Nancy-Drew-It
Because our principal is a huge believer in shared leadership, she often asks some of the teacher leaders within the building to conduct interviews with her. I have had the opportunity to interview perspective teachers, assistant principals as well as paraprofessionals. 100% of the references for our teacher applicants and administration have checked out but I was SHOCKED at the number of references for our paraprofessional applicants that did not.
It all began with an interview back in October of 2016 when my principal asked me to call an applicant's references. Something did not quite add up as I was talking to a person who claimed to be her former supervisor. Initially when a person answered the phone and I identified who I was, they covered the phone and said, "It's someone calling in Georgia- probably about your sister." After asking a series of questions provided to me by our principal, there was one answer given that didn't match the name of the former place of employment. This prompted me to "Nancy-Drew-It" (I think this should be a new verb). I Google searched the location of the former employer provided by the applicant, called and spoke to the manager who stated she did not know the person I was calling about. I asked for the name of the owner wondering if managers had changed sine she had been employed there.I spoke with her as well and she confirmed that the person I was calling about had never worked at their place of business nor did she know anyone by that name.
Riddle me this....in this day of technology where anyone can Google search names, locations, obtain phone numbers and addresses, as well as records, why on Earth would anyone have the nerve to present false information on an application?
Shockingly, this was not an isolated incident. In fact, it occurred twice more throughout the school year. We interviewed the applicant, thought they would be a good fit for the job and then their references didn't check out. Do people even check references anymore? Clearly several people have felt they could get away with providing false information or they would not have done it. We need to ensure the integrity of our applicants and those whom we staff into our schools. Our standards should be high and adhered to by all. In this day of instant information, just use Google to Nancy-Drew-It and see what you might find.
It all began with an interview back in October of 2016 when my principal asked me to call an applicant's references. Something did not quite add up as I was talking to a person who claimed to be her former supervisor. Initially when a person answered the phone and I identified who I was, they covered the phone and said, "It's someone calling in Georgia- probably about your sister." After asking a series of questions provided to me by our principal, there was one answer given that didn't match the name of the former place of employment. This prompted me to "Nancy-Drew-It" (I think this should be a new verb). I Google searched the location of the former employer provided by the applicant, called and spoke to the manager who stated she did not know the person I was calling about. I asked for the name of the owner wondering if managers had changed sine she had been employed there.I spoke with her as well and she confirmed that the person I was calling about had never worked at their place of business nor did she know anyone by that name.
Riddle me this....in this day of technology where anyone can Google search names, locations, obtain phone numbers and addresses, as well as records, why on Earth would anyone have the nerve to present false information on an application?
Shockingly, this was not an isolated incident. In fact, it occurred twice more throughout the school year. We interviewed the applicant, thought they would be a good fit for the job and then their references didn't check out. Do people even check references anymore? Clearly several people have felt they could get away with providing false information or they would not have done it. We need to ensure the integrity of our applicants and those whom we staff into our schools. Our standards should be high and adhered to by all. In this day of instant information, just use Google to Nancy-Drew-It and see what you might find.
Comments
Post a Comment