How we interview is by reviewing the application/resume before the person comes in. When we interview a person we have the department in the interview that the peson will be working in, so that they can get a feel for the person and they ask the person the questions. We first start off by making the person feel comfortable by just asking general questions, then we start the interview. If we choose to bring the person back for a second interview we schedule them for a test teach in front of all the directors. The changes I will make in the future is to write down the quesitons I will be asking the person. I do this sometimes but reading this module help me to realize that I need to do this with every person and the question should be question that I ask everyone not just one person.
Typical day for faculty: arrive before class starts, be sure all copying is complete and ready to go. Get room set up, be ready to start on time. Students are usually eager to learn, have certain expectations and are vocal about these. Our classes have adult learners and other nontraditional students. The nursing department has a binder of information, class lesson plans for all nursing courses available for current instructor. These include a jump drive of previous materials used in the course. We have q 2 week to monthy faculty meetings for nursing, there is a campus meeting monthly at noon usually on Wed. Students are under a lot of pressure as the curriculum is demanding. This stress is seen in student behavior at times, some whining or complaing are seen, and other attempts at negotiation on assignments.
Annette,
Thanks for the feedback! I appreciate the effort you are putting into this course.
Cissi,
Thank you for this post. It is great that you are open to the recommendations made in the course and by others who participate in these discussion forums. You may want to consider including some faculty members or even a few respected students as part of the "class" during the practice teach.
Our process is similar to Dave's downtown. For our VT program the VT coordinator does the hiring. For our Medical program our Medical coordinator does the hiring. Some quarters ago I hired two general education instructors however. Our General Education instructors have been with us since I have been here so I haven't had to do much hiring. I have some questions that was giving to me by the prior Dean. This is what I used in the past. I am trying to remember if the insctructors did most of the talking (75%) or not. That 75 to 25 was interesting. Like Dave I really don't know the coordiantors process but I did give my set of questions to the medical program coordinator.
Thanks Billy,
It is a good idea to make sure that each of the folks who do interviewing at your school use generally the same questions with each of their candidates. Each interviewer can develop their own list of question as long as those questions are consistently used.
we are currently looking to hire for our weekend program. i'm going to bring in chefs as guest speakers. this way i can see if the can teach not just think they can teach.
Tony,
Having a "practice teach" is a common part of many schools' hiring practice. You may want to have some of your faculty members complete one of the evaluation forms used for your faculty.
One thing I seem to think is important is to know if the applicant is single or married with children. This module has me concerned that I'm setting myself up for a possible law suit. I found that someone who is married or married with children would be a more responsible candidate because they have a family to take care of and would take their career more seriously, where a single person would be less likely to do the right things. Any feed back?
Jeff,
It is important not to ask about family or marital status during the interview process. To do so could lead to legal issues.
Often candidates will reveal that information during the interview or during small talk. If they do not, you are better off not asking.
Ultimately, you want to base your hiring decisions on the applicant's match to the KASOs you have identified as being needed for the position. you have identified as being needed for the position.
We currently use standard interview questions in our campus. Through the course, we are currently developing a more structured interview questionnaire that will better address the KSAOs for the position. The example in the course was very eye-opening.
Thanks, Anna. I hope these work out well for you.
Currently we utilize a structured behavioral interview process, and questionnaire. This aids in hiring qualified candidates who can answer questions that are specific with outcomes associated with the questions. It is difficult for an applicant to "talk" their way through. The candidate has to have experiences that they can discuss in detail.
As a result of this module, I will definitely speak less during the interview. Although logically I understand that the interviewee needs to do most of the talking, I have always felt a need to fill in the silences and make the other person feel more comfortable.
I have also learned the benefits of using structured questions in an interview, although obviously too much structure can limit the direction of the conversation with the potential instructor.
I loved this module!
Thanks, Theodora! I am glad you appreciated the material in this module.
Behavior-based interview questions, which require interviewees to talk about specific things they have donne in the past, yield great results. The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.
We currently use a multiple step process for interviewing.
1. The resume is processed and evaluated for proper academic credentials and the teaching or practical experience is verified.
2. The potential instructor is interview by the Department Chair and an evaluation form is completed and sent to the Academic Deam together with the resume.
3. The Dean schedules an interview and writes an evaluation report.
4. A demo teach on a programatic topic is scheduled with the Academic Dean, Associate Dean and at least two Department Chairs present. This demo could pass as ok or possibly the potential instructor could be requested to shadow a current successful instructor.
5. A background check is scheduled
6. Assuming all the above steps end favorably, an offer is made by the Program Director to the applicant for either a full time or an adjunct teaching position.
I realize that this process is time consuming but with proper planning, it is effective and has resulted in our campus having one of the lowest instructor turnover rates in our companys 119 campus system.
Module 3 had excellent ideas which would make our existing process more effective and efficient by narrowing the number of applicants down to the best potential canididates to interview.
1. Develop a more formal job analysis and profile.
2. Implement a more structured screening process including KSAOs into not only the the interview phase but also the application phase to eliminate the possibility of a bias in the beginning.
3. Revisit the advertising markets to insure that we are directing our recruiting budget into the most effective markets so that we will contact the best of best candidates.
Thanks, Charles. I have found following the guidelines offered in this course to be very effective. The structured process allows for more effective decisions.
Charles,
The demo teach is a common practice. Some colleges give the prospective instructor time to prepare a full lesson. Others give the instructor a few minutes to put together an introduction to a topic they choose. How do you structure the demo teach?
We give the candidate about a week to prepare a 30 minutes presentation on a program related topic of the their choice. We hope that this will put the instructor in his/her confort zone. Also, we're treated as a class and participate in the interactive discussion, demonstrations and question and answer phases of the presentation. Unfortunately, this method still makes some of the candidates feel uncomfortable at times but we work at helping the presenter relax and interact with the group.
