• Confirm that the applicant is not under contract with another school district for the time period you need him/her. CCSD cannot offer a contract to an applicant who is already under contract.
  • Verify that the degree earned matches the proposed teaching assignment.
  • Note that some people have college majors that may pose certification problems, such as Psychology.
  • If an applicant is nearing graduation, it is appropriate to consider him/her for your vacancies.
  • Assess whether the applicant has a professional certificate or is eligible. Contact HR for assistance if necessary.
  • Beware of applicants stating that their certification is “pending” when they have simply applied, (unless they have not yet graduated) It can be a long journey from applying to reaching certification.
  • Check that the applicant has passed appropriate tests.
  • Look for unaccounted periods of time and always look to see why the teacher left the previous employment. “Job hopping” may be a red flag.
  • References should be professional ones which include persons who have directly supervised the applicant.
  • The particular school in which the applicant worked should be listed, not the school district.
  • The “supervisor” should be the last or most recent principal, assistant principal or department head. Beginning teachers should list the co-operating/supervising/collaborating teacher.
  • Make sure the reference matches the work history. Applicants who list co-workers, teachers, counselors, lead teachers or anyone other than the actual supervisor may be suspect.
  • Grammar, spelling errors and poor sentence construction should be a red flag. If an applicant submits an employment application with these errors, you are likely to see the same once the person is employed.
  • Notice when the application was submitted. If the date is recent, you may get the first opportunity to contact the applicant. However, well-qualified applicants may be overlooked because they have been in the system a while.
  • Review Winocular regularly: additional applications appear daily.
  • Print a copy of the application. This is helpful when names “disappear” from the list due to applicants updating an application. There will be a few days delay before it reappears on-line.
  • View the “Notes” section of the Winocular Applicant Query screen for important additional information.

If you have questions, contact:

Elementary School ~ Vicki Piedmont 770-426-3395 High School Middle School ~Paula Smith / Mike Anderson -770-426-3529 Special Education ~ Laura Martin 770-426-3399

(September 2008)