Attracting qualified candidates requires both long-term planning and the ability to quickly mount a recruitment campaign for immediate needs.

When this isn’t working as well, the consequences can be:

• No applicants;
• Applicants who are not a good fit;
• Not enough applicants to have a real choice;
• Settling for a candidate who is not a good match for your needs;
• Late hires;
• Unfilled positions.

When this works well, the consequences can be:

• Enough quality candidates apply so that you can select a candidate whose skills, knowledge, and disposition most closely match your school’s needs;
• A more diverse educator workforce;
• Applicants see the opening as an attractive opportunity.

Often school districts invest time and resources to develop a positive image in their community, among parents and with students. They may have spent less time thinking about the image of their school district among potential job candidates or referrers of job candidates, such as personnel at educator preparation programs. An investment in marketing your school district as a good place to work can pay off in less effort required to recruit for individual positions and in more high quality candidates.

Promising strategies for marketing your district as a good place to work and teach:

• Assess your current marketing materials;

  Gather together brochures, your web site, newsletters, fact sheets, letters sent to educator preparation programs, job fair materials, and any other materials created to market or educate the public about your district. Read through the materials from the point of view of a potential job applicant.

• Do you have basic marketing materials for your district?
• What will readers learn about your school district from the materials?
• Are the strengths of the district clearly identified?
• Will readers learn why it is a good place to work and teach?
• Is there information that specifically targets potential job applicants?
• Do materials indicate how readers can find out about teaching and working in the district and about specific job opportunities?
  
  
• Make an inventory of your school district's strengths as a place to work and teach;
  
• Make the most of your website for recruiting educators;
  
• Explore how school districts use their website for recruitment;
  
• Develop marketing materials that specifically target potential job applicants.

Expanding your outreach can increase the number of candidates who consider applying for your job openings.

Promising Strategies for Expanding Outreach:

• Advertise in local and regional classified ads. Consider expanding your geographical recruitment circle;
• Contact the career placement offices for AZ teacher preparation undergraduate and graduate programs;
• Work with other schools to participate in or host a job fair;
• Post your job openings on various websites that offer educator job listings;
• Use college/university job boards or job-posting services.

Efforts to enlist help from your local community can be effective at reaching potential candidates who are close to home.

Promising strategies for enlisting community help in your recruitment efforts:

• Include community stakeholders on your recruitment team;
  
• Make sure faculty and staff know about open positions and recruitment needs and encourage them to refer potential applicants;
  
• Let parents, PTA's, PTO's, service clubs know about job openings;
  
• Ask the Chamber of Commerce, Welcome Wagon, and realtors to disseminate your recruitment materials;
  
• Ask your local media to cover stories about your recruitment efforts or your recruitment needs.

Before you seek potential job applicants, taking time to define the desired characteristics and profile of the type of educator you seek will help to guide your recruitment activities.

Your employment ad may be the first impression of your school as a potential employer. Often school job ads are dry lists of requirements with little information about why an applicant might want to work at the school and little that makes a particular job stand out. Print ads and internet listings are often limited in size because of cost or policy of the internet site leaving little room for a full job description.

Promising Strategies for Crafting an Effective Employment Ad:

• Be sure to include links to your website where you can include a full job description;
  
• Use your website to include other information about your school district that helps potential job seekers envision themselves teaching in your district;
  
• Include some information in your job ad that indicates what the applicant will gain by working at your school.

By strengthening your relationships with institutions of higher education, particularly those that offer educator preparation programs, you can increase the likelihood that undergraduates, graduate students, and other advanced learners will learn about your school.

Promising Strategies

• Introduce your district to representatives from institutions of higher education (IHEs) through letters, phone calls, and personal meetings
• Explore opportunities for students from IHEs to visit your school
• Invite a representative from an IHE to participate on your Recruitment and Retention Team
• Explore opportunities for collaborative projects between your school and IHEs
• Become a field placement site for student teaching or practical internships

You can help to cultivate future educators among those with whom you already have links: your students and others in your community.

Promising Strategies

• Encourage students in your schools to aspire to teaching as a career;
• Consider becoming involved in Future Educators Academy;
• Consider those in your community and school who could enter teaching through alternative pathways, such as:
  • Para-educators, such as teacher assistants, special education assistants, school clerks, cafeteria employees, security guards;
  • Parents or community residents who are active in the schools;
  • Members and leaders of the community who are active in education issues;
  • Early retirees who are moving to your community.
• Learn about alternative pathways to certification in Arizona;
• Request assistance from the Arizona Department of Education to learn more about alternative paths to certification.

Explore programs that encourage and support teachers certified through an alternative pathway

Teach for America
Teacher recruitment program aimed at recruiting outstanding and diverse recent college graduates, of all academic majors. The participants commit to two years of teaching in under-served urban and rural public schools.

Troops to Teachers
A referral assistance and placement service for military personnel interested in beginning a second career as a teacher.

School districts around the country offer a wide variety of incentives to recruit and retain educators. Incentives range from community-based tokens of appreciation to state and federal initiatives.

The following is a list of potential incentives:

• Financial Aid, Loan Repayment and Forgiveness Programs
• Grants and Awards to Recognize and Assist Educators for Special Projects
  • School Grants.org provides a comprehensive list of funding opportunities for grants and awards available for schools.
  • National Association of Secondary School Principals maintains a web page with school grant and award opportunities
• Retention bonuses
• Pay for performance and market based incentives
• Relocation assistance
• Tuition free advanced degree
• Tuition at state universities and colleges for children of educators
• Housing subsidies
• Special bonuses for educator couples
• Reduced teaching loads, smaller class sizes and additional teaching assistants and supports
• Housing discounts
• Tax breaks
• Bonuses for getting national certification
• Below-market-rate mortgages
• Reduced down payments for housing
• Counseling on home buying
• Signing bonuses
• Salary advances
• Induction with mentoring for new educators
• Waiver for connection of utilities and/or cable
• Waiver/reduction for security deposits for apartment
• No money down home buyers program
• Free investment & retirement planning
• Free health, dental & life insurance
• All teachers assigned a laptop computer
• Professional development incentive pay
• Tuition reimbursement
• Priority placement of children in child care centers