The Office of Teacher Recruitment and Quality (TRQ) selects top tier teacher applicants for a special program called TeachNYC Select Recruits (please note the name change: this group was formerly called TRQ Select). Select Recruits are a diverse mix of candidates who, through the online teacher application and a rigorous interview process, have shown the greatest potential for success in the classroom, including the capacity to both improve student achievement and serve as effective leaders and contributors to their school community. Some Select Recruits have prior teaching experience and others are recent college grads with a record of excellence; some are native New Yorkers and others are from states across the country.
In 2010, approximately 150 Select Recruits (formerly called TRQ Select) began teaching in our schools, most of them high-need. Over 90% of Select Recruits were hired before September, compared to approximately 15% of other applicants.
Benefits of Select Recruits
There are many benefits of interviewing and being selected for Select Recruits, including:
- Recruiter access: Select Recruits are assigned a Recruiter to refer them directly to school vacancies and provide additional personalized recruitment support.
- Events: Guaranteed invitations to TRQ sponsored events.
- New Teacher Finder admission: Promotion of Select Recruits availability in the New Teacher Finder, an online candidate network that allows principals to search for teachers based on hiring needs. Select Recruits appear first in all search results.
- Expedited onboarding: Onboarding help with certification and other NYC DOE employment related issues.
- Professional development: Invitations to workshops and other assistance in the transition to teaching in a NYC public school.
Minimum Eligibility
In order to be eligible for Select Recruits, you must be eligible for the New York State Initial or Professional Certificate by September 2010 through college recommendation, transcript review, or interstate reciprocity. Teachers with Internship or Transitional B Certificates are not eligible for Select Recruits.
Eligible candidates must also meet the minimum screening criteria for the New Teacher Finder, though not all New Teacher Finder candidates will be invited to interview. Applicants invited to interview will meet with a recruiter and discuss their potential for teaching. If you are certified in special education or mathematics, you will also be asked to take a math assessment.
The 2011-12 Select Recruits cohort will grow to include approximately 300 members who are cerified to teach Special Education, Science, or English as a Second Language. All Select Recruits are expected to be flexible with their job search preferences.
Projections for the Select Recruits cohort size and needed subject areas are subject to change based on the needs of the school system.
Testimonials from our 2010 Select Recruits Survey
Comments from recent Select Recruits (formerly called TRQ Select) surveyed about their experiences:
- "TRQ Select was instrumental in my job search. If it wasn't for this program, I wouldn't have a job today."
- “I appreciated the individualized attention that I received as a member of TRQ Select. I felt supported."
- "My experience with TRQ Select was very helpful and my entire experience very professional and reassuring."
- "I truly enjoyed the TRQ Select program. I benefitted from each webinar and fair. They were all informative. The skill of each TRQ recrutiter is absolutely priceless!"
- "I feel that TRQ Select gave me a distinct edge. I was hired at the Bronx job fair, which I was invited to as a member of TRQ Select, and my success there was based on a strong connection made with the hiring principal.”
- “Without the support of the TRQ select team, it would have taken me much longer to research and locate schools that I desired to work for. With help from my recruiter the process was simplified. That doesn't mean I didn't have to work to find a job, it just means that I could put all my effort into my interviews and lessons."