It’s getting closer to that special time of the school year.

No, not summer (because that is beyond special… and there are days when I feel it will never get here).

It’s almost Interview Season.

Teachers retire, quit, or move on to bigger and better things.

This also means I will have a dull headache for the next 6 months.  It’s the exact same feeling I get when I eat too much sugar.

Openings to fill.  Resumes to sort through by the hundreds (please stop telling me there’s a teacher shortage).  And reference checks to be made.

Work, work, work.

Which isn’t a bad thing.  Actually it’s job security.

Even so, Interview Season = Dull Headache just Cookies in the Lounge = Dull Headache.

I enjoy meeting new teachers during interviews.

They are so young.  So enthusiastic.  So upbeat and positive.  So desperate for a job that pays them actual money.

There’s just so many of them.

After about interview #47, I start to show my age.

I get confused and disoriented.

There comes a time when I can’t remember if I’ve asked a question or even for the candidate’s name.

Who am I kidding?  At a certain point I can’t remember my own name (sadly this happens way before interview #47).

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind interviewing (see:  job security).  I just wish I had a special huge red button to push the second I know it’s not going to work out.

Sort of a “Thanks for playing our game… now GET OUT!” button.

This isn’t true.  Or nice.

What I need is a giant lever to pull.

If this sounds unduly harsh, it’s because it is.

In my defense, interviews are like first dates.  You know within 2 minutes if it’s a match.

I don’t want to embarrass the person interviewing, I just want to pull the lever and have them fall into a giant abyss (just to prove I’m not mean, I want the abyss to be deep enough that I don’t hear their crying and screaming as they fight for a final breathe… because there’s no need to make things worse).

Think about it.  Within 120 seconds you know if you want to hire this person, but yet you feel like it’s only fair to spend at least 30 minutes interviewing them.

Actually, now that I think about it this may be worse than pulling the lever.

Maybe, interviews should be shorter.

Maybe, it’s a disservice to drag them out when they aren’t going well.

Maybe, I would be doing everyone a favor by pulling the lever.

Or maybe not.

Interviews remind me of a game show.

Think about it.  A school gets 100 resumes.

We pick out 5 to play the game.

They are then brought up on stage (the interview) and asked a series of secret questions.

No one knows the correct answer, so the candidates do their best to guess what the school/interviewer wants to hear.

At the end of the game a winner is chosen and the losers (not really “losers”) have no idea why they didn’t win.

It’s a game show without the lovely parting gifts.

People are so excited to get chosen to play the game and so disappointed when they don’t win.

No job.  No car.  No boat.  No vacation package.

It’s a game show without any of the good parts.

And of course, I don’t have a lovely sidekick, a bad suit, big hair, or a long microphone.

Alex, I would like “Student Discipline” for $100.

Comments: 18
Tags: game shows, Gene Rayburn, Interview Season, interviewing, Interviews

In the last year, I have had this conversation with at least 612 people. You may question my ability to remember every person I have talked to in the last 12 months, but that would be a mistake.

I have just a hint of Raymond Babbitt in me (Google it… and if you haven’t seen the movie, rent it). This compulsiveness may explain my need to iron my shirts after I get them back from the drycleaners, but that is a whole different blog.

This same conversation seems to come up over and over. For reasons that I don’t understand, people are dumbfounded by this issue.

It’s like a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, covered in a conundrum.

This question always comes from principals or superintendents (or from the best job in education… “the assistant superintendent”… after all, who hates this person… or even knows who they are?). While I work in K-12 education, I think my ideas on this topic will apply to all businesses.

The million dollar (and beat to death) question is… What type of employee should I hire?

This question comes in all different forms.

Should I hire someone based solely on education? (like requiring at least a Master’s Degree?)

Should I hire local people or candidates from outside of the area?

Should I be searching for applicants fresh out of college, or look for more experienced individuals?

Should I be looking for a certain type of personality trait (see how I deftly avoid a controversy by not touching on the subject of hiring males vs. females?)?

And even, should I weed out candidates if they weren’t straight A students in high school and college?

While these questions are helpful in narrowing down a search, an interviewer’s sixth sense may be more important.

Like lots of skills, this can be learned. But the great leaders (bosses) are born with it (feel free to make your own joke here about great bosses being non-existent).

So many employee problems could be reduced if the people in charge just made better hiring decisions.

Someone who is adept at the interviewing process can instantly recognize the qualities necessary in becoming great employees.

The biggest mistake employers make is not treating the hiring process with the respect it deserves. They just don’t put the time and effort in to finding great employees.

They fall into the “Just Get This Position Filled” trap…or the even sadder offshoot of “Just Get This Position Filled Today Because My Vacation Starts Tomorrow.”

Hiring takes time. Hiring great long-term employees takes even more time. But the good news is the time you spend now will save you an enormous amount of headaches in the future.

I believe you should always hire based on what is best for the people already in-house.

In the case of a school, that includes the students, but it also involves the other staff members.

If you can find a new employee that is a team player and a hard worker, your life will not only be better in the short term but much easier in the long term.

Another thing to look for when hiring people is finding candidates who are not exactly like you (1 you per school is plenty). Since students come in all shapes, sizes, and types, so should their teachers.

This may mean hiring people that you “don’t get”. But I guarantee you there will be students who get them.

If you constantly hire people like yourself, you are watering down the gene pool of your school.

These are good guidelines to get you started, but there is one thing you should always keep in mind when hiring new staff.

It is the Golden Rule of Interviewing. Pay attention because a lot of people mess-up this simple concept.

Like most things in education, it just isn’t that difficult. But this is the one mistake you must avoid.

Hire and surround yourself with people who are smarter than you. Too often, the people in charge want (and need) to be the smartest person in school.

I myself, prefer to be the dumbest.

Why?

Because a school district where I am the most intelligent employee is average at best. A district where I am the least intelligent employee has a real chance to be great.

Comments: 16
Tags: employees, hiring, interviewing, Interviews