Recruiting Yearbook Staffs

HOW TO SELECT THE BEST CANDIDATES

1. Review applications. When applications are turned in, write at the top the date they returned it. This may help if it’s turned in late, since you may not want students who can’t make deadlines. When reviewing applications, look for: students who are overbooked with classes, clubs, sports and jobs; why students want to join; cross reference with teacher recommendations. 2. Conduct interviews. Schedule 30 minutes per interview. Allow 15 minutes for the interview and 10 minutes for a discussion about the applicant between the editors and you. That allows a five-minute downtime before the next interview. 3. Make selections. If yearbook is a class, you need to decide who you want on staff so they can sign up for the course. It’s good to select editors in the spring so they can start working on the next book. You can fill other positions any time between spring and fall. You might want to wait until the fall to see how students perform. Have this year’s editors conduct the interviews with you for next year’s editors. Here are some questions to get started. Think of more that relate to your yearbook and ask some fun questions. • What did you like the best/least about this year’s book? • Explain your vision for next year’s book. • Explain your vision for marketing and promoting next year’s yearbook. • Chipotle or Taco Bell? • Explain how you would lead and give direction to people who are your peers. Give an example.

• How do you plan to manage deadlines? • As a leader, will you be able to attend workshops and work nights? • How do you see your yearbook duties fitting in with your other commitments? • Do you know how to bake brownies? • How would you handle this situation? (Give them a hypothetical situation and ask them to talk you through how they would handle it, such as plagiarism, a conflict between two staff members or an angry parent.) • Do you know the words to the “SpongeBob SquarePants” theme song? There are reasons you may want to interview students who will be regular staff members. It may depend on the secondary roles within your staff’s organization, or you want to figure out where a student would fit in. If yearbook is a club, you might want to interview all applicants. Here are some questions to ask general staff members. Ask some of the previous questions but swap out some for these questions: • What personal strengths would you bring to the staff? • Describe your impression of what it is like to be on staff. • Do you have any concerns about selling ads? • Describe a situation in which you did something to help a “team.” • Can you complete work independently under deadline? • Describe your attitude under pressure.

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