10 Quick Ways To Attract The Best Job Applicants To Your School

By Jeff Dunn
culled from:http://www.edudemic.com

If you’re an administrator or someone who has to manage others, you know it’s never an easy job. But it’s really the hiring of those employees that is where the problems either begin or, well, never start. Whether you’re hiring a teacher, janitor, school therapist, whatever… it all starts with finding the right people. So if you’re on the hunt for filling a few vacancies, here are some tips.
Our friend Alex Summers wrote up this piece as we thought it would be timely considering the new fiscal year is now upon us. Budgets are renewed, vacancies are reexamined, and schools are in desperate need of quality employees. To help you vet that perfect employee, here are ten tips you may want to consider:
#1 Act Fast
One of the biggest complaints that job seekers have is that the company or school takes too long to respond. If there’s a great employee out there, it’s safe to say they will land a job pretty fast. By manning the fort and watching for these candidates daily, there’s a good chance you can snag them fast.
#2 Build a Reputation
Employees don’t want to work for a school that stinks. If yours has a bad reputation online, it’s best to fix it as soon as possible. Also, by treating your employees like gold today, you never know if they can recruit someone for you down the road.
#3 Always Post
Hiring when you need someone today can be dangerous. If you need to fill a spot by tomorrow, it could lead to a disaster since you’re willing to take on anyone. Consider leaving a job opening up year-round. That way, you can watch the resumes that come in. Even if you don’t have the budget to hire, you can keep their contact information for the future.
#4 What you Want
Your job listing shouldn’t be broad. Instead, specify exactly what you want. If your candidates don’t meet these expectations, you can filter them out. For instance, if you’re looking for someone who has five years of a specific type of experience, you wouldn’t want to consider someone who only just graduated. Stick to your guns, and hire those that meet your qualifications.
#5 Questions Work
With many job postings, potential employees will just see the job title and apply. There’s a problem with this. Most applicants will see 2,000 words in the job description and just skip it all. Instead of cluttering thousands of words, consider adding simple yes or no questions. That way, they can scan quickly and answer them at the same time.
#6 Know your Red Flags
Studies have shown that if you look out for certain red flags, you can hire a better employee. This can include grammatical and spelling errors, lack of experience or a resume that is eight pages long. Stick to the pile that has a simple resume that gets straight to the point.
#7 Read the Cover Letter
Try your best to read the cover letter. With many recruiters, most skip over that. This is a problem. Interested applicants will always write a unique and detailed cover letter. Look for things such as the history of the school, competitors and what they can do. If it’s unique, it could be a great potential candidate. If it’s simple and generic, they probably sent the same thing to 100 other companies.
#8 Expand
Don’t put all the hiring on yourself. Instead, consider reaching out to other companies such as BullhornReach.com social recruiting and others. These companies will do the dirty work for you. They will reach out to social networks, websites and search engines. Using their algorithms, they can find the best talent for you.
#9 Test
Even if you find the best employee resume, it doesn’t mean that they are the greatest thing for your business. Before you hire anyone, it’s best to test them. For example, if it’s for a programming position, you may want to have them create a simple project or edit some code.
#10 Follow Up
Like the testing, make sure that you follow up on references and old employers. Many companies (and schools) tend to skip out on this. Find out when they were employed, what their work ethics were like and how responsible they were. Also, be sure to have them spot the negatives. No matter how great an employee may seem, everyone has their flaws.
When hiring an employee, it shouldn’t be done overnight. Instead, it should be a process that takes some time. By following a few of these tips, you’re bound to find someone who can fit perfectly with your company.