The second, not so long awaited part to the Staff Rants.

The Issue:

---

There are a lot of posts on here asking for people to apply for staff. People do, and they get accepted in a rather swift time period. As much as it isn't my place to criticize how people run their servers (that doesn't really stop me much, though), I feel the need to rant about efficient application/recruiting processes that are used to weed out bad applicants.

The Application:

---

Location:

Any server looking for quality staff should have the application process initiated off server. It is very easy for players to come in and ask for staff and only want to do it on a "book and quill." However, doing it that way puts the applicant in control of the situation, not the recruiter. The reason why is that you likely don't have the questions you want them to answer on a book and quill in-game (you could set it up via a kit, which is nice, but then there comes the issue of storing them during the processing period and archiving, etc.) A website application is far superior, and professional looking, to this. It is a lot easier to set up and manage, too (you could just use a basic Google Form and hook it to your website). This gets rid of the most lazy of applicants that you might get if you are just starting out (I had plenty of them)

Questions:

You want to ask basic, mostly open-ended questions to get a feel for what their experience is and the degree of their professionalism. Avoid asking questions where they would need to rate themselves (people know that on a scale of 1 - 10, rating 7 or 8 makes them look qualified without seeming arrogant). A decent, basic application would look like this:

---

IGN:


Forum Name:


Time Zone:


Age Range:


How long have you been playing MC?


How long have you been playing on the server?


Have you ever been a member of Staff before?


If "yes" what were the duties for your position?


Why do you want to be a Staff Member?


What do you expect from being a Staff Member for (server name)?


Briefly describe yourself:

---

You can format these questions as you see fit. I prefer to have time zones and age ranges be in a drop down menu form. I also prefer age ranges to just asking for the person's age as some players may feel uncomfortable about sharing their age, and, if set up properly, an age range can suffice without being over intrusive. I also feel that asking about prior staff duties instead of asking what a player is skilled at is more effective as players may post skills (like building) that are completely irrelevant to the position they are applying for. If they don't have any past experience as a staff member, then it is safe to assume they likely haven't honed the skills that are relevant to the job. This shouldn't exclude them from the job, but rather be a better way of informing the recruiter in what to expect from the applicant at the start. Having open-ended questions is also good as you can examine the applicant's grammar and spelling. This helps a lot in seeing how much effort they put into their applications and how mature they are.

Exams vs. Interviews:

---

The "vs." element only really comes in positioning. Should you do an interview now, or use an exam? Personally, I feel that you should use an exam before an interview so that you have something to base applicant-specific questions off of. An interview should be one of the last steps in the process (sort of like a real job).

The Exam:

---

I likely won't give an example of an exam (again, they are easy to make and can be done with Google Forms if needed) as they should be very specific to the rank the applicant is applying for, and the server, itself. An exam should be used to ask questions about the server rules, staff conduct, and to give hypothetical situations that the player would need to answer explaining what they would do and why. There should be more open-ended questions than anything here as you want to understand the applicant's reasoning and intent.

Why use an exam? Well, because you want to know if the applicant actually has a general idea for what their position would entail. Even if they don't have past experience, you can see if they have general commonsense via their reasoning.

The Trial Period:

---

This should come after the exam. If the applicant has shown through the application and exam that they could be of value to the server, then they should have a trial period. During the trial period, they should only be given the permissions needed to perform their duties. Any extra perks and privileges should be restricted to the applicant at this point. During the trial, you should have the applicant work on some sort of server project that fits the position they have applied for. Most servers are always growing, and always looking to add new things for their players and to keep the server interesting/bug-free, therefore it shouldn't be too hard to find something to have the applicant work on during the trial period. The results/progress you get from the applicant during this period should be crucial for the final decision and will also tell you how active and efficient they are.
 

The interview:

---

Anytime during the trial period (probably close to the end if you want to include questions about the trial project) you should have an interview. It is best to do this via voice chat, but text can be used, as well. You should also take the time to get another means of contact from your applicant, as the server, forums (and TS if you have it) are really only relevant when they are on the server. Skype, e-mail, or even phone number (if they live in the same country as you, or you have some sort of international plan for texting or calling) would be good to have in cases of emergencies.

You should ask general questions (like the ones on the initial application) and specific ones to the applicant and what they did during their trial period. This is also a good time to go over the exam and clear up any questions you have about their answers.

Decision Making:

---

Most of the decision process for the applicant's progress should be done via vote with the rest of the staff as opposed to a single-person (usually the Owner or Head Admin) decision. This is because the staff are the people that will be working with the applicant if they get chosen for the position. There should be voting on the initial application and the exam by the staff. The trial period should also be voted on by the staff (the interviewer can post information about the interview if needed, as well). After this, then the server players should get a say in the process. If the staff have deemed the applicant to be good thus far, then the players should not have too much of a different opinion, however it is good to hear their voice as well, as the staff represents the server and its players. Also, the players may have seen things about the applicant that members of staff have not.

---

The entire application period should probably take anywhere from two weeks to a month depending on the length of the trial period. Some people may likely see this as being too long, but this will weed out the impatient applicants that are just looking for the perks and powers of the position.

To make the entire process easier on the current staff, there should be an admin, or designated person to manage the applications, as some of them could be rather lengthy due to the open-ended nature of them. You could also put length restrictions on the applications if your length tolerance is low. The general format for this can still apply, regardless of size constraints.

Feel free to leave your opinions and ideas for what you, as a server staff recruiter, do for your server's application process.