Partnership with University Career Services

Many of you who participated in career fairs across the state at higher education institutions this fall may be familiar with a new job board in the state, Hire Kansas Talent. This website is a collaborative effort between Kansas State University, University of Kansas, Fort Hays, Pittsburg, State, Emporia, Washburn, and Wichita State to provide one-stop location to advertise job openings to college students and recent graduates.


KEEB is in the process of developing a partnership with the participating universities to share job information with them from kansasteachingjobs.com. This will allow any job posted on KEEB to be subsequently posted on hirekansastalent.com. We hope this effort will extend the reach of school districts job openings, while reducing district's workload to reach a broader audience. This partnership addresses one of KEEB's goals of establishing a larger teacher pool and increased advertising of job openings. We will keep you updated as this partnership moves forward.

New Resource for Becoming a Kansas Teacher

The Teacher Education and Licensure Division at KSDE has teamed up with KEEB to provide information for job seekers on Kansas teaching licenses. This information provides step-by-step directions for individuals who are interested in obtaining a Kansas teaching license. Job seekers can select which area sounds most like them, whether they are licensed in another state, just beginning college, are a current college student, or are interested in a new career. The image above provides an example of the kind of information career changers can find on the new webpage. In addition to directions, the resource provides links to all the necessary information you may need, from license applications, locating teacher prep programs to finding scholarship opportunities. This resource is intended for job seekers as well as a resource for school districts and special education cooperatives as they assist their new teachers and staff through the licensure process. To view the new resource visit www.kansasteachingjobs.com and click on Become a Teacher in the KEEB Main Menu.

Interviewing Candidates with Video

Many districts are now interviewing potential candidates who live in various locations across the state of Kansas or in another state. Today’s technology provides a number of options for interviewing these candidates from another location. Voice over Internet Protocol, or often referred to as VoIP, allows you to make free phone calls over the internet. New tools in VoIP make it even easier to make video calls, which allow the callers to see each other and make the distance interview more personal. Here are two common programs you can use to conduct video conferencing interviews that are free.

• Skype – Free video conferencing calls to anyone with a Skype account. Your district could set up an administrative account and an interviewee account. Then candidates would just need to download the Skype software to connect to you. The screenshot to the right is an example from Skype of what a voice call would look like within their software. http://www.skype.com
• Yugma – Free teleconferencing capabilities that also have features similar to webinars if you wanted to offer an online information session about your district. Yugma just requires you to sign up for a free account. https://www.yugma.com/

Each of these programs will require a camera to conduct video interviews. A decent webcam can range in price from $50 to $100. Many of today’s new computers come with built in webcams, so your applicants may already have access to this technology. If you are interested in conducting video interviews or learning more contact me at kylie.stewart@greenbush.org.

Assessing Your Effort to Attract Quality Candidates

KEEB has now been in place for 7 weeks and there are approximately 1300 applicants in the system as of press time. A number of the applicants are in the system to learn how to use it or are considering applying for positions, but many are actively applying for positions. There a number of steps you can take to attract quality candidates from this pool to your posting. The former KEEB system inundated you with resumes, while the new system requires a little more work up front to receive resumes. The new features are intended to provide 10 really good applicants rather than 100 resumes to sift through for 10 candidates. There are a number of ways you can increase the rate of quality applicants.

• Branding – It is important to brand your district so that candidates with similar philosophies apply. This can help you find a good fit with a candidate. You can include branding by utilizing the employer description, images, and podcasts.
• Review Your Posting – Look at your posting from a job seekers perspective, rather than the employer side. When you read your posting do you get a feeling for where your located, what your districts beliefs are, what the job is, and the kinds of benefits that are available?
• Keyword Rich – Visitors to KEEB from popular search engines like Google, MSN, and Yahoo are increasing every day. You can take advantage of these search engines by utilizing keywords in your postings. For example, let’s say I have a PT position to post. I would be better off listing it as Physical Therapist and including those two words in my posting several times, not just in the title. For example, when I search Google for Interrelated Special Education Job, the first search result is a link to a posting on KEEB. The district that posted this position included the title of the position in the job description as well.

If you aren’t getting the applicants the number of applicants you might consider looking at these three areas. Remember also, that KEEB provides you with data so that you can learn more about how many job seekers are viewing your postings. This can be helpful information when analyzing your recruitment effort.

Linking Your District to KEEB

Silver Lake School District is the first to link directly to KEEB on their district website with the new KEEB logo. Checkout how they include the logo on their homepage to direct potential candidates to KEEB. Candidates can click on the link to view open positions and submit an application. If you would like to add the KEEB logo to your district or HR website email me at kylie.stewart@greenbush.org.

More Insight from AASPA: A Mentor Program for All Teachers

Yesterday Steve Kelley, Assistant Superintendent for the Lebanon Community School District in Oregon shared a unique mentor program that his district has been implementing for the last 5 years with new teachers to the district. The Lebanon program is one of the most extensive mentor programs I have heard about and they are experiencing great retention success. Steve offered his perspectives on why this program works and identified the keys to success for any mentor program. First and foremost, mentor programs must be unique to your district and your district’s perspectives. The program’s key goals is not only to support new teachers to the profession and to the school district, but to indoctrinate new teachers into the culture of the district (their beliefs, practices, and goals). Lebanon utilizes a 3 day orientation program and mentors for all new teachers, but also takes these practices one step further with monthly new teacher conversations, critical friends groups, and instructional coaches. Steve identified the five keys to success for any mentor program:

• Money - For any mentor program to be successful it has to be supported financially. Lebanon does this through Title II funds and spends approximately $200,000 a year (district of 5,000 students)
• Coordinator - Someone must be put in charge of the program at the district level
• Partnerships - Meaningful partnerships with local universities can have a strong impact. Lebanon utilizes the local university to train mentors.
• Evaluate, evaluate, evaluate - Talk to new teachers and mentors often about what works and doesn’t work (Lebanon utilizes surveys and focus groups)
• Provide training and support to coordinator, instructional coaches, and mentors - Training is essential for mentors and support personnel.

If you would like more information on Steve's presentation email me at kylie.stewart@greenbush.org.

Recruiting Generation X and Y: Insight from the AASPA Conference

The American Association of School Personnel Administrators (AASPA) Conference is gathering in Kansas City this week. Yesterday, I attended a workshop on hiring and retaining generation X and Y by Rochelle Eisenberg, a workforce lawyer who represents school districts in Maryland. Rochelle had a number of interesting ideas related to how to attract this generation of teachers and keep them in your schools. Below are a few ideas, while some may be a little outside the box, it seems many districts are getting creative in how they retain staff.

• Advertising, advertising, advertising (This generation has had more information at their fingertips than any other...they want to gather as much information about you as an employer as they can. You can provide this in brochures, your district website, and employment boards)
• Use multimedia (Develop a video that you can use online and share on a DVD with potential candidates that highlights your district)
• Tuition reimbursement (This generation is interested in continued education and career growth...offer them financial options for this)
• Collaboration time (highlight your district or buildings collaboration times and how teachers are using it)
• Health club (Many districts across the country are negotiating agreements with local gyms to provide memberships to district employees, some districts are also opening the doors to gyms and weight rooms after hours for employees as a cost effective way of providing health club access)
• Technology (This generation has had their own laptops for as long as they can remember...provide each teacher with their own and upgrade teacher lounges for internet and computer access)
• Better lunches (Many districts are getting creative in offering designer coffee, snacks, and great lunch options for teachers in the lounge)

More to come soon from the AASPA Conference!