Washington Service Corps

Transcription

1 10 Week Guide to Successful Recruitment Developing a Position Description Member Eligibility Recruitments Best Recruitment Practices Finding Candidates Assessing a Candidate Enrollment Paperwork

2 10 Week Guide to Successful Recruitment The cornerstone of any successful AmeriCorps program is recruitment. Things to consider when recrui ng... Recruit from a variety of different places including colleges, high schools, community service programs, youth corps, faith based organiza ons & volunteer agencies. Share applica ons with other programs around the state, and refer applicants to other programs when your program is full. Target applicants who are on a career path that is relevant to your program. Na onal service offers the opportunity for people with low skills to have a high degree of responsibility. Use current members and other program volunteers to iden fy and recruit poten al applicants from their friends, families and associates. Do not accept applicants just to fill slots. It is be er to have empty slots than to accept unqualified or uncommi ed applicants. If possible, obtain a large pool of applicants and maintain a wai ng list. Hire a staff that reflects the diversity of the members you want to recruit. Ensure that the people doing the recrui ng can relate culturally with the people they are recrui ng. Develop a list of program benefits for the applicant as well as a list of challenges so applicants understand what all the aspects of the program are before they begin. Consult your program coordinator as you consider candidates. If you have concerns, it s for a legi mate reason. We will work with you to ensure you get the best possible candidate for your project. Week 1 Update WSC with Position Description posting for americorps.gov. Weeks 3 4 Distribute lyers to places where you feel good recruits would be (volunteer fairs, colleges, coffee shops). Post the position in local newspapers &online. This can include your company website, idealist, volunteermatch.org, craigslist.com, college websites, partnering websites, county & city government websites. The announcement must clearly designate the position as a volunteer opportunity with stipend. Week 5 Develop your on site orientation plan. Secure space and equipment for member. Increase number of postings if you ve received an insuf icient response. Week 6 Review all WSC policies regarding time commitment, bene its and living stipend with all applicants. Make sure interview candidates are U.S. citizens or authorized to work in the U.S. and are willing to complete all required background checks. Questions regarding this should be directed to your coordinator. Make all candidate aware of position expectations and responsibilities. Week 7 Develop interview questions and prep interview team. Schedule interviews with desired candidates. Week 8 Check and verify candidates two references. If your candidate didn t apply using myamericorps.gov, maintain a copy of these references for the member ile. Select back up candidate. Notify applicants of their status. Week 9 Notify your WSC program coordinator via , and provide coordinator with recruit s , phone number and irst and last name. Conduct background checks on recruit according to WSC procedures, which can be found on our website. Support your candidate with any resources they may need to make the transition (i.e. connection to poverty assistance resources such as SNAP, Section 8 housing). Week 10 Have candidate register through myamericorps.gov. Complete enrollment packet and submit to WSC by deadline. Washington Service Corp

3 AmeriCorps Eligibility Requirements Selected members should demonstrate the skills and commitment required to successfully serve in the posi on. This includes a 40 hours per week schedule including 1,700 hours minimum for a full- me term of service. Members must also meet the following criteria: Writing A Strong Recruitment Listing Position descriptions are an essential part of both selecting and managing your members. These written summaries ensure your applicants understand their roles and what they need to do to be held accountable. Also, the description serves as a recruitment device. Potential members understandably want to know as much as they can about what will be expected of them, and the this will go a long way toward answering their questions. OVERALL: Be accurate, clear and concise. Write about the position, not about an individual in the position. Cover all important points, but keep it brief. This is the biggest challenge in writing an effective job description. Have a one to two line overview, list minimum and preferred quali ications, and include a few details on what makes this job better than similar job openings. Always list the quali ications that are non negotiable to discourage under quali ied applicants. Remember, the purpose of your listing is to recruit your dream member, not sell your organization. Clearly describe your position, rather than including generic information or jargon that won t grab applicants 'attention. POSITION OVERVIEW: Summarize the responsibilities of the position, starting with the essential functions. Keep it brief perhaps 100 words or fewer. Do not include requirements in the summary; place them under knowledge, skills and/or abilities. FUNCTIONS/TASKS: Functions are major areas of the position that are distinctly different from one another. For example, grant writing vs. data entry. List them in descending order of importance. INCLUDE WSC MEMBER BENEFITS: Living stipend of $1,195 per month provided by WSC (before taxes). Training and experience. Subsidized childcare provided by GAP Solutions Inc. (if quali ied). Health Insurance (limited only to the member and only if they have no other health insurance). Student loan forbearance and interest accrual payment (on qualifying loans). $5,775 education award upon successful completion of service commitment and 1,700 hours of service from the National Service Trust. Always include a contact name, address, phone number and for requesting additional information.

4 Best Practices for Successful Recruitment Start early. Use the national AmeriCorps website. Post announcement on your organization s website. Utilize social media. Use all your resources announce position in newsletters and blogs. Use sites like Craigslist and Idealist. Send recruitment notices to your community partners. Consider current or past volunteers. Post with higher education institutions. Review applications quickly so you don t risk losing an interested, quali ied candidate. Contact your selected candidates immediately and schedule interviews Be creative and show your enthusiasm. Be strong on follow up. Remember candidates are interviewing you too! Most candidates will apply to numerous organizations. When you see a good candidate, take action quickly. Ensure the candidate meets the service requirements. Locating Candidates Strong recruitment strategies involve using a variety of techniques to ind and identify viable candidates. Here are some way to ind future members: Tips for AmeriCorps Web Outreach List each posi on separately. There are about 75,000 lis ngs that applicants can choose from on the recruitment site. The more broadly you cast your lis ngs, the more likely it is that your posi on(s) will catch a qualified applicant s eye. Organize each posi on alphabe cally. When an applicant searches the AmeriCorps site, posi ons that match their search parameters come up in alphabe cal order. So, a posi on that starts with an a will be no ced before one that starts with an m. Plan your search terms or keywords. The keywords sec on of the lis ng allows you to target your pos ng to a specific audience. In this case, you want to think like a poten al applicant. Iden fy search terms that your dream applicant might use: This might take some trial and error. If a lis ng isn t bringing you the results you want, change it. One of the Web s greatest strengths is its flexibility. You can create as many or as few lis ngs as you need to, and you can change or delete them as you need.

5 Assessing an AmeriCorps Candidate Once you ve determined that an applicant meets the minimum requirements for service (age, citizenship status, and education), what should you look for? Experience has shown that the most successful members have a commitment to service, enthusiasm for making a difference, lexibility, and an ability to respond well to challenges. Some of the major traits you should look for are: Motivation Why applicant wants to serve in AmeriCorps, reason for joining. Commitment The applicant's knowledge of program and ability to complete term of service. Maturity Skills and experience, social and cultural sensitivity, ability to adjust. Establish that your candidate has these traits by looking for certain cues. Sample Interview Ques ons WSC Recruitment Process When you receive an application, the applicant needs to make contact within ten days and set up an interview. This is an AmeriCorps requirement. Make a point to contact applicants as soon as possible so you don t lose quali ied and interested candidates. Plan on spending at least 30 minutes interviewing each WSC applicant. It s important that the applicant feels informed about the necessary skills and expectations. If you currently have a WSC member serving at your site you can include them in the process, either during the interview or helping the applicant to understand AmeriCorps. If the applicant is in town, have them interview at your site. In some situations a phone interview will be necessary. If you are unsure about an applicant pool, contact us and we ll extend the announcement deadline. It s important that you are 100% certain about the WSC member placed at your site. What interests you about this posi on? Take a minute to think about your most significant professional achievement. What was it about you that made this achievement possible? Describe a me when you felt most inspired in your work. What contributed to that feeling? What is your special talent or skill? What is something unique that you will bring to this posi on? How does this posi on fit into your career or educa on path?

6 Enrollment Paperwork has an of icial process for enrolling members in their service. Supervisors can access the enrollment materials on the WSC website on the enrollment forms page. Enrollment paperwork must be completed correctly and received in a timely manner for members to begin service on the selected start date. Incomplete and/or incorrect enrollment packets won t be processed until corrected. This may delay the member start date. Interested in learning more about the enrollment packet? Visit our website for packet instructions. There, you will ind detailed instructions for each document and Criminal History Background Check guidance. Also be sure to contact your WSC program coordinator for more information on the recruitment and enrollment process. Lorraine Coots Sidra Fields Julie Garitone Tynisia Hanson Erika Jenkins Josh Proehl Dave Reid lcoots@esd.wa.gov sfields@esd.wa.gov jgaritone@esd.wa.gov thanson@esd.wa.gov ejenkins@esd.wa.gov jproehl@esd.wa.gov dreid@esd.wa.gov