Recruitment Methods
We use a number of different methods -- all fo them mentioned in the unit. Th emost helpful have been the following: professional organizations, networking and targeted, specific ads (with specific dealbreakers). By far the fastest, and best for finding new, local adjunct faculty memebers is at professional networking events -- the folks there have the qualifications you are looking for, may know you already, and may knwo something about your organization -- some of our best prospects, who turned into great instructors came from jsut being open at meetings.
Recently I had good luck with a very targeted ad, which included a number of dealbreakers -- only people who matched the qualifications applied, so the pre-screening was done. We only got 5 responses, but two are teaching next term.
We use our network - employees/past graduates and newspaper advertising. Typically using our network gives us the best applicant choices but sometimes we have to rely on newspaper advertising. We found out that if we're very specific on the ad regarding the job responsibilities and the requirements, we usually get a very good pool of resumes to choose from.
We have used the newspaper, professional trade organizations, and trade newsletters with little success. We get alot of response but the qualifications are limited or do not fit. Recently our school outsourced the HR responsibilities to a professional firm and one of their attributes was assistance with hiring. This method is time consuming but has been very effective. Had I taken this program prior to telling the HR company what I was looking for I believe the results would have been even better.
We use a number of methods. Referrals from other instructors or from our Advisory Board members are preferred. Newspapers are not particularly useful in today's digital environment.
I have had some good success in finding adjunct faculty by contacting local teacher unions and school boards. Currently employed teachers in the public schools already know how to teach and are often looking to supplement their incomes by teaching one or two nights per week. Recent retirees may want to teach a few days a week during the day shifts when adjuncts can be more difficult to find.
Our most common method is by placing ads in local newspapers. We have just started experimenting with using internet sources to generate potential employment leads. Depending upon the dept needing the instructor both of these methods have been fairly successful. I think by starting to reach our to our grads and utilizing our current staff we may indeed find some very qualified applicants in the waiting.
Scott,
Thanks for the post. Grads who get some field experience and come back to teach can make excellent faculty members. Those referred by your best instructors also tend to work out very well.
What is it that you include in your newspaper and Intenet ads that you feel makes them successful?
What is your most common way of recruiting applicants for instructor positions at your school and how can the method be improved?
Our primary requirement method for faculty has been the Internet, using a dedicated HR website. This is an excellent method for screening out those candidates who don't meet the minimum qualifications, such as degree or job experience. However, during the actual interview and hiring process, we tend to give more preference to those candidates who are referrals, as generally they already know about the position or the company and are being referred in by another valued employee.
We use a number of ways to recruit new instructors, the process begins with current employees and recomendations. We also put the job out across all of our schools to see if anyone internally would like to relocate or move into a new position. We advertise for our graduates and also on the internet. I find that many responces we get from the internet are not qualified or they are not even looking for the position of an instructor. I think that we could benefit from using more of the networking to hire effective instructors and use connections in the business to find people who have a passion and desire to share their expertise and knowledge with students.
Shana,
Many of your peers depend on referrals from their faculty members or advisory committees. Some companies even compensate current employees when their referrals work out.
Jeffrey Schillinger
I use several methods. Referrals from our instructors are typically best or referrals from our PAC members. I do not use employment agencies for faculty and print ads do not gain much traction in this internet environment. Internet job boards get a lot of hits but lower quality.
Ken
