A teacher has a big part and huge role to play in the success of every student, and the school at large. It’s really hard to get a teacher that’s well articulate, punctual, bold, cooperative, resourceful, and all other qualities, but you should know that there’s no such teacher with all these qualities in one vessel.
There are numerous and easy ways that you can get good teachers and hire them at your school and get the work done. However, this means you should also have the means to maintain their stay and ensure a good environment that will enable them work for you without compromise. I know you’ve probably heard the saying, that angels can never live in hell, so you have to have a heaven for them too.
In this article, I’ll show you how you can attract and also look for teachers and get the kind of teachers that you want.
Know the kind of teachers that you want.
Well, it all starts with what you have in mind. The kind of teachers that you’d like to work with at your school determines the kind that you’ll get. Many teachers out there have good skills and experience, but they might not be good for you, depending on what you’re looking for.
If you’re looking for teachers that can start with a low pay, allowances and conditions, you might not like the idea of hiring a teacher hat has a PhD or has gone to America for college. Sounds gross, right?
Determining the kind of teachers that you want will help you get the particular teacher that you hope to get, without looking into a pile of application letters or vetting a couple of people until you get burned out.
Advertise.
Now that you know what kind of teachers you want, you shall be in a better position to advertise and let the world around you know the type of teachers that you’re willing to hire. With good advertising, you’ll get a pretty good number of teachers that seek jobs, and you’ll have a variety of options, which is good. These are the avenues where you can advertise.
TV, radio and newspapers.
This is pretty old school, but it’s one of the ways that you can have your ads reach a good number of people. Along with an advert about your school, include your search for new teachers with the qualities you want.
Online.
Social media? That’s right. Besides Facebook an Twitter, there are some other sites like LinkedIn that bring employers closer to potential employees, and putting out some good ads will have a good number of job seekers come out to you.
Flyers & sign posts.
This seems out dated, but nothing beats this when it comes to reching the people in your vicinity. When your signpost includes that you’re having a couple of vacancies to give out, then you’ll have a number of applicants reach out to you to get the jobs.
Hire some brokers.
Now, there are many people out there that could get you a good employee at an affordable price, and all you have to do is tell them what qualities you want in the employee you want. It’s pretty simpler this way actually, because it will certainly take less of your time.
Ask for referrals from other teachers.
Teachers, especially the experienced ones, usually have established large connections with other teachers, and they can possibly refer you to other good teachers.
This will help you get through the process of lookin for teachers without throwing so much money around.
Consider their credentials.
Now, this sounds pretty obvious, but merit is a great devil, and it comes to you in different ways. Now, don’t mistake me. I know you’ll look at the academic documents of everyone that comes to ask for the job, but the best and most qualified might not be the prettiest, and I don’t want you to fall into this trap, which many people have fallen into, BTW.
The choice is all yours, but I’d rather have my staff look ugly and from different tribe when they know what they have to do, and expect no sentimentality from me when they do anything wrong.
Interview.
No matter what their academic credentials look like, they can never prove their worth before you can test them. Trust me, many administrators get surprised. You have to test them before you give them a chance to call you their boss.
Taking an interview also makes your employee value their job, because they know it hasn’t been easy to get, and might be easy to lose if they screw up.
Consider their recommendations.
You might want to differ, but I strongly believe that reputation never lies. Teaching is a highly sensitive job, and needs to be given to only those that are of good character. No matter what your employee looks like, what you’ve heard about their previous employment says a lot about them that you don’t have to ignore even for a second.
If they have bad recommendations, or a bad reputation behind them, make no mistake of thinking that they’ll be redeemed by you or your school.
Consider their experience.
Believe me or not, an experienced sailor always knows better than the new one. Now, trust me, I believe that it’s good to hire inexperienced staff that are willing to learn and improve, but it’s not safe for you to have a staff filled with novices, because that way no one can guide the others.
Put them on trial.
Now, you have looked into their academic documents and seen all they have made in the area of qualification and experience. It’s time you tested their worth in the classroom. Trust me, nothing beats this. You shall literally sit behind the classroom or use trusted members of staff to supervise the applicant on your behalf.
Do you feel like one lesson is not enough, or it’s one of those rare circumstances where you feel like they can do better when you train them? put them on probation until you’re sure they can work as employees in your school.
Ask your students to rate them.
No matter how this might sound in your ears, one of the things that makes good teachers is how they connect with students. For that matter, you’re supposed to collect your students’ opinions, beginning with what they’ve been able to learn and grasp. This will give you a little insight on what the teacher will look like when they get the job.
However, that’s not the only determinant, and many times, students can get bored and biased about almost everything.
Do some research on teachers salaries.
After you’ve known how much teachers are paid, you can determine what kind of teachers you want to attract. Also, you know how much you’ll be paying them for as long as they are your employees.
Teachers are just like any other kind of employee and they can also go with whoever pays them most.
However, you should also consider what this will mean to other teachers that you’ve already employed. This is because unless the difference between them is evident, you’ll need a little more equality of payment.
Conclusion;
There are many other factors that you have to consider, and steps to follow in order to hire good staff. The one thing you should never forget is even the best can turn into the worst under bad circumstances. The rest of their performance after you’ve hired them, is all something you’ll highly influence.