The Job Market for New Economists: A Market Design Perspective

This paper, written by the members of the American Economic Association (AEA) Ad Hoc Committee on the Job Market, provides an overview of the market for new Ph.D. economists. It describes the role of the AEA in the market and focuses in particular on two mechanisms adopted in recent years at the suggestion of our Committee. First, job market applicants now have a signaling service to send an expression of special interest to up to two employers prior to interviews at the January Allied Social Science Associations (ASSA) meetings. Second, the AEA now invites candidates who are still on the market, and employers whose positions are still vacant, to participate in a web-based "scramble" to reduce search costs and thicken the late part of the job market. We present statistics on the activity in these market mechanisms and present survey evidence that both mechanisms have facilitated matches. The paper concludes by discussing the emergence of platforms for transmitting job market information and other design issues that may arise in the market for new economists.Economic

Improving Internal Hiring Practices at the Oregon Employment Department

Examining committee: Colleen ChrisingerThe purpose of this report is to provide useful recommendations to aid the Oregon Employment Department (OED) in improving its internal recruitment process. A team of HR employees within the agency identified room for improvement in its traditional hiring model and reached out to a group of University of Oregon graduate students for fresh ideas. The student research team examined current literature, online resources, and the advice of hiring experts to form a list of current industry strategies and innovative ideas not currently utilized by OED. As the HR team originally surmised, the student researchers concluded that OED’s recruitment procedures are quite rigid and bureaucratic. It appears that the agency could improve the process in order to recruit a truly exceptional team of staff. There are exceptional candidates out looking for work and OED can hire more of them if it refreshes its hiring strategies, especially where it publicizes positions and how it uses interviews to select the best possible candidates. If OED is able to make beneficial changes, the agency will connect with a larger quantity of high-quality candidates and consequently bring more of them on board. This report contains a wide range of practices that could be incorporated at OED to breathe new life into the agency. The intention of the student researchers is for the HR team to review the recommendations provided here, discuss the implications of each strategy, determine which would be the most successful at OED, and incorporate those into a tool for hiring managers to use when recruiting new employees

A comparison of elementary, middle, and high school principals\u27 teacher selection practices and perceptions of teacher effectiveness

The intent of this study was to garner data regarding principals\u27 teacher selection practices and perceptions of teacher effectiveness and to examine the degree to which their teacher selection practices aligned with qualities of effective teachers. The survey was sent to 450 practicing principals in the United States. Principals reported the frequency in which they engaged in identified teacher selection practices and rank-ordered qualities of effective teachers.;Descriptive statistics summarized the level of agreement among elementary, middle, and high school principals regarding how they ranked the nine identified qualities of an effective teacher as well as the degree to which their rankings concurred with research in the area of teacher effectiveness. Principals verified the importance of key qualities of an effective teacher as evidenced by multiple analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests. An ANOVA revealed one statistically significant finding for the quality of creating valid and reliable assessments. However, the ANOVA bolstered the significance of the relevance of qualities of effective teachers at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Lastly, content analyses were conducted to determine the three most important interview questions principals asked of teacher candidates and what factor determined why a specific teacher was hired over others

Ability of the Urban Teacher Selection Interview to Identify Teachers Who Are Likely to be Retained in the Buffalo Public Schools

The rate of teacher turnover appears to be higher than employee turnover in many other occupations. What is currently perceived as a teacher shortage may in reality be a problem of teacher retention. This study examined the use of the Urban Teacher Selection Interview, developed by Martin Haberman, Ph.D., as a tool for choosing teachers for urban districts. Almost 36% of those teachers eligible for employment in Buffalo refused employment. This compares favorably with a national average of 40% of teachers who choose not to teach. In general, the higher the interview scores the longer a teacher was retained in the district after being hired. There was no significant difference between those teachers who received a passing score under the alternate scoring procedure used in Buffalo and the traditional method of scoring the interview. As a group, pupil personnel support teachers scored highest on the interview followed by humanities, math/science and vocational teachers. Math/science teachers were retained in the District longer on average than were other groups. Average retention rates for other groups were, in descending order: humanities, vocational education, and pupil personnel support teachers. The Urban Teacher Selection Interview provided a viable method of identifying teachers who were likely to continue teaching in urban Buffalo schools after being hired

Ability of the Urban Teacher Selection Interview to Identify Teachers Who Are Likely to be Retained in the Buffalo Public Schools

The rate of teacher turnover appears to be higher than employee turnover in many other occupations. What is currently perceived as a teacher shortage may in reality be a problem of teacher retention. This study examined the use of the Urban Teacher Selection Interview, developed by Martin Haberman, Ph.D., as a tool for choosing teachers for urban districts. Almost 36% of those teachers eligible for employment in Buffalo refused employment. This compares favorably with a national average of 40% of teachers who choose not to teach. In general, the higher the interview scores the longer a teacher was retained in the district after being hired. There was no significant difference between those teachers who received a passing score under the alternate scoring procedure used in Buffalo and the traditional method of scoring the interview. As a group, pupil personnel support teachers scored highest on the interview followed by humanities, math/science and vocational teachers. Math/science teachers were retained in the District longer on average than were other groups. Average retention rates for other groups were, in descending order: humanities, vocational education, and pupil personnel support teachers. The Urban Teacher Selection Interview provided a viable method of identifying teachers who were likely to continue teaching in urban Buffalo schools after being hired

Perceptions Of North Dakota Principals Regarding Teacher Hiring Practices

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which North Dakota public school principals consider research-based professional and personal teacher characteristics when hiring teachers. Additionally, this study sought to determine North Dakota public school principals\u27 perceptions regarding teacher hiring practices - the interviewing and teacher selection process. This study utilized the conceptual framework on effective teacher qualities and personal teacher characteristics that are taken into consideration during the interviewing and teacher selection process. Participating principals completed surveys that asked them to rank order professional and personal teacher characteristics when considering teachers for hire. The principals also reported on a Likert-type scale the extent they agreed with statements regarding interviewing and selecting teachers in their school districts. The results of this study revealed that North Dakota public school principals take into consideration research-based effective teacher characteristics when they hire teachers. Evidence from this study could help principals make informed decisions for hiring the most effective teachers. Information obtained from this study may also help school district leaders analyze their hiring policies, practices, and procedures, and make any necessary changes for identifying and hiring effective teachers. Recommendations for practice as a result of this study include: school districts working to ensure hiring policies and procedures are developed, principals providing appropriate interview training for interview committee members, teacher preparation programs updating prospective teachers on principals\u27 perceptions of the teacher hiring process, and principal preparation programs providing training for prospective principals in the teacher hiring process. Keywords: Effective teachers, Teacher hiring, Interviewing, Teacher selectio

A Guide and Advice for Economists on the U.S. Junior Academic Job Market (2011-2012 Edition)

This guide, updated for the 2011-12 job market season, describes the U. S. academic market for new Ph.D. economists and offers advice on conducting an academic job search. It reports findings from published papers, describes practical details, and provides links to internet resources. Topics addressed include: preparing to go on the market, applying for academic jobs, signaling, interviewing at the ASSA meetings, campus visits, the secondary market scramble, offers and negotiating, diversity, and dual job searches.academic labor market, market for economists, salaries