
Thanks for your comments. My experience had been similar to yours.
I've also used Craigslist (craigslist.org) as a step between referrals and more expensive ads. There is a cost involved but less than a daily newspaper. The results, I thought, were better than newspapers but worse than a referral from a good employee.
We have generally used the newspaper to recruit instructors but have had mixed results. It depends upon the position we are recruiting for since there have been instances where an add has produced no applicants and some have been very successful. Our thoughts are that it depends upon the particular medical speciality we need instructors for and also if competing schools in the local area are recruiting for similar positions. I have started asking current faculty to recommend potential instructors for certain positions and this recently resulted in hiring a new instructor. My strategy now is to look to current faculty for recommendations before going to the time and expense of newspaper adds.
Your strategy is strong and seems to have worked for you. As you go through the course, you will see that what you have done is something we strongly recommend.
Thanks for your reply Alessandra.
We currently rely on personal contact and our employee recommendations. Our instructors are employed in their fields and know the best people for each diploma area. For instance, our construction instructor has been in business for a number of years; has worked on many projects with other knowledgeable and highly skilled individuals . . . his reccommendations plus an anlysis of our needs (coupled with the State guidelines) result in recruiting the best people for each position. The same is true of our nursing instructors and our culinary arts instructors.
We will, however, follow all of the guidelines provided in this course when hiring people for newly developed courses.
Hi Jamie
Thanks for letting us know how successful using these tools can be.
The management team pooled together to develop not only the application and subsequent forms, but also a very detailed behavior test for our strong candidates. The test allows us to narrow down our candidate list by determining key qualities/behaviors that we need our instructors to exhibit. The test has been a real success. Not only do we like having the information to pinpoint, but the instructors enjoy seeing their results too.
It is good to hear that these sites have worked for your orgsnization. Have you used any of their screening features to develop stronger candidates?
We often utilize the internet to recruit applicants. Specifically, we have accounts with Career Builder (which features an ad both online and in the local newspaper), and, of course, Monster.com. We have had good luck with these mediums, depending on the job function. Notwithstanding the above, I believe there is always room for improvement. I really enjoyed your discussion of building an eye-catching ad and intend to utilize those tips in my next advertisement.
