November 15, 2009

Criteria: hiring of Chebeague Island Community Sailing School instructors

Many CICSS students, in their years at CICSS, grow from avid sailors into prospective instructors.   A few then grow into instructors, and we have been gifted with many great ones over the years.  This progression is one of the blessings of CICSS – good instructors produce good young sailors who enjoy the program and are interested in becoming the next good instructors; it’s a positive feedback loop, a self-fulfilling prophecy, and it is the core of the future success of CICSS.

What do we mean by ‘good instructor?’  What are the needed skills?

• Excellence in all aspects of small boat sailing, handling, rigging, etc.
• Safety on the water
• ‘Wind sense’
• Tactics
• Organization and effective teaching tools
• Presentation skills, poise, tact, humor, and gravitas
• Rapport with the students
• Cooperation with, and support of, other instructors
• Commitment to the success, learning, and fun of the students
• Willingness and capability in the care of the boats
• Commission and launch at beginning of the season
• Care for the boats and commitment to their longevity during the season
• Decommissioning and putaway at end of season
• Participation in other activities of the Chebeague Island Yacht Club
• Racing
• Social activities
• Volunteerism (club positions such as Fleet Captain, Race Committee Chair, etc).

Who decides?
If the goals of a hiring process include both fairness and excellence, then hiring is never easy – it becomes more of an art than a science, and a participative process can help attain multiple goals.

In our case, hiring decisions are made jointly by the Sailing School Director and the Head Instructor(s), with input from the other instructors as well.  We strive for consensus in this process; when necessary, the Director will make the final call.

Who should apply?
Anyone who is interested, who has reviewed the criteria above, and who would like to take a shot at it!  Remember that we often have more applicants than available positions.  We’ll focus on both excellence and fairness, we’ll make the best decisions we can, and we will always appreciate each application that comes in.  We prefer instructors who are at least 15 years of age (18 for head instructor) but we can be flexible based on experience and demonstration of skills listed above.

How to apply?