Fifteen years ago, I fired all but one of my managers and started again with a clean slate. I had recently been appointed principal and I believed that everyone needed to share my entrepreneurial ethos if the college was to survive.

Since then, I have made a point of personally interviewing every single person shortlisted for a job with us at Weston College. Whether they are a caretaker, a lecturer, a student services officer, a curriculum manager, a head of faculty or anything else, it doesn’t matter - I interview them all.

Back in 2001, the college had a staff of about 300; now we have almost 1,400 on roll. When a job applicant comes into the college, they go through a series of mini-interviews in the morning and, if they get through, they have a main interview in the afternoon. I always sit in for the interviews of the final three or four shortlisted candidates.

I see job interviews as very much a two-way process. I’d like to know what they think they can bring to the college and why they are unique; to see what they want and, in turn, what they can give me. Sharing an ethos is about people with a whole variety of very different skills and personalities combining to provide your workforce for the future.

People often ask me what I am looking for in a new recruit. Probably the number one thing is that they don’t put me to sleep. If they do that to me, they are guaranteed to do the same to the students.

The right attitude

The other non-negotiable is putting the learner first in their answers. I have had somebody come in and tell me that they are there for the students to listen to and, if the students don’t want to listen, that’s their fault. They were rapidly shown the door. Nothing beats the right attitude. I have also seen somebody come in who was phenomenally nervous and I have taken the risk and given them a job, then seen them go on to flourish.

I have seen people come in who, not having had much of a chance in their previous educational life, have started in a relatively junior position or support position and then gone all the way through the ranks right up to top-level management.

This has convinced me that talent is often hidden and the job of the interviewer is to dig it out and find the real person underneath.

Talent is often hidden, and the job of the interviewer is to dig it out 

We try to explore what people want in terms of career progression and destination. Where aspiring teachers are concerned, we are in the enviable position of being able to let them have a go at it. People can do a very short teacher’s course with us and gain some practical experience, supervised in the classroom, then take a lesson on their own with a more practiced tutor sitting at the back so they get this vital support from day one. Then, after that, they might go on to do a Certificate in Education qualification.

“Growing your own” staff is important for me, and making sure that there are systems in place to develop talent within the college ultimately leads to long-term cost savings and greater stability for the organisation. For instance, one of my vice-principals came in from the nursing profession and the head of my accounting course started as a finance assistant in the general office.

I guess some people might consider me guilty of micromanagement, but I believe that if you put the investment in and get the right staff who share the same ethos, the college will grow and flourish. Happy staff in general do not move on.

Dr Paul Phillips is principal of Weston College in Somerset