58 Questions to Help You Develop a Persona for Faculty Members

Welcome to the exciting world of persona development! If you're looking to recruit faculty members to your international school, you've come to the right place. Developing accurate and insightful personas is crucial to understanding your ideal candidates' unique needs, preferences, and motivations. 

In this blog post, we’ve developed a series of questions to help you get started with developing your first persona, which will help you attract the right candidates for your teacher recruitment goals. So buckle up, and let's dive into the world of persona development for international school faculty recruitment!

To make the process of developing a persona for teacher recruitment easier, we’ve divided the questions into sections.

Demographics

Understanding your audience's demographics is crucial when developing a persona for teacher recruitment in international education. Demographic information such as age, gender, location, education, and professional experience can provide valuable insights into your target audience's needs, interests, and preferences. By knowing your audience's demographics, you can tailor your recruitment strategies to address their specific needs and preferences and create more relevant and effective content that resonates with them. This can lead to higher engagement, more applications from qualified candidates, and, ultimately, better hiring outcomes for your school.

Here are ten key questions to ask about the demographics of your ideal faculty member:

1. What is the age range of the teachers we want to attract?
2. What is their gender?
3. Where do they currently live?
4. What languages do they speak fluently?
5. What is their education level and teaching experience?
6. Are they currently teaching in an international school or elsewhere?
7. What is their marital status, and do they have children?
8. What are their salary expectations?
9. What are their hobbies and interests outside of teaching?
10. What kind of living accommodations are they seeking?

Psychographics

Understanding the psychographics of your audience is like unlocking the secret to their hearts and minds. It helps you to delve deeper into their values, beliefs, and motivations, providing a clearer picture of what drives their decision-making.

When it comes to teacher recruitment, knowing what makes them tick is the key to unlocking their potential as a valuable addition to your school community.

Here are ten things to consider when outlining the psychographics of the teachers you want to recruit:

1. What motivates this candidate to become a teacher at an international school?
2. What values and beliefs does this candidate hold about education and teaching?
3. What are the candidate's preferred teaching methodologies?
4. What are the candidate's attitudes towards technology in the classroom?
5. What are the candidate's preferred extracurricular activities to engage in with students?
6. What are the candidate's preferred teaching environments (e.g., rural, urban, suburban)?
7. What are the candidate's preferred subjects to teach?
8. What is the candidate's preferred age group to teach?
9. What is the candidate's preferred work-life balance?
10. What are the candidate's preferred professional development opportunities?

Behavior Patterns

Knowing the behavior patterns of your potential teachers is like having a treasure map to recruit the right candidates. By understanding their habits, routines, and preferences, you can tailor your recruitment strategy to meet their needs and expectations. It's like giving them the X that marks the spot, but instead of gold, they'll find an exciting opportunity to join your international school community.

Here are nine behaviour patterns to consider when developing a faculty member persona:

1. How do they typically search for job opportunities?
2. Which job boards or recruitment websites do they use?
3. How much time do they typically spend researching job opportunities before applying?
4. What factors influence their decision to apply for a job?
5. What motivates them to accept a job offer?
6. Do they prefer to apply for jobs through recruitment agencies or directly with schools?
7. How much time do they typically spend on each stage of the recruitment process (i.e., application, interview, negotiation, etc.)?
8. Do they tend to accept or decline job offers quickly?
9. What factors influence their decision to stay with a school long-term?
   
   

Pain Points and Challenges

To attract top teachers, you must understand the hurdles they face in their profession and the issues they want to solve. Only then can you tailor your recruitment efforts to address those pain points and show them how your school can help them overcome those challenges.

These six questions will help you identify the potential pain points and challenges of teachers who are considering your school:

1. What are some of the biggest challenges that teachers face in their jobs?
2. What specific obstacles do teachers at our school or in our region face?
3. What are some common complaints or negative feedback we've received from teachers in the past?
4. Are there any gaps in the resources or support we provide to teachers?
5. What pain points or challenges could we help alleviate through our recruitment efforts?
6. What concerns or hesitations might potential candidates have about working at our school, and how can we address them?

Goals and Aspirations 

Understanding the dreams and desires of your audience is crucial when developing a persona for teacher recruitment. You don't want to be the school that offers a paycheck, you want to be the school that offers an opportunity for growth, adventure, and fulfillment. By knowing the goals and aspirations of your potential candidates, you can create a persona that will attract the right kind of educators who share your school's vision for making a difference in the lives of students. 

The following ten questions will help you understand the goals and aspirations that prospective faculty members may have:

1. What are their career goals, both short-term and long-term?
2. What are their personal values, and how do they align with the mission and values of the school?
3. What kind of impact do they hope to make on their students academically and personally?
4. Are there any teaching methodologies or approaches they are passionate about, and how can the school support them?
5. How important is work-life balance to them, and what kind of support do they need from the school to achieve it?
6. Are there any specific cultural experiences they hope to gain from teaching abroad, and how can the school provide those opportunities?
7. How do they see themselves contributing to the school community outside of the classroom, and what activities or initiatives interest them?
8. What personal aspirations or goals do they hope to achieve while teaching at the school, and how can the school support them in that journey?

Methods of Communication

Understanding how your audience likes to communicate in teacher recruitment is just as important. By knowing their preferred method(s) of communication, you can tailor your outreach efforts to make sure your message is heard loud and clear.

Here are seven questions to ask about the preferred method(s) of communication as you’re developing a personal for faculty members that fit the culture of your school:

1. What communication channels do teachers in your target audience prefer to use for professional networking and job searches?
2. How often do teachers in your target audience check their email, and what type of subject lines are likely to catch their attention?
3. Do teachers in your target audience use social media, and if so, which platforms do they use most frequently?
4. What kind of messaging and content is most likely to capture the attention of teachers in your target audience on social media?
5. Do teachers in your target audience attend industry events, and if so, which ones are most popular? How can you leverage these events to connect with potential candidates?
6. How do teachers in your target audience prefer to communicate with their colleagues inside and outside the classroom?
7. Are there any specific communication tools or technologies teachers in your target audience will likely use? If so, how can you incorporate them into your recruitment strategy?

Influences and Sources of Information

Understanding your audience's influences and sources of information is crucial when developing a persona for teacher recruitment. Teachers and educators are always seeking new information, insights, and strategies to improve their teaching skills and knowledge.

You can better craft your recruitment messaging and outreach efforts by identifying the key influences and sources of information that resonate with your target audience. Additionally, this knowledge can help you identify the most effective channels for reaching potential candidates, whether it's through professional associations, social media groups, or education-focused websites.

This list of eight questions will help you identify the places your ideal faculty candidate spends time-consuming information: 

1. Which websites, social media platforms, or online forums do they frequent for teaching resources and networking with other teachers?
2. What kind of publications do they read for professional development and personal interests?
3. Do they attend education conferences or participate in local or online teacher groups?
4. Which educational thought leaders do they follow, and why?
5. Do they consult peers or mentors when making teaching decisions or seeking advice?
6. Which professional associations or organizations do they belong to or are interested in joining?
7. Which resources do you use to stay informed about the international education industry and job opportunities?
8. Are there other sources of information or influencers that impact your decision-making process for job opportunities in international education?

Now is the Time to Develop Your First Faculty Persona

Developing accurate and insightful personas is crucial to understanding international school faculty candidates' unique needs, preferences, and motivations. By understanding their demographics, psychographics, behavior patterns, pain points and challenges, and goals and aspirations, recruiters can tailor their recruitment strategies to address their specific needs and preferences and create more relevant and effective content that resonates with them. This can lead to higher engagement, more applications from qualified candidates, and, ultimately, better hiring outcomes for the school.