How to hire music teachers: step by step

To hire a music teacher well, he first defines his office with precision (what he teaches, who and what format) and then filters by stage: a living paper, structured interview, short hearing, class shows, references and legal verifications. Each stage answers a different question and no place to replace them.

That guide was for academic directors, academic coordinators and rectors who needed to cover a vacancy without betting them with a blind bet: what to ask, what order, how to decide and what to measure after recruitment.

To sum up

It starts with the profile of the office: it's not the same as teaching piano 1: 1 as leading a band or a group of 30 students.
Filling by stage: Life sheet, structured interview with rubric, shorthearing, class shows, references and legal verifications.
The class shows is the stage that tells you most about how a candidate teaches and how to conduct a group.
Consultation background and inskills before linking anyone to work with children.
It measures up to and including 90 days and at the end of the school year.

Step 1: defines the profile of the office

Many failed recruitment starts before the first interview: "A teacher of music" is sought after an actual need for a very specific person. Before posting the vacancy, answer these questions with your academic team:

Class format: Individual classes (1: 1), small groups or groups of 30 students in a classroom? They are different jobs that demand different skills.
Assembly: Do the office include leading band, choir, orchestra or a set of traditional music? To conduct isn't the same as to teach an instrument.
Age: First childhood, primary, high school or adult. First childhood demand a profile of musical initiation with play, movement and patience.
Language: If the school is bilingual, should class be given in English? To play well and teach in another language are separate requirements.
Day: Full time, office hours or supplementary day in the afternoon? That defines who can run.
Instruments: What to master and what only you need to accompany, for example piano or guitar for a choir.
Curriculum and events: Do you have an existing program or do you have to design it? Do you have to prepare samples, concerts or exams?

Separates the indispensable from the desirable

With these responses, write between three and five necessary requirements (without them there are no recruitment) and a short list of desirable ones. For example, for an additional day of a school: indispensable, experience with primary groups and mastery of an harmonic instrument; desirable, experience with a band or conversational english. That profile will also be the basis of the heading with which you will be qualifying candidates.

Step 2: where to look for candidates

No channel itself brings with them good candidates. It combines several and publishes the vacancy with the actual profile: format, age, day, tools and interrelation modality. A clear call leapt to those who do not fit.

Music and Conservatory Faculties: graduates and final semesters, useful especially for hours of office and supplementary day.
Association and networks of musicians: orchestras, gangs, choirs and collectiffs that have been put up with interpreters who also teach.
Retirees from your own team: Your teachers know about the actual level of other musicians. He gets his recommendations but put them through the same filter as the rest.
Employment and employment networks: they extend their range but they have more volume to filter.
Special partners in selection of teachers: you have been put up with candidates already evaluated instead of a pile of sheets of life.

Step 3: phase filter

Each stage answers a different question. Order them from the fastest to the most demanding, so that your team will invest time only with those who are advanced.

Stages of a selection process of music teachers
Etapa	What's his response?	How To Do It
Life sheet	Do you fulfill what's necessary?	Review against profile: training, experience with that age and that format, tools.
Structured interview	How do you think and how do you work?	The same questions for all, with an item.
Short production	Do you master the instrument at the level required by the office?	A piece, reading at first glance and, if applicable, accompanying.
Sample class	Do you know how to teach this public?	From 8 to 15 minutes with actual or simulated students at the level of his or her office.
Referencias	How did his previous jobs go?	At least two, ideally from jobs with children or with groups.
Legal verifications	Can you be attached to his office?	Background and inskills with written permission from the candidate.

A structured interview with an area

Ask the same questions, in the same order, to all candidates, and describe every answer with a scale defined in advance. It best ask questions about actual situations, and they have to count what the person did and not what they would do in theory:

Tell me about a class with a tough group. What did you do and what happened?
How do you plan an academic period for students at this level or level?
A student doesn't practice and his family's bad. How do you manage him?
How do you know if a student's advanced?

Short and class production

The hearing confirms that the candidate dominates his instrument at the level that his office requires and does not have to be a recital. The class shows is the most revealing stage: here you see how he explains, how he fixes and how he reacts when something doesn't come out. If his office is for a school, show them to prove his group management, and not just an explanation of a topic. [this guide about his class shows]](/blog/clase-muestra-como-evaluar-a-un-profesor-de-musica) Find the format and an example section.

Legal references and verifications

Leave the references and verifications for the finalists, but do them always before the link, never when the teacher's already giving classes. If the office involves contact with minors, the inskills consultation is an obligation of your institution. Here we explain [what to check before hiring in Colombia]](/blog/verificaciones-antes-de-contratar-profesores-colombia).

Step 4: how to decide among finalists

At the end of the filter you should have a terre: three finalists that fulfill the indispensable. The decision is easier and more fair if the rules are set before they get to know the candidates.

Define the weights in advance. At a school, group management can weigh more than virtuosism, and at an academy of class 1: 1, adaptation to the level of each student.
Consolves the evidence. Gather the interview scores, audition and class with each candidate as a single table.
Just back up the lights. If someone doesn't reach his minimum at an indispensable criterion, he doesn't move forward, even if it shines at others.
Unpack with evidence. If two candidates have been put together, they come back to the evaluators' notes before they decide by general print.
Have a second choice. If the first elected doesn't accept, the third prevents you from re-opening the process from scratch.
Close the cycle. He communicates his decision to all the finalists, and also to those who did not have them.

Step 5: onboard and monitoring at 30 and 90 days

To sign the contract does not close the procedure. The first months define whether the new teacher remains and whether they give up what advanced selection.

First week

Curriculum, period planning and available materials.
The rules of co-existence, child protection protocol and code of conduct.
Retirement and communication with families and with co-ordination.
A pair of the equipment as a reference and an opportunity to observe classes from other teachers.
Tools, living rooms and logistics of shows or concerts.

30 days

Observe a short class and have a feedback conversation: what works, what tiup and what support you need. It's time to align expectations before they become problems.

At 90 days

Do a class observed with the same selection and add up the perception of students or families. Compare with the scores of the class shows and agree a development plan. If you want an outside look, [teacher's assessment]](/academias/evaluacion-docente) apply this same approach to your whole team.

Common mistakes in hiring music teachers

To only hire for a curriculum. A title or a stage path doesn't say how someone's teaching.
To be dazzled by virtuosism. Playing well and teaching well are different skills and with beginners the second weighs a lot.
Don't prove group management. That someone give a good class 1: 1 doesn't mean that they can hold the attention of 30 students.
Improvise an interview. If each candidate receives different questions, there's no way to compare them.
Do not check background and inskillsor do so after his teacher's work with his students.
Decide with an aim. To hire the race for the beginning of the period, without a third and with no second choice.
To forget about his teacher after hiring him. Without monitoring, problems have come about as they have already affected the students.

What to measure to improve your process

To measure your own processes tells you where the selection's jamming and if it's working. To start with, four indicators are sufficient:

Indicators for monitoring each vacancy
Metrica	What's she say?
Days to the end	How quickly your process's been production of viable finalists since you opened the vacancy.
Days to recruitment	The total time of the process, up to the association of the chosen teacher.
Retention at 90 days	If the profile of the office and selection were aligned with the reality of work.
Retention at end of school year	If his teacher became his team and completed his cycle with his students.

Record these data at every vacancy and share them between processes. If retention at 90 days is low, first check the profile of the charge and class shows and if the days up to the end are lengthened, check your search channels.

If you prefer to delegate search and filter, at A medio tono We offer [custom selection]](/academias/seleccion-de-profesores): we define the profile with you, we evaluate candidates with interview, hearing and class show and we give you a ternal. Know all [services for academies and schools]](/academias).

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to hire a music teacher?

It depends on the profile, instrument and age of year. The best thing to do is to open up the process with a margin before the start of the period and to measure your own times, as the days up to the end and up recruitment, to better plan the next vacancy.

Is it worth a class to show if the candidate has a lot of experience?

Yes. The experience says where someone has worked, and how they teach today and how they adapt to your students. The class shows you the stage that gives you more information and applying them to them all makes the comparison fair.

What's a posterous of candidates?

It's a group of three finalists who passed all the filter phases and meet the necessary charging requirements. It allows you to compare with evidence and have an alternative if the first chosen does not accept.

Can I hire a teacher that's been recommended by someone from my team?

The important thing is that they get through the same filter as the rest: interview, audition, class shows, references and verifications.

If an outside ally puts me up with candidates, should I still check background and inskills?

Yes. The obligation to consult the inskills register is from the entity that contracts, even if a third party has made the preselection. The ally saves you from searching and evaluating but does not replace that consultation.

How to hire music teachers for your academy or school: step by step guide