What You See Is Not Always What You Get
A job applicant's superb credentials and outstanding interviewing skills can lead to hiring a person who may not be as fabulous as you thought once they are on the job. In addition to knowledge and communication skills, there are so many personal qualities that are crucial to being a good educator, such as dependability, punctuality, patience, self-control and flexibility. Unfortunately, it is only after the person is on the job for awhile that it becomes apparent whether or not the new educator possesses these personal qualities or not.
You are absolutely correct. It is important to thoroughly check multiple references and to ask the right questions during the interview process.
Even after doing this it may not be enough.
Excellent comments Galen.
Often we must use our instincts when hiring someone. As most candidates are putting their best foot forward during the hiring process and we cannot accurately access their skills or applicable attributes. I have to admit that we have made a few errors in judgement. But for the most part we do very well with hiring.
I was not in the mamagement position at the time this happened, but the other instructor who worked with me was always there but her attitude toward the students was horrible she had her favorites which was few and ignored the rest and in the program she taught this was not a good situation because our students needed hands on experiences which they were not given. Unfortunately I was not aware of this until she left.
Hi Cindy
One important thing is to follow-up with classroom observations, student surveys and
employer/placement questionaires. They can often give you some insight into things not being as they seem. But nothing replaces the
good relationship an "open door" policy can
create. You have to be willing to hear what
people think.
I don't find that I get much useful information from reference checks. Most of the time, all people will give me is that they did work there but they won't release any more detailed information. Additionally, the references that people put on the application are usually positive because they are the applicant's friends. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get better information on past job performance?
Sometimes you really need to push the reference for honest answers. Asking similar questions in different ways can lead to different answers. It also helps to require supervisor or manager references so that the candidate cannot give their co-worker who may be a friend.
Amen on this subject! I employ an instructor that was a previous student. The only student to attend my class and make a perfect score. One of the most qualified instructors I have ever encountered, really knows his stuff but is extremely unreliable. Sometimes during class, he'll head out and be gone for hours, he'll take cell calls during class etc...but I can't beat his teaching ability. His people skills aren't what I would like for them to be however, he does have that level of students who are in sync with him and somehow manages to make it work.
Students opinion of the qualities of an instructor can be misguided. Students do not have enough knowledge about where their skill levels and knowledge levels need to be in order judge if an instructor is achieving or not. Unreliability is certainly not a valuable trait. It sounds like your instructor needs to be made aware of your dissatisfaction and told what he needs to do to maintain his employment. It also helps to have someone else who can teach his topics so you can react if he does not respond positively.
Xander,
It is true that students do not always look at the same things we do when evaluating a faculty member. However, their perceptions about the class play a significant role in their persistence decisions.
We work with our faculty members to make them "edutainers." We want the atmosphere in our classrooms to be one that keeps our students wanting to be there each meeting.
Our experience is that students who have fun and learn at the same time are far more likely to stay in school, master the course objectives, graduate and secure a career position.
Some institutions make student satisfaction a significant part of a faculty member's performance review. In the long run, faculty members who teach well in an inviting atmosphere tend to please students.
I have to agree with Galen. That fabulous person that you thought was perfect for the position turned out to be the one that always shows up late or calls in sick. Unfortunately, it takes time to know the integrity of a person, I have found that an employee that shows up for work on time and is a team player is worth their weight in gold.
Thanks, Connie.
Just being there is a simple key to success. We need to find ways to recognize teachers that are not necessarily our superstars, but are there for our students when they need them.
References do not help because they are supplied by the applicant. Interview questions need to be developed to avoid preferntial treatment and inaffective information. I have hired persons who where superb on the interview and ineffective in the classroom because I "fell" for their great personalities and excellent answers and not their ability to do the work. what are some effective questions to avoid these issues?
