3 Best Practices for Hiring in the Education Industry

Universities, colleges, and schools across the country face more hiring challenges than ever. In addition to hiring personnel that are qualified, experienced, and safe to be around students, educational institutions are now facing a teacher shortage. In a field where recruiting new staff is increasingly more challenging, here are some best practices for hiring the qualified talent you need in the education industry.

1. Cast a Wider Net

One mistake that employers of all types tend to make is sticking only to the traditional recruiting methods. One study found that while only 15% of teacher applications come from referrals, they result in a new hire 30% of the time. This is a problem because most applications come in through job boards but are far less likely to be extended an interview.

Most candidates today are Millennials who grew up in a digital age. Reevaluate your institution’s hiring procedures and meet the talent where they are. By utilizing sites like SchoolSpring, you open your school up to more quality talent.

2. Get It Right the First Time

A bad hire is a costly expense. Teacher turnover negatively impacts student development, making it vitally important to hire the right candidate the first time around. Comprehensive screening measures help ensure that new staff have the necessary licenses, credentials, and experience. More importantly, screening ensures that any and all staff aren’t a potential danger to students.

In order to prevent negligent hiring decisions, schools are going the extra mile to Get the Whole Story on their candidates. In addition to the traditional screening services—criminal histories to uncover potentially disqualifying past behavior, education and employment verifications to confirm previous performance, professional license verifications to check credentials status—some schools are now opting to run social media searches on new hires as well. Social media screening can reveal potential biases against students’ race, culture, or disability status; using an accredited, experienced provider to search your candidates’ online presences (rather than conducing this search on your own) ensures you’re not accidentally revealing protected class information that you cannot legally use in a hiring decision.

3. Know the Value of Mentorship

Hiring is only one step in the process. The support that schools provide their staff following a job offer is just as vital as everything that goes into recruitment. An educator’s first teaching experience effectively decides whether they’ll remain a teacher going forward. To continue to attract quality candidates and retain the ones you already have, it’s necessary to create an environment focused on growth.

Providing mentorship, group lesson planning, and curriculum guidance are all ways schools can help new hires settle into their roles. Ongoing training and professional development opportunities helps employees grow while also increasing their engagement and job satisfaction. This, in turn, lowers turnover and increases student performance. Providing your staff with the support they need is a
domino effect that can have positive consequences for an entire school or university system.

Hiring talent? Partner with the screening provider you can trust.

About Tammy Cohen

Tammy Cohen, an industry pioneer and expert in identity and employment screening, founded InfoMart 30 years ago. Deemed the “Queen of Screen,” she’s been a force behind industry-leading innovations. She was most recently the first-to-market with a fully compliant sanctions search, as well as a suite of identity services that modernizes talent onboarding. Tammy revolutionized the screening industry when she stepped into the field, developing the first client-facing application and a due diligence criminal search that has since become standard for all background screening companies. Cohen has received national awards and honors for her business and civic involvement, including Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Top 25 Women-Owned Firms in Atlanta, Enterprising Women Magazine’s Enterprising Women of the Year award, the YWCA of Northwest Georgia’s Kathryn Woods Racial Justice Award, and a commendation in the 152nd Congressional Record.

About InfoMart

InfoMart has been revolutionizing the global background and identity screening industry for 30 years, providing businesses the information they need to make informed hiring decisions. They develop innovative technology that modernizes talent onboarding, including a first-to-market biometric identity authentication application and a verified sanctions search. The WBENC-certified company is a founding member of the Professional Background Screening Association, and they have achieved PBSA accreditation in recognition of their consistent business practices and commitment to compliance with the FCRA. The company is dedicated to customer service, speed, and accuracy, and it has been recognized for its success, workplace culture, and corporate citizenship with over 45 industry awards. To Get the Whole Story on InfoMart, please visit www.InfoMart-USA.com, follow @InfoMartUSA, or call (770) 984-2727.