How to Hire Kids Program Instructors: 5 Traits (Ep. 3)
Episode 03 · April 13, 2026 · Solo episode
Hire kids program instructors for teaching ability, then train them on your topic. Post a specific role in the specific area you need and pay to boost the listing for a day or two. In the interview, look for five things: warmth for kids, a steady temper when tested, reliability, coachability and belief in your mission. Keep them with preparation, specific feedback and a next step.
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This is my written companion to Episode 3 of The Youth Enrichment Leader, "Hiring for Youth Programs: What Actually Works." Your instructors are your product. Parents and schools judge the person standing with the kids. A great instructor makes a simple activity feel extraordinary, and a great curriculum in the wrong hands lands as mediocre.
Why is hiring instructors so hard in kids enrichment?
Because the job is built from odd hours. Programs run in the afternoon, on weekends and in summer. A one-hour class claims someone's whole Tuesday afternoon, which rules out most people who need full-time income. Tuition has a ceiling, so pay does too. And your best people get recruited into full-time jobs, often by the schools they teach in.
This is a feature of the business. Music, martial arts, dance, gymnastics, STEM: every operator I talk to names it as the hardest part. The data agrees. In the Afterschool Alliance's fall 2022 survey of 1,016 program providers, 67% said hiring, retaining people, or both had been at least somewhat difficult (afterschoolalliance.org/afterschoolsnack).
Instructors who leave tell me the same things. They felt underprepared. They felt invisible. They saw no next step. You can fix all three.
Where do I find good instructor candidates?
A specific, boosted job post in a specific area has worked best for us. Here is what I've tried.
| Channel | How it went for us | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Indeed, sponsored post | Best source | Post "coding instructor," never "enrichment instructor." Specific titles pull candidates who stay. |
| Referrals from current instructors | Good | Good people know good people. Ask sparingly, or your team hears how often you're hiring. |
| Tabling at local universities | Early success | A long play for afternoon availability. It won't fill a role next week. |
| Your parent community | Didn't fit us | Our STEM roles need specific skills. Another operator pays parents to lead programs and loves it. |
| Facebook groups | Weak | A topic group, like local artists for an art program, may do better. |
| LinkedIn job posts, college job boards | Weak | Few applicants for part-time roles, even sponsored. |
Two rules made the biggest difference. First, boost the post. The arithmetic: if a boost costs $5 a day and you run it for 3 days, that's 5 × 3 = $15. In our mid-size city, one or two boosted days bring enough strong applicants to start interviews. Unsponsored, we used to wait a week or two. Test it in your city.
Second, hire by geography. Post for the neighborhood where the classes are. People say they'll drive anywhere. Then the commute passes 15 minutes and they're gone.
What should I look for in an instructor interview?
Five traits. Past behavior predicts future behavior, and how someone shows up with you is how they'll show up with kids. I interviewed teacher candidates for years before instructors. These held up in both.
- Real warmth for kids. Ask: "Tell me about a time you worked with a child who was disengaged or struggling. What did you do?" That one answer tells you almost everything.
- Comfort being the least cool person in the room. Kids test limits. Ask: "Tell me about a lesson that didn't go as planned." Listen for ownership, humility and self-awareness.
- Reliability. You can't be five minutes late to a 15-minute lesson. Watch the hiring process itself. Were they on time? Did the paperwork come back?
- Coachability. Most training in this work is on-the-spot coaching. Ask: "Tell me about critical feedback that changed how you do something." Notice how long the answer takes.
- Mission alignment. They should believe what you're doing for kids is possible and worth doing.
Should I hire for teaching skill or subject expertise?
Teaching skill. It is easier to teach a great teacher your content than to teach a content expert how to teach. A veteran operator handed me that line, and I could not agree more. Hire for teaching. Train for the topic.
What keeps good instructors from leaving?
Feeling seen, prepared, paid right and headed somewhere. One-time onboarding won't carry it. Here's what I'd put in place:
- Specific praise. "You redirected that student privately and kept the lesson moving" beats "great job."
- Curriculum, materials and a named point of contact before day one.
- Pay that is correct and on time. If you make a mistake, apologize and fix it.
- Someone to call when something goes wrong at a site. Most instructors are physically alone with the kids.
- A next step: lead instructor, curriculum reviewer, trainer. Look inside your team before you hire outside it.
One more thing I hold firmly. Instructors won't be fully open with the person who controls their schedule and their pay. Give them an experienced person to call who isn't evaluating them. For the day someone can't make it, read how to build a sub plan that holds.
This week: tell one instructor one specific thing they did well, outside of any review.
Are my instructors contractors or W-2?
It depends on how much control you have over the work. If you set the schedule, assign the site and require your curriculum and methods, that looks like an employee. Paying per session instead of per hour doesn't change it. The IRS looks at behavioral control, financial control and the type of relationship (irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed).
Rules differ by state, and I'm not your attorney or accountant. Talk to both before you grow a team. My companion to Episode 25 covers how to pay after-school instructors.
Who should listen to this episode?
Listen if you're about to hire your first instructor, or if you're hiring every term and want it to stop. It's 33 minutes. For the training side, read my companion to Episode 1 on the four costliest mistakes I made.
Listen or watch: Spotify · YouTube · Apple Podcasts
Frequently asked questions
If I only ask one interview question, which one?
"Tell me about a time you worked with a child who was disengaged or struggling. What did you do?" It shows you how they think about kids when things get hard.
Can parents teach my programs?
For some operators, yes. One told me it's their best recruiting channel. For specialized skills like robotics and coding it didn't work for us. Try it once and see.
Does enrops handle instructor scheduling?
Instructor offers and assignments on enrops are set up with our team. See how it works.
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Arielle Hammond, Ed.D. is the founder of enrops and host of The Youth Enrichment Leader, presented by enrops.
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