These past few days I’ve been interviewing the top candidates for a music teaching position in my department.  All of these folks had great musical training, fantastic ability, a penchant for research, a strong desire to teach and advance the profession.

All are highly qualified.  They all want to work here.  How do I decide who gets the job?

Here are my selection criteria: 

Who do I want to work with? 

Who seemed to be having the best time while they were here?

Who seems best able to “put on a happy face” even if we’re out of coffee in the office or the students don’t show up for their lessons?

These qualities weren’t learned in a graduate school classroom and they don’t appear on the job description, but they are closing doors for some and opening one for another.

So don’t forget to smile and share a kind word or two.  Be at ease and encourage others to feel the same.   It makes a difference in the classroom and beyond.

That’s the news for today.