Staff Applications;

Hola AdminAddicts!
I know most of you have a staffing team.

How do you choose your moderators? Do you hand pick them, have them fill out an application or do you have your current staff members refer them?

On Setsou Design, we hand pick them - and that's not very often, if ever.

On Bird is the Word, however, we have staff applications enabled.

That's our staff application... If you use staff applications, what is your template and how do you have your members submit them?

Thanks!

 

I hand pick them, based on who seems to have the temperament and intelligence for the job

 

I always hand-pick my team. By doing so, I eliminate all of the inevitable "fuss" that occurs when publicly announcing that a staff team is needed.

 

I prefer to hand-pick my staff members, but I do announce when we are in need of more team members. Also, I always accept applications - even when not in need of moderators - just in case.

Here's the template, if you're interested:

Some of the questions seem a bit unnecessary and redundant, but they have actually shown some unique and different 'sides' to members, so I think they are key questions. It's a bit of a 'key' to getting to know the applicant better.

Also, it is recommended that interested members read this little article that I borrowed from somewhere/somebody:

 

I hand-pick my moderators. The problem is almost as described In HHGTTG: those who are willing are often unqualified. I pick people who are active, seem to care about the community, and who generally follow the rules. I also try to ensure that they mesh with the rest of the team.

The other way to become a mod on my site is to do something obviously deserving, like doubling the active member base. But those are few and far between.

 

I hand-pick my moderators, usually keeping an eye out for potential future moderators at all times. I tend to not say anything publicly about it until someone is officially on the team, which usually always occurs behind the scenes.

 

I use user knowledge [Pisoga] and what my experiences have been for the mod-to-be. The outcome is pretty good.

 

If my members do something like that they'll get an award, but not necessarily a moderatorship.

 

Even though all my Mods are Super Mods, they each have their specific forum(s) that they focus on moderating. I let them tell me if they need more help and I let them recommend somebody. Then, either they or I send a PM to the user asking if they would like to join Staff to help out in forum xxx. I don't think I have ever 'hired' someone who has asked to join Staff.

 

I used to let people apply for moderator etc. When the forum was small and new :3

But now at time's it is quite hard to find a dedicated mod. So picking some of the dedicated users was best to do.

 

See, handpicking moderators/super moderators is usually a great method. Though, the application indicates interest.

Like I said above, handpicking/referring is sort of fortuitous. If applications are enabled, the user can fill it out and that indicates interest. What's the use of inviting someone and then they decline. Being rejected always sucks.

I don't think I'd invite somebody to the staff team because they are zealous about the forum. Being dedicated shows interest, and being interested doesn't necessarily mean they should be moderators.

I do that too. I like to keep my eyes open for potential moderators.

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All in all, seems like hand-picking is more conventional.

 

It depends. If I'm looking for more then three moderators, I'll post up a application and allow members to email me their applications. If I'm just choosing one or two mods, I hand pick them. But, of course me and my staff all vote on who should be elected.

 

I hand pick my team - based on those who continue to be on the board no matter how busy or quiet it is, who always comes up with ideas for improvements and always go to other sites and talk about us!

I picked on admin member who has no experience running a website at all however she always checks all the new registrations and checks for bots, and is on the site until about 2am every morning making sure no- one posts spam etc.

If spam is posted on the board it's deleted within minutes she is that good it makes my life slightly easier and allows me to concentrate on searching sites like this coming up with more ideas, or ways to improve our site!

 

It could, or it could indicate ambition. It's up to you to decide whether that's a good thing or not.

 

Generally 'hand chosen', we take ourchoice of moderators very seriously and even have a 'low end moderator' level for new moderators, if only to see how they handle the role, etc. While we certainly want a wider array of moderators, we discuss all of the available options carefully before even promoting them to that level : )

 

You present a valid point - however, basing your choice(s) off of such a system has its faults, as well. By enabling the community to apply for a staff position(s) via an application system of some sort, you are pretty much asking for an influx of less-than-desirable applicants. By hand-choosing these members, you are canceling out that process entirely and saving yourself a great deal of not only time, but energy, as well.

 

Valid point.

I beg to differ.

You mean to tell me hand picking is easier than reading over an application?

Use this scenario; an employer is looking for an employee to fill the former employee's position. They go on a hunt hand picking them. This can take months, weeks and even years. Whilst they can use applications, they can find possible candidates.

Does that scenario make sense and do you understand my point the scenario is implying?

 

I disagree, though.

If you limit your choice selection to applicants only, you are only giving a certain crowd the chance.
Some people are reluctant to express their desire to moderate - but they're good at it. These would be sort-of shy or generally reserved people, and therefore would not apply for the position.

By opening up applications (and this truly depends on each individual community[noparse][/noparse] you mainly get the crowd of people who purely want the power; the ones who want the title and recognition.

On my forum, I use a combination of applications and hand-picking. Usually I decide who I want first. Then I let people apply. If the ones I want happen to apply, then they are a perfect candidate. If not, then I will PM and invite the ones I like.

One of my current moderators applied for the position, and got it because she had experience. Two of my moderators, I PMed and invited. Neither of them had experience and they hadn't ever imagined that they would ever be offered moderating positions. Guess what? One of these two hand-picked moderators is one of the best moderators I could ever ask for. She dedicates a lot of time to the site, helps every member that needs it, and works with me on every little project. She purely has out-done herself and I am stunned. Remember, this is the one who didn't apply and didn't have prior experience.