to think that recruitment isn't only about someone being able to do the job?

[AllintheDetail]

I am responsible for the budget in a school. I do the personnel paperwork but don't have any decision making responsibilities in recruitment. When a recruitment decision goes wrong, I have to sort it out, dealing HR re any disciplinary or manage out procedures

We have a dinner lady who is very good with the children. HT wants to offer her a TA role to support a challenging child. She would be good at that.

My objection is that she is very very unreliable. Loads of time off sick but more than that loads, of dentist appointments, need to wait in for someone to fix the boiler/washing machine, time off because of trouble at her DCs school etc. The last one was she was "stuck" at the bank. She let us know at 11:45 she wouldn't be in for her lunch-time shift.

To my mind, the issues this causes are

• the child needs stability and whilst we can't guarantee anyone will have 100% attendance we do know it's unlikely for this member of staff

-Absences will be covered by other TAs/MDAs doing over-time which costs the school or by removing TAs from other roles

-The work and disruption repeated short notice absences cause

-Disruption to the rest of the class if no 121 is available

-We have a number of far more reliable TAs & MDAs who will be thinking "why do I bother?" if she gets the job ahead of them. This will be a 25 hr week, which is practically unheard of for a TA.

Nothing I can do about it, if he wants to do it this way that's how it will be done but am I wrong to think these sort of things do matter?

I suppose there is no harm in voicing this concern to your manager?

I think you should not be posting this sort of information on a public forum. I would recommend you ask for thread deletion.

Of course it matters. I'd say something. Does the head know the extent of all the issue?

I think this is a problem unique to hiring someone from within and organisation. You already have info on them that impacts how suitable they are for the role. It's totally connected to being able to do the job and not an add-on. I think it would be normal and reasonable to use this information as part of the decision whether to hire her. It's info you would have to take on trust if it wasn't an internal candidate, eg by asking for days off in last year etc. I'm sure your colleague will listen to and note your concerns.

I would say though that it's a big jump in hours and responsibility, so she might be more reliable as a result? But I would share your concerns with the person in charge of recruitment.

YANBU.

I'm surprised she is being offered the job if she's that unreliable. Is your boss aware of these issues or does it pass her by because you and the other staff always sort it out?

I agree with wtffgs be very, very careful about how much you post here.

But to answer your question, yes, of course these things matter and I'm baffled as to why the HT is even considering her. Has he/she actually seen this person's record all at once, is she/he just not realising how much it has mounted up?

Is the HT planning a proper recruitment process that he/she can use to justify his choice?

Thank you for your concern. I have changed a lot of details.

I'm pretty sure the HT is aware of these things for their self and so it is their decision to make.

If you don't think she is a good HT, then that is another matter for you to take up with the board of Governors - not the MN forum.