[Geoff Pimlatt]

Hi Christopher,

This won’t help you much, I’m afraid, but we have filled our most recent vacancies by recruiting upward. We employ students on a part-time basis during the school year, ideally starting in their first or second year. We bring the best ones back each term, and they get exposed to more tasks and receive more training until most graduate and move on. When we have an opening, however, we have a ready pool of a few candidates with a good set of skills but more importantly an overall knowledge of our organization and our production needs.

Geoff

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Geoff Pimlatt
Senior Manager Information Systems
University Students’ Council
University of Western Ontario
London ON
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Original Message:
Sent: 07-28-2022 12:11
From: Christopher Burpee
Subject: Recruiting AV Staff

Hello fellow technology professionals – 

I have 2 professional vacancies I am trying to fill for Technical Specialists.  I have struggled in the past to recruit candidates from within student affairs and higher education.  We just aren’t able to pay as well as the IT departments on campus, and anyone in professional groups such as this is typically already in an equivalent position and not looking for a lateral move.

So my question is, where have you been successful in recruiting professional AV staff?

——————————
Christopher Burpee
Assistant Director of Technical Services and Performance Venues
Northwestern University
chris@northwestern.edu
——————————

[Paul Manka]

Christopher,

We were in a very similar situation for well over a year. Our roadblocks were finding Audio/Media Technicians that would give up Gig Work to move into the university. So, we completely overhauled the position description. Overall, we lowered the required education level to High School Graduate with 1-year experience as a Media Technician, and openly stated that the hours were flexible to allow future employees to continue picking up Gig Work if they wanted too. With those minor changes we were able to get a respectable application pool and make a solid hire. If you would like, I can share the position description with you.

Paul

——————————
Paul Manka
Manager of Event Operations
University of Washington
Seattle WA
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 07-28-2022 12:11
From: Christopher Burpee
Subject: Recruiting AV Staff

Hello fellow technology professionals – 

I have 2 professional vacancies I am trying to fill for Technical Specialists.  I have struggled in the past to recruit candidates from within student affairs and higher education.  We just aren’t able to pay as well as the IT departments on campus, and anyone in professional groups such as this is typically already in an equivalent position and not looking for a lateral move.

So my question is, where have you been successful in recruiting professional AV staff?

——————————
Christopher Burpee
Assistant Director of Technical Services and Performance Venues
Northwestern University
chris@northwestern.edu
——————————

[Stephen Snipes]

Pretty much what Paul said about education for sure.  Keep in mind, lots of folks gain their experience from working with Churches so reaching out to them would be a good idea as well as local theater departments.  We just hired a full time AV Coordinator as a 6 month temp position.  Hopefully we’ll convert it to a full time perm position.

Stephen R. Snipes | Assistant Director of Technical Services

UNC Charlotte | Student Union & Cone Center

9201 University City Blvd. Charlotte, NC 28223

Phone: (704) 687-7104 | Cell: (704) 750-0606

stephen.snipes@uncc.edu | http://www.uncc.edu

“Your NET WORTH is determined by your NETWORK!”

——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 8/9/2022 11:04:00 AM
From: Paul Manka
Subject: RE: Recruiting AV Staff

Christopher,

We were in a very similar situation for well over a year. Our roadblocks were finding Audio/Media Technicians that would give up Gig Work to move into the university. So, we completely overhauled the position description. Overall, we lowered the required education level to High School Graduate with 1-year experience as a Media Technician, and openly stated that the hours were flexible to allow future employees to continue picking up Gig Work if they wanted too. With those minor changes we were able to get a respectable application pool and make a solid hire. If you would like, I can share the position description with you.

Paul

——————————
Paul Manka
Manager of Event Operations
University of Washington
Seattle WA
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 07-28-2022 12:11
From: Christopher Burpee
Subject: Recruiting AV Staff

Hello fellow technology professionals – 

I have 2 professional vacancies I am trying to fill for Technical Specialists.  I have struggled in the past to recruit candidates from within student affairs and higher education.  We just aren’t able to pay as well as the IT departments on campus, and anyone in professional groups such as this is typically already in an equivalent position and not looking for a lateral move.

So my question is, where have you been successful in recruiting professional AV staff?

——————————
Christopher Burpee
Assistant Director of Technical Services and Performance Venues
Northwestern University
chris@northwestern.edu
——————————