Hiring has never been as difficult as it is now, and schools are under unique pressures which limit the pool of eligible employees. With nationwide demand for employees and tightening budgets, schools need professionals on their side to identify high-quality candidates and hire school staff programmatically. 

School Staff Hiring Challenges 

School staff positions vary widely, but some universal characteristics can help administrators determine if the candidate in front of them fits the bill. 

Experience 

First, the ability to work with students is a must. Past job experience is the easiest way to get a feel for a candidate’s willingness to work with kids. Make sure to consider the full range of experiences, including babysitting, summer camps, or if they have kids of their own.  

Additionally, while few school staff positions involve zero interaction with students, some require more than others which offers some wiggle room in this consideration when hiring. 

Experience cannot be considered independent of background checks and rigorous verification of the claims made on the resumes. Second-level confirmation will give you and your team confidence that they are working with capable people. 

Financial 

Next, consider the financials of the position and the individual. While year-round school support staff positions are available, many will not be guaranteed income over the summer. Opportunities for summer income include summer school, camps, or others. 

If your school is in a position to offer summer positions, that is a good thing to highlight in job postings. If it is not, investigate potential options candidates could explore, either based on their resume or local businesses in the area.  

Many candidates hired straight out of school worked summer positions in college. If there is limited potential for summer income for a candidate, it might indicate they intend to leave. 

Even if candidates do not initially intend to leave, looking for a new job every summer will keep their resumes updated. If they come across an attractive full-time position during a summer job search, your school could end up short-staffed. 

Considering the cost of living in surrounding areas and whether candidates need to pay for a vehicle is another important consideration that could make or break the hiring process. If housing in the area is pricier than your budget can accommodate, looking for candidates to commute from surrounding areas could expand your choices. 

On top of these considerations, administrators, teachers, and existing school support staff will work with the candidates you find daily, if not hourly. Finding candidates who understand and appreciate the culture of your school is an essential consideration for any hiring manager. 

Culture 

Anyone can find the right candidate to hire for their school and staff. Some culture-hire tips include taking steps to understand school culture, advertising in a manner that attracts compatible candidates, and building interviewing teams representing different interests and perspectives in the school. 

School culture is more than the words that constitute a vision statement. After the long-term, large-scale shutdowns, the culture of every school might be radically different from what it was previously. Speaking with staff about the gaps which have created the need for hiring can allow your team to help hire school staff that aligns well with everyone. 

Advertising 

Next, you need to advertise in a manner that attracts applicants that match the needs of your school culture. Programmatic job advertising offered by Talroo is a great way to get the edge over other employers. Talroo uses data-driven analytics to ensure your positions reach the high-quality candidates your staff and students deserve. 

Interviewing 

Once a pool of eligible candidates has been identified, it is essential to construct the interview process to include relevant perspectives and stakeholders. Every school has a different department and administrative structure. However, it is worth considering the interests of teachers, office personnel, and parents, in addition to human resources and the administration. 

An inclusive interview process has a twofold cultural effect. First, it subjects interviewees to rigorous questioning from the individuals they will have to satisfy as part of the day-to-day. If a candidate cannot answer interview questions from a parent or teacher, they will not be able to work with them either. 

Second, an inclusive interview process makes staff feel heard. Even in a situation where compromises must be made, in hiring decisions, bringing stakeholders into the process gives them a personal stake in the decision. 

School Staff Hiring Solutions 

Implementing the guidelines for hiring school staff outlined above is demanding but essential to a successful hiring process. However, performing all of these tasks on the scope necessary to meet school staff shortages all over the nation exceeds the capacity of any hiring manager. 

To make your life easier, consider the services offered by Talroo. They offer a suite of candidate hiring services for essential workers, which take the grunt work out of combing through resumes or slogging through recruitment sites. 

Talroo can help you find candidates anywhere. Their services include job advertising management and implementation of programmatic job advertising to provide you with a pool of high-quality candidates to choose from. Their analytics and data analysis team has the tools and experience necessary to reach your next reliable team of staff. 

In addition to these services, Talroo includes hiring event products. Whether you want to sponsor a hiring event virtually or in person, Talroo can help. Job events are an excellent opportunity to attract interested candidates and speak with them directly about open positions, thus increasing your chance of finding a great fit. 

For all your school staff hiring needs, turn to Talroo for programmatic job advertising solutions that work for you.