Hiring Practices

Hey John,

We don’t have any testing protocol; however, I do inquire after the technological expertise of a potential hire during the interview process and have found that if they are familiar with mail merge, sort and sum functions in Excel, and can give a couple of examples of projects when they have used these functions, they have typically picked up Tessitura faster than others, in my experience. 

I also always ask if they’ve heard of Tessitura during the interview, and it’s amazing to me how many of them say “no.”  This isn’t a break-it question for me, but it does always inform how they are going to be as a staff member because they should have at least heard of Tessitura, considering it is in all of the job descriptions we’ve posted.  Those that answer “no” generally don’t pick up Tessitura that quickly, as well as general office procedures and (again, generally) don’t pay as much attention to detail, ask a lot of questions in regard to technology, etc.  It doesn’t mean they aren’t great staff members, it just usually means technology isn’t their strong suit.  Those that answer “yes, but only in the job description” are your typical average to above average user and pick up Tessitura fairly quickly.  The ones that answer, “no, but when I read it in the job description and didn’t know what it was, I went online to their website to read more about it,” now these are the staff I seek with great fervor as they nearly always pick up Tessitura in lightning speed, as well as departmental practices, Excel, etc.

I interview a lot of potential interns each semester and have interviewed other positions at the Center and have found that this one little question actually gives me a lot more insight than I would have anticipated.  I’ve had about two and a half years of interns to test this theory on, and I think we’ve seen some great results.

Best,
Amber

My last name has changed. 
Please update your records to include my new e-mail address: ANewsome@SCFTA.org
_______________________________________________________

Amber Newsome

Manager of Special Campaigns
Segerstrom Center for the Arts

600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626

T (714) 556-2122 x 4259   F (714) 755-2712
E ANewsome@SCFTA.org

P Please consider the environment before printing this email

Hello -- 

Has anyone developed any testing protocols that help you determine the level of a potential hire's understanding and expertise with gift entry/processing/data management in Tessitura or their aptitude to quickly grasp how to do the same? I'd welcome any thoughts on what a testing procedure might consist of and when during the hiring process you administer such a test. 

Thanks,

John 

This message was sent automatically to you by www.tessituranetwork.com because you subscribed to the Tessitura Development Forum. You may reply to this message to post to the Development forum or visit the site to search, read and post to the forums. In the interest of keeping the forum posts from becoming cluttered, we encourage you to delete previous message text from your reply before sending. Thank you!

Hey John,

We don’t have any testing protocol; however, I do inquire after the technological expertise of a potential hire during the interview process and have found that if they are familiar with mail merge, sort and sum functions in Excel, and can give a couple of examples of projects when they have used these functions, they have typically picked up Tessitura faster than others, in my experience. 

I also always ask if they’ve heard of Tessitura during the interview, and it’s amazing to me how many of them say “no.”  This isn’t a break-it question for me, but it does always inform how they are going to be as a staff member because they should have at least heard of Tessitura, considering it is in all of the job descriptions we’ve posted.  Those that answer “no” generally don’t pick up Tessitura that quickly, as well as general office procedures and (again, generally) don’t pay as much attention to detail, ask a lot of questions in regard to technology, etc.  It doesn’t mean they aren’t great staff members, it just usually means technology isn’t their strong suit.  Those that answer “yes, but only in the job description” are your typical average to above average user and pick up Tessitura fairly quickly.  The ones that answer, “no, but when I read it in the job description and didn’t know what it was, I went online to their website to read more about it,” now these are the staff I seek with great fervor as they nearly always pick up Tessitura in lightning speed, as well as departmental practices, Excel, etc.

I interview a lot of potential interns each semester and have interviewed other positions at the Center and have found that this one little question actually gives me a lot more insight than I would have anticipated.  I’ve had about two and a half years of interns to test this theory on, and I think we’ve seen some great results.

Best,
Amber

My last name has changed. 
Please update your records to include my new e-mail address: ANewsome@SCFTA.org
_______________________________________________________

Amber Newsome

Manager of Special Campaigns
Segerstrom Center for the Arts

600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626

T (714) 556-2122 x 4259   F (714) 755-2712
E ANewsome@SCFTA.org

P Please consider the environment before printing this email

Hello -- 

Has anyone developed any testing protocols that help you determine the level of a potential hire's understanding and expertise with gift entry/processing/data management in Tessitura or their aptitude to quickly grasp how to do the same? I'd welcome any thoughts on what a testing procedure might consist of and when during the hiring process you administer such a test. 

Thanks,

John 

This message was sent automatically to you by www.tessituranetwork.com because you subscribed to the Tessitura Development Forum. You may reply to this message to post to the Development forum or visit the site to search, read and post to the forums. In the interest of keeping the forum posts from becoming cluttered, we encourage you to delete previous message text from your reply before sending. Thank you!