Ben Burns

EDUL 639
Talent Selection Process
Interviewee: Steve Michaels
I had the opportunity to interview Mr. Steve Michaels, principal at
Hamilton Elementary, regarding the talent selection process. Typically the
first step is determining the staffing needs for the upcoming year. There as
aspects of this that are more known, such as teacher retirements or
resignations and the number of students moving from one grade to the next
within the same building, but there are other aspects that are more difficult
to nail down, such as the number of incoming students and any traveling or
shared staff. Other factors to consider include whether or not the school has
SAGE and student:teacher ratios to adhere to, and if any staff will not be
employed 1.0 FTE. Mr. Michaels noted that a common formula to determine
the amount of a specialist needed is to multiply the number of classrooms by
0.05 FTE.
Next steps typically include putting together an interview team and
questions. Mr. Michaels noted that he typically invites any staff that want to
be a part of the interview team, as long as there is not a conflict of interest,
as well as parents and, if appropriate, students. Common interview
questions include ones related to building relationships with students, staff,
and parents, classroom management, current initiatives such as PLCs,

resolving conflict, accountability, and responding to scenarios. Mr. Michaels

noted that he typically interview up to six candidates for any one position.
Mr. Michaels noted that in addition to the typical interview format with
questions and answers, he often likes to have potential teachers prepare a
short lesson to teach to an actual class of students. When evaluating the
candidates, some common traits he is looking for include whether they
appear to be mission driven or not, work ethic, desire to teach, relationship
skills, can they suspend their judgment, and if they are a team player.
When evaluating candidates, it is important not to rank order them.
Mr. Michaels noted that he asks his interview team to list the strengths and
weaknesses of each candidate, whether they are acceptable or
unacceptable, and whether or not they think that person would be a good fit
for the school. He also noted that if the candidate has had the opportunity to
teach a lesson to a group of students, he likes to incorporate the students
feedback into the decision process as much as possible, noting that almost
always the students are spot on with their assessments of the candidates.
After the interview team has provided their input, the principal makes a
recommendation to the districts associate superintendent of human
resources, who meets with the candidate, and if they find the candidate
acceptable, recommends them to the school board for hiring. Finally, Mr.
Michaels noted that a candidates ability to direct extra-curriculars does not
come into play at the elementary level nearly as much as it might at the

middle or high school level, with the exception maybe of music teachers
because of the nature of those extra-curriculars.
Throughout this process I think you have to be sure to follow procedure
carefully and be mindful of the questions you are asking so as to avoid
potential discrimination. If we keep the focus on the job though, we should
be ok. I really liked the idea of observing the candidates actually work with
students. After all, isnt this what we are hiring them to do!? There is only
so much we can learn about an individual, or put another way, there is only
so much an individual can demonstrate about their competence/qualification
as it relates to a job vacancy, through answering interview questions. Still, I
think that if your questions are well aligned with your buildings mission and
vision, you can gain plenty of valuable insight.