Guest Facilitator Mary Jefferson

Hi John Do you think instructors must come with this skill set or will you accept some skills and develop others?

Cliff that is a fabulous process you have developed because: 1. You get the information you need to make an informed hiring decision. 2. You maintain the goodwill of the individual by paying them. If possible, I would encourage others to try this. Thank you for sharing.

Cliff You brought up a good point--use the advisory board. They are an excellent resource. And they have connections. Thanks for your response!

Hi Cliff I'm for anything that works. And in my experience personal referrals from good employees or experienced professionals are the best applicants you can have. So, if you have "many qualified applicants" that is great and an asset to your school. It should also speak of your institution's reputation in the community. How did you do this? Are you meeting people through professional organizations? How have you developed the outside contacts? This is an important part of creating an entire recruiting program and we can all learn from your success. Thanks.

Hi Cliff I'm for anything that works. And in my experience, personal referrals from good employees or experienced professionals are the best applicants you can have. So, if you have "many qualified applicants" that is great and an asset to your school. It should also speak of your institution's reputation in the community. How did you do this? Are you meeting people through professional organizations? How have you developed the outside contacts? This is an important part of creating an entire recruiting program and we can all learn from your success. Thanks.

Hi Heather I certainly agree that students benefit from good hiring practices. Good instructors improve student retention. Having a set of interview questionsd help compare candidates (apples to apples), makes interview time more productive and helps if there will be multiple interviews of the same person. It might take some effort to get everything statrted, but it is time well spent to have a focused, useful and legal interview.

Well, Jeff, I'm glad this can be both informative and entertaining. Developing interview questions saves time, gets necessary information and is a better practice legally. It removes even the impression of differential treatment. Of course, don't include questions you shouldn't. Thanks for your response.

Thanks, Jeff. Referrals are an inexpensive and time-tested way to find quality applicants. Whatever you can do to get applicant from this source will help your pool of applicants. In the past, we've asked instructors about graduates that they thought had the academic skills and the personality to be an instructor. Of course, they need industry experience, but after a few years they can become valuable instructors.

Lucinda, I would completely agree with you and the system you have in place. The process of mentoring instructors and setting them up for success can improve both instructor and student retention. It sounds like you have developed a system could be implemented by most schools. Thank you for sharing.