Attention job searchers: Fred Astaire Dance Studio is looking for dance instructors.
Is this you?
Ideal candidates are good dancers at least (maybe great) and great team players. Best candidates communicate well, understand a variety of communication preferences, and are passionate about teaching others to dance.
You’re high-energy, happy, love working with people, pay attention to detail. Compassionate, caring, charismatic. Takes direction well. Loves to learn and improve on a daily basis. Loves being part of a great team. Takes and gives feedback well.
Speaking with a professional recruiter recently, I hit upon the stark truth that it’s not easy to find dance instructors. It takes a special kind of person to fill this position.
I’d love to hire homegrown talent. Michigan dance instructors – where are you?
This recruiter friend ran an ad for me on job search websites to try to find good candidates for us. Came up empty-handed. He said it’s never happened to him before!
This is a very focused, stylized field. It’s not for everyone, but it is for some.
Part of the problem is that prospective candidates think they have to be trained already or be an expert ballroom dancer. Not true!
I can take anybody who has a dance background of any kind – ballet or modern or jazz or hip hop. Maybe you danced in high school. Maybe you just love to learn on the dance floor.
With the right personality, we can provide ample training to turn an eager candidate into a great instructor. And working here is a fantastic way to grow a career in the arts.
Unfortunately, I’m just not finding the candidates, which is why we’ve had to hire instructors from foreign lands to come to America and teach with us. I firmly believe we have enough homegrown talent to hire Americans to teach ballroom. So where are you?
Give us a try! Show us your smile, your enthusiasm, your ability to communicate really, really well.
Many performers on Dancing With The Stars started dancing later in life. One instructor in the Fred Astaire company was a soccer player who answered an ad for a summer job and became a FADS dance instructor. Literally, the guy knew nothing about dance but he was a great athlete and a quick study.
Eventually, he became a champion dancer and now owns his own FADS studio. He was even on DWTS!
A great dance instructor does not have to be someone who’s been dancing all their life. But if you are a dancer, it’s a perfect job for you.