Want to attract top talent to your school? Here's 3 tips to craft your campus charm so your school stands out from the competition.

When you interview for a new job you intentionally do what you can to stand out.

But for some reason when you run the actual interviews, for some reason you forget why being unique is important.

There's a real cost to this. Your school doesn't stand out because you're doing everything every other school is doing.

“Mimicking the herd invites regression to the mean.” -Charlie Munger

Last night I ran a training for school leaders and we discussed this topic. They attended because they want to Do School Different™ and think about creative ways to attract top talent to their campus.

My goal with this post was to capture some of the BIG IDEAS we discussed last night. If you are a visual learner, like how I teach, or want to really dive deep into this topic, then scroll all the way down to the bottom of this post to watch the 90-minute workshop. It’s well worth it.

Tip #1: Embrace your different. Communicate like a Ruckus Maker.

Here’s how most schools market job openings:

Why this doesn't work:

• It's boring and basic

• It suffers from the "ME Disease" (It's about the school NOT the candidate)

• It doesn't make me FEEL any kind of emotion

Here’s how YOU should market your school:

WTF is this Danny???

Exactly. That sign makes you curious, doesn’t it …

Remember Ruckus Makers Do School Different™.

If you want to stand out from other school campuses you must embrace your Inner Ruckus Maker and what makes you different.

Let’s breakdown this sign.

You don’t see the brand.

That’s right. You can market your school and not even mention it.

People don’t care about you or your school. You don’t need to come up with some fancy origin story or bla-bla-bla about my campus.

You don’t need branding either and the people who tell you otherwise are full of BS.

Embrace what makes you different.

In a sea of schools trying to be everything to everyone, your “different” is your leadership advantage. It’s scary and takes courage to be different. It’s also what works.

Everyone knows a POPSICLE. The small biz owner isn’t selling popsicles though. They’re selling Sheep Yogurt popsicles.

The average popsicle costs $0.50.

A sheep yogurt popsicle costs $4.

When you embrace your different you also create something more valuable.

So do that when you market job openings. Embrace your different. Create something more valuable. Get used to telling candidates, “Sorry we weren’t able to hire you,” because that’s the new problem you will have …

Here are two examples of emails setting up an interview. The first had a very low response rate. The second has a 100% response rate. You can make the same changes easily.

My friend Loren is an awesome principal. Here is the old email he used to send candidates:

This email sucks.

Here is the outline:

• We’re currently hosting interviews

• Some info about our school

• Sign up for a time

This email is probably a lot like what you send out currently. It’s all about you and not about the teacher candidate or how you’re different.

After a coaching call, here is Loren’s new email to teacher candidates: