People Don’t Choose Jobs. They Choose People.

People Don't Choose Jobs. They Choose People.

By Kerri Stroka, EdD

Think about the last time you interviewed for a job.

Really. Picture it. Who greeted you at the door? What did the hallway feel like? Did the person at the front desk look up from her computer, or did you stand there shifting your bag from shoulder to shoulder, waiting to be noticed?

I would bet you remember the feeling more than you remember the questions.

Candidates experience your hiring process as people walking into a culture, and long before the first interview question is asked, they have started deciding whether this is a place they want to be. I have watched it happen from both sides of the table for nearly 30 years, and it is why I talk about high-touch recruitment everywhere I go. Districts across the country are competing for a shrinking pool of educators. The ones winning that competition are not necessarily the ones with the biggest advertising budgets. They are the ones who understand that every interaction a candidate has with your district is marketing, whether you meant it to be or not.

Three Stages That Matter

A hiring process earns a candidate or loses her in three places. Application. Interview. Follow-up. Most districts pour their energy into the middle stage and treat the other two as logistics, and that is the mistake.

Application.

Most candidates apply to several districts at once, which means they are comparing you before you ever know they exist. An auto-reply confirming a submission checks a box. A short personal note from a real human inside your district signals that you treat candidates like people before they ever become employees, and if you treat them that way at the start, they can imagine you treating them that way once they are inside your building.

Flexible scheduling belongs in this stage too. Think about what you are really asking when you require a candidate who works elsewhere to burn a full personal day to interview with you. Offer early mornings. Offer late afternoons. Offer a virtual first round. The message is simple: we respect that you are already someone important somewhere else.

Interview.

The interview already gets most of your attention, so I will skip the rubrics and question banks and say the thing that matters more. The interview starts in the parking lot. Who meets the candidate at the door? Does the building feel welcoming or worn? What is the mood of the adults she passes in the hallway?

When a candidate walks into a building where staff are complaining, the space is chaotic, and no one looks up, she knows. She is reading your culture, and she is reading it correctly. No polished interview performance from you or your team will overwrite that first impression.

Follow-up.

Here is where the cheapest investment pays the most. After the interview, send a thank-you note that references something specific the candidate shared, one sentence that proves you were listening. If she is not moving forward, tell her quickly, respectfully, and honestly. Candidates rarely expect that. They never forget it either. The candidate you pass on this year tells her friend how you treated her, and her friend applies next year because of it.

The Question I Ask Every Audience

At every conference where I have presented on this topic, I ask the same question. Think about a time you felt truly valued in a hiring process. What was the small touch that mattered?

Almost no one answers with the offer letter.

They answer with a person. A principal who walked them through the building. A secretary who remembered their name. A follow-up call that came exactly when it was promised. A handwritten note in the mailbox the next day.

Those moments become the story a candidate tells about you, and they cost almost nothing.

Recruitment Is a Philosophy, Not a Department

Every person in your building is either confirming the story you want candidates to tell or contradicting it. The districts that grasp this stop losing great people to organizations with less money and more attentiveness.

People do not choose jobs. They choose people.

Make sure the people a candidate meets are the reason she says yes.

About the Author

Dr. Kerri Stroka has spent nearly 30 years in school administration. She serves as Deputy Superintendent at Orange-Ulster BOCES in Goshen, N.Y., where her portfolio includes special education, career and technical education, professional learning, and human resources. She holds pHCLE certification and is the founder of the Stroka Leadership Advisory, a consultancy focused on homegrown leadership development, high-touch recruitment and retention, and psychological safety in K-12 organizations. Connect at linkedin.com/in/kerristroka.