How School Leaders can Recruit Better

by Dan Mchugh.

International schools tend to have higher staff turnover than local schools. While retaining (good) staff is important, inevitably there comes a point when school leaders find themselves having to recruit new members of the team. However, the crucial nature of recruitment is not reflected in school leadership courses. I’ve done three substantial school leadership courses and none contained content concerning how best to recruit staff in an increasingly challenging labour market. I’m an ex-headhunter and so sourcing and securing talent used to be how I made my money: these are a few tips that I hope school leaders can adopt to help with this perennial, but often underrated, part of leading a school.

Consider the CQT Triangle

Cost, Quality and Time are trade-offs in recruitment. Some schools can cherry-pick the very best teachers and staff in the market, but it takes time to ensure they are the real deal, and they don’t come cheap. Other schools have strict pay scales that might not be the best in the market, and so quality is compromised. When you have a vacancy to fill at short notice, you might attract a candidate with additional bonuses or responsibility points, or accept a candidate who is not up to the usual standard. There’s no ‘best’ in terms of prioritising C, Q or T; furthermore, finding low-cost, high-quality teachers quickly is exceptionally difficult! Before you start recruiting, consider these three factors and decide where your priorities lie, and what you are willing to compromise on. You now have a starting ‘lens’ through which to consider candidates.

Questions to ask yourself (that I used to ask my clients):

• What ‘essential’ attributes or skills are actually desirable and compromisable?
• How flexible is the pay scale given who you are seeking/how quickly you need to make this hire?

Don’t Be Passive

While adverts may find schools the majority of their new teachers, being proactive really does help. Over the past two years, about 30% of our new hires were made through networking. Keep a list of ex-colleagues and acquaintances who might be able to help, and drop them an email or WhatsApp message asking who they know. LinkedIn is a straightforward tool for finding teachers, particularly as you can scroll the profile pictures and look for the green ‘open to work’ highlight on their picture. Go back through previous longlists of candidates and call them to ask if they might be on the market. If they aren’t, ask them if they know anyone! When I was a headhunter, finding candidates was not rocket science but it was labour intensive. We apply the same principles to good effect.

Questions to ask yourself:

• Who do I know that might be able to point me to some good candidates?
• Who have I previously spoken with that might now be right for us?

A Recruitment Process is a Funnel

School recruiting tends to go sequentially through applications, screening, interviews, more interviews, references, decision, and offers (more on whether this is actually the best sequence below). Each stage, the number of candidates gets smaller. Therefore, it always amazes me when school leaders involve themselves in the early stages of recruiting – there’s only one Headteacher or Principal, and in the early stages there might be 4-5 interviews required per vacancy. Use HR to check candidates for visa or regulatory issues. Share out longlisted CVs for scrutiny. Harness the numerical advantage of your middle leaders, and get them interviewing first with clear guidance on what you want them to appraise (i.e. subject knowledge, pedagogy, teamwork). Finally, trust their judgment.

Questions to ask yourself:

• Who is best screening/conducting interviews, given what we are looking for?
• What is my availability/bandwidth and when should I enter the process?

Become a better interviewer

Firstly, carefully plan any questions you want to ask so that you elicit a meaningful response that you can appraise. A long time ago, I completed a behavioural interviewer course which helped me develop an interviewing style that begins with specific, unambiguous scenarios for the interviewee to respond to. For example, “Tell me about a time you had to deal with a difficult parent” (which allows interviewees to provide grossly different answers, making comparison difficult) could be rewritten as “Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a parent who was unhappy with their child’s academic progress in your subject”. This is more specific, and so easier to compare responses.

Secondly, never rely on only structured questions, and be willing and able to branch out to better understand the quality of the prospective staff member. Again, behavioural interviewing involves knowing when to interject to delve deeper into the candidate’s response. If an interviewee is answering the question above, and says that they invited the parent in for a meeting, you might ask them how they invited them (phone, email?) and why they chose that medium for the invite (more personal, parent is EAL). Further questions could consider the interviewee’s decision processes, their thinking/emotions when confronted with a specific situation, how a resolution was reached, and what the interviewee learned from the experience. There’s no right or wrong answer, but you can start to get a sense of each candidate’s approach to different scenarios, and appraise which approach best fits what your school wants.

Questions to ask yourself:

• Are my planned questions going to allow me to effectively compare different interviewee’s answers?
• How rigidly do I stick to the script, and how confident am I with asking follow up questions?

References – Essential But Time-Consuming

There’s one golden rule to references: make the call. In the last year alone, we decided against hiring staff because the calls we had with previous schools did not match the written reference received. When you make a reference call, treat it the same as an interview – carefully plan your questions and be willing to probe. Even if the information you receive on the call is limited, you can read between the lines. One school leader told me they were unwilling to provide any more information other than the reference letter; when I asked about something curious on the CV, the school leader rephrased it as them not being able to provide more information. The concern we had was validated by the reference call, and we opted for a different teacher.

However, it is often a requirement that written references are taken too, and in the competitive teacher market, where time is at a premium, the wait for references to arrive can be costly. So, don’t wait until the final interviews are done to request references. Ask for permission to contact referees immediately, so that this process runs concurrently to the interview process, and not after it.

Questions to ask yourself:

• Do the references match up with the CV and my interview notes?
• What questions do I want to ask on the reference call?

Don’t make decisions alone

Hiring staff is critical, so don’t sit alone with the CVs in front of you when you make a decision. Meet with everyone involved in the recruitment process thus far, a HR representative, and (if you can) a fresh pair of eyes. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate, and try to reach some form of consensus. As well as this, always go through some final checks before an offer is made. I’d suggest the following:

• HR to double check against any visa or regulatory requirements
• The fresh pair of eyes to check that dates, titles, names on reference forms, CVs and interview notes align
• Discuss a hypothetical timetable for the candidate
• Discuss how the candidate will fit the academic department, tutor group, or other team

If the vacancy is a senior or critical one, you may even wish to go through this process before contacting candidates. You might spend 2-3 hours on this with a longlist of 40-50 applicants, but surely that’s better than the time spent if the recruitment of a staff member doesn’t work out?

Questions to ask yourself:

• How do you currently decide which candidate to hire?
• Have any recent hires not worked out? If so, why, and was this picked up during the recruitment process?

Dan Mchugh is the Vice Principal at Al Ain Academy, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

To connect with him on LinkedIn, please click Here

School URL: https://www.alainbritishacademy.ae/ 

When developing a best in class talent Acquisiton program you need to consider every stage of the process from job description to interview strategies. If you want the best talent engage the best advisor. Warren Cook of TAHR Services can provide you the competitive edge you need to hire top talent. 

How School Leaders can Recruit Better

by Dan Mchugh

International schools tend to have higher staff turnover than local schools. While retaining (good) staff is important, inevitably there comes a point when school leaders find themselves having to recruit new members of the team. However, the crucial nature of recruitment is not reflected in school leadership courses. I’ve done three substantial school leadership courses and none contained content concerning how best to recruit staff in an increasingly challenging labour market. I’m an ex-headhunter and so sourcing and securing talent used to be how I made my money: these are a few tips that I hope school leaders can adopt to help with this perennial, but often underrated, part of leading a school.

Consider the CQT Triangle

Cost, Quality and Time are trade-offs in recruitment. Some schools can cherry-pick the very best teachers and staff in the market, but it takes time to ensure they are the real deal, and they don’t come cheap. Other schools have strict pay scales that might not be the best in the market, and so quality is compromised. When you have a vacancy to fill at short notice, you might attract a candidate with additional bonuses or responsibility points, or accept a candidate who is not up to the usual standard. There’s no ‘best’ in terms of prioritising C, Q or T; furthermore, finding low-cost, high-quality teachers quickly is exceptionally difficult! Before you start recruiting, consider these three factors and decide where your priorities lie, and what you are willing to compromise on. You now have a starting ‘lens’ through which to consider candidates.

Questions to ask yourself (that I used to ask my clients):

• What ‘essential’ attributes or skills are actually desirable and compromisable?
• How flexible is the pay scale given who you are seeking/how quickly you need to make this hire?

Don’t Be Passive

While adverts may find schools the majority of their new teachers, being proactive really does help. Over the past two years, about 30% of our new hires were made through networking. Keep a list of ex-colleagues and acquaintances who might be able to help, and drop them an email or WhatsApp message asking who they know. LinkedIn is a straightforward tool for finding teachers, particularly as you can scroll the profile pictures and look for the green ‘open to work’ highlight on their picture. Go back through previous longlists of candidates and call them to ask if they might be on the market. If they aren’t, ask them if they know anyone! When I was a headhunter, finding candidates was not rocket science but it was labour intensive. We apply the same principles to good effect.

Questions to ask yourself:

• Who do I know that might be able to point me to some good candidates?
• Who have I previously spoken with that might now be right for us?

A Recruitment Process is a Funnel

School recruiting tends to go sequentially through applications, screening, interviews, more interviews, references, decision, and offers (more on whether this is actually the best sequence below). Each stage, the number of candidates gets smaller. Therefore, it always amazes me when school leaders involve themselves in the early stages of recruiting – there’s only one Headteacher or Principal, and in the early stages there might be 4-5 interviews required per vacancy. Use HR to check candidates for visa or regulatory issues. Share out longlisted CVs for scrutiny. Harness the numerical advantage of your middle leaders, and get them interviewing first with clear guidance on what you want them to appraise (i.e. subject knowledge, pedagogy, teamwork). Finally, trust their judgment.

Questions to ask yourself:

• Who is best screening/conducting interviews, given what we are looking for?
• What is my availability/bandwidth and when should I enter the process?

Become a better interviewer

Firstly, carefully plan any questions you want to ask so that you elicit a meaningful response that you can appraise. A long time ago, I completed a behavioural interviewer course which helped me develop an interviewing style that begins with specific, unambiguous scenarios for the interviewee to respond to. For example, “Tell me about a time you had to deal with a difficult parent” (which allows interviewees to provide grossly different answers, making comparison difficult) could be rewritten as “Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a parent who was unhappy with their child’s academic progress in your subject”. This is more specific, and so easier to compare responses.

Secondly, never rely on only structured questions, and be willing and able to branch out to better understand the quality of the prospective staff member. Again, behavioural interviewing involves knowing when to interject to delve deeper into the candidate’s response. If an interviewee is answering the question above, and says that they invited the parent in for a meeting, you might ask them how they invited them (phone, email?) and why they chose that medium for the invite (more personal, parent is EAL). Further questions could consider the interviewee’s decision processes, their thinking/emotions when confronted with a specific situation, how a resolution was reached, and what the interviewee learned from the experience. There’s no right or wrong answer, but you can start to get a sense of each candidate’s approach to different scenarios, and appraise which approach best fits what your school wants.

Questions to ask yourself:

• Are my planned questions going to allow me to effectively compare different interviewee’s answers?
• How rigidly do I stick to the script, and how confident am I with asking follow up questions?

References – Essential But Time-Consuming

There’s one golden rule to references: make the call. In the last year alone, we decided against hiring staff because the calls we had with previous schools did not match the written reference received. When you make a reference call, treat it the same as an interview – carefully plan your questions and be willing to probe. Even if the information you receive on the call is limited, you can read between the lines. One school leader told me they were unwilling to provide any more information other than the reference letter; when I asked about something curious on the CV, the school leader rephrased it as them not being able to provide more information. The concern we had was validated by the reference call, and we opted for a different teacher.

However, it is often a requirement that written references are taken too, and in the competitive teacher market, where time is at a premium, the wait for references to arrive can be costly. So, don’t wait until the final interviews are done to request references. Ask for permission to contact referees immediately, so that this process runs concurrently to the interview process, and not after it.

Questions to ask yourself:

• Do the references match up with the CV and my interview notes?
• What questions do I want to ask on the reference call?

Don’t make decisions alone

Hiring staff is critical, so don’t sit alone with the CVs in front of you when you make a decision. Meet with everyone involved in the recruitment process thus far, a HR representative, and (if you can) a fresh pair of eyes. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate, and try to reach some form of consensus. As well as this, always go through some final checks before an offer is made. I’d suggest the following:

• HR to double check against any visa or regulatory requirements
• The fresh pair of eyes to check that dates, titles, names on reference forms, CVs and interview notes align
• Discuss a hypothetical timetable for the candidate
• Discuss how the candidate will fit the academic department, tutor group, or other team

If the vacancy is a senior or critical one, you may even wish to go through this process before contacting candidates. You might spend 2-3 hours on this with a longlist of 40-50 applicants, but surely that’s better than the time spent if the recruitment of a staff member doesn’t work out?

Questions to ask yourself:

• How do you currently decide which candidate to hire?
• Have any recent hires not worked out? If so, why, and was this picked up during the recruitment process?

Dan Mchugh is the Vice Principal at Al Ain Academy, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

To connect with him on LinkedIn, please click Here

School URL: https://www.alainbritishacademy.ae/ 

When developing a best in class talent Acquisiton program you need to consider every stage of the process from job description to interview strategies. If you want the best talent engage the best advisor. Warren Cook of TAHR Services can provide you the competitive edge you need to hire top talent. To connect with Warren on LinkedIn, click Here

If you are looking at your recruitment options this year, then look no further than TIC Recruitment. They’ve been recruiting quality teachers and international School leaders for over 20 years. To learn more about TIC, go to www.ticrecruitment.com

LYIS is proud to partner with TIC Recruitment