ABSTRACT
This research investigated the Hiring Experiences encountered by newly hired teachers, focusing on the bases for the intervention program, using a phenomenological approach. The participants of the study were fifteen (15) newly hired teachers from the Schools Division of Iloilo City. The data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire through interviews. The results showed that newly hired teachers experienced an emotional journey through the hiring process, a prolonged path to employment, and a smooth and fair recruitment process. Participants also reported several challenges, including managing time and finances, the competitive ranking process, uncertainty and anxiety, and exhaustion from document preparation. Despite these difficulties, newly hired teachers showed various coping strategies. These included maintaining perseverance and a positive mindset, family and peer support, seeking information and guidance, faith and spiritual strength, and continuous professional growth. Overall, the results highlight applicants’ challenges and the need for support. An intervention program was created to enhance hiring experiences.
Keywords: newly-hired teachers, hiring experiences, challenges, coping strategies
INTRODUCTION
The hiring process is critical for teachers because it establishes the groundwork for their careers in the education sector. The demand for qualified teachers has steadily increased as the population and school expansion have grown. Despite the availability of teaching positions, many newly hired educators face significant difficulties during the hiring process and in the early stages of their careers.
For instance, research in the US has revealed that there are still a lot of teacher openings in several states, which present excellent chances for educators looking for work. Districts are actively hiring, offering clear career tracks, competitive salaries, and hiring incentives (Bouchrika, 2026). Moreover, Perrone, F., and Meyers, C.V. (2021) conducted an integrative literature review, analyzing 71 empirical studies on K-12 teacher hiring in the United States between 2001-2020, which highlighted the lack of systematic synthesis in this field and identified a significant knowledge gap as a result of sample limitations and methodological constraints. The authors emphasized the importance of conducting more comprehensive research to inform effective hiring policies and practices. Similarly, there is still a teacher shortage in many areas, along with a growing need for competent educators and persistent difficulties with teacher retention (Comai et al., 2025). This emphasizes how urgent it is for the education industry to implement efficient recruitment, hiring, and retention techniques.
The number of teaching posts available for hiring has been directly impacted by the ongoing teacher shortage in the Philippine educational system. More than 30,000 teaching posts were left empty nationwide in 2025, according to the Department of Education (DepEd), which resulted in frequent job openings, competitive hiring procedures, and a variety of experiences for recently hired instructors (Delon Porcalla, 2025).
Based on the researcher’s initial observations, newly hired instructors frequently face a variety of challenges during the hiring process. Many of them endure unclear or uneven recruitment procedures, long and occasionally unpredictable processing timeframes, and difficulties obtaining suitable placements. These challenges are often compounded by financial concerns because teacher candidates must submit various documents, meet numerous requirements, and sometimes pay for extra placement, certification, and ranking. Magsambol (2025) reported that recruiting new teachers usually presents a number of difficulties, such as ambiguous protocols and protracted, erratic processing timeframes. Because the hiring process frequently requires several agencies and permissions, many candidates experience procedural bottlenecks that can cause placement decisions to be delayed for months.
Based on these observations, the researcher hoped to determine the hiring experiences encountered by newly-hired teachers as bases for intervention program.
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