Recruiting Event Ideas

[Fruss]

Another thing I thought about while reading the school idea....

Put more than 1 or 2 guys there!!  Put at least a woman, and put a lot of people, so they are not in a hurry to give out a CD and talk to someone else...  Either in a school, in a park or in a job fair, it's the same thing...

When I went to job fairs in Quebec City, the people there (there was 2 or 3) didn't seem to want to give out info..  I know it's a pretty hard day on them, if you need, change the personnel at noon...

Frank

 

[Love793]

Another thing I thought about while reading the school idea....

Put more than 1 or 2 guys there!!   Put at least a woman, and put a lot of people, so they are not in a hurry to give out a CD and talk to someone else...   Either in a school, in a park or in a job fair, it's the same thing...

When I went to job fairs in Quebec City, the people there (there was 2 or 3) didn't seem to want to give out info..   I know it's a pretty hard day on them, if you need, change the personnel at noon...

Frank

Good point, it doesbecome a brain drain. Frequent breaks are required.

 

[qor556]

Our unit, along with a few others over a month ago had a pretty successful time recruiting at the Motorcross. It was a big venue, lots of exposure I am sure of and we were able to talk to a good number of people who seemed truly interested. I guess events such as these are a good place to set up a recruitment stand and reach the "target audience." Accompanied by a few catchy sayings such as "join the army, blow sh*t up!" seemed to perk the attention of a number of people. It was funny how some were surprised to hear that the Canadian Army actually gets paid. I am all for the creation of some type of video that is available in the guidance offices in high schools that gives detailed information about the different trades, employment opprotunites, what to expect/experience in the army and all the benefits. I am sure it would be a success.

Oh and on a side not, my high school this year had a couple people representing RMC come by during a day where different universities set up their different booths in the gymnasium. I heard them boasting about the free education and other little benefits such as getting paid in the process. But i never once heard them utter anything about the 6?8? year commitment that is accompanied with it. They didn't even explain the role of the officer and such. Speaking with a couple friends after that picked up forms that seemed interested did not have a clue what they were signing up for. Somehow the CF must fine-tune their recruiting strategies and go with, as i stated before, a video of some sort to show the students. 

Ah its getting late, just my 2 cents

 

[2Lt_Burgie]

Hi, I'd like to answer your questions/statements in individual quips.. so bear with me.

Sir. all things given I think just placing a video on a website is in no way an answer, I guess it may help. I was more of less thinking of public libraries, school libraries, all around Canadian and if your are in extreme need of numbers make a long video (say 1 hour in length) and place it in video stores (block buster) this way people that are thinking of enlisting can rent it for a cost which would keep all the other people from renting it for pure entertainment reasons.

-- Unfortunately, any videos produced by the Government of Canada, epically recruiting videos can't be rented for-profit from a public video store. However, with that being said, they can be given away. I know that once we receive our recruiting video, I'm planning on getting the rights to reproduce it on credit card sized CDs and give away as many as people will take.

Its already been proven to be a positive method of getting new members in, and believe it or not, they actually work better then paper brochures our marketting surveys have proved.

I think making a good video is a reasonable help to this situation it would not only allow people to see what their getting into but shows them all the other things in the military not just running around with paint on your face holding a gun.

In the case of the particular video being developed, it shows the CSS in a combat role, of defending convoys, attacks on the move, EME footage (I have not yet seen this, so I won't comment on the content).

I am not disagreeing with what a lot if people are saying about going to high schools, I wish when I was in high school they came around, no one ever did.   But just going to schools of any sort and setting up a table and standing there, I kinda think it's a waste of time and money. If you have schools call you or pre-arrange a visit weeks before hand so students know about it, maybe put on a demonstration talking to the school and then answer questions, maybe making an effort to stick around for 2 days or at least the whole day doing more then just standing around, It would be more beneficial. I can remember in college we had a job fair and the military was there, again one table two troops vary little info there, when I went up to them, they were fast to offer me a small CD a little flyer and then they started talking to each other. Hmmm... I was not impressed. But again I stand behind my video idea, a video can tell you a lot more then little CD or a flyer.          
Bottom line in what you do, you have make a good effort in reaching people not so much in your face but go to places where people have time to stop and chat
-Not malls (that's one place I know some people are in and out as fast as possible)  
-Jobs fairs are ok but do more then stand around
-If you go to school, let more people know ahead of time
-Get the word out.

Thanks again for your impressions on the recruiting that has/is been done. I know that more active recruiting, similar to the US system is very beneficial in getting the numbers in. My main concern with the US system is that by drawing in the large numbers, you can sometimes be selling a false product to some people, and thus increases your wash-out rate.

Having members who are truly interested and are people - people are extremely important. As Love973 stated earlier, its a matter of having everyone in the unit being up to speed on recruiting practices.

To say the least, recruiters as a whole are looking for new suggestions to promote the Canadian Forces and any insight anyone has is greatly appreciated.

 

[2Lt_Burgie]

Good point, it doesbecome a brain drain. Frequent breaks are required.

Very good point. That and allowing recruiters to recoup is important.

 

[2Lt_Burgie]

Our unit, along with a few others over a month ago had a pretty successful time recruiting at the Motorcross. It was a big venue, lots of exposure I am sure of and we were able to talk to a good number of people who seemed truly interested. I guess events such as these are a good place to set up a recruitment stand and reach the "target audience." Accompanied by a few catchy sayings such as "join the army, blow sh*t up!" seemed to perk the attention of a number of people. It was funny how some were surprised to hear that the Canadian Army actually gets paid. I am all for the creation of some type of video that is available in the guidance offices in high schools that gives detailed information about the different trades, employment opprotunites, what to expect/experience in the army and all the benefits. I am sure it would be a success.

-- Awesome suggestion. Perhaps in Northern Ontario, attending Snowmobile conventions and other activites?

Oh and on a side not, my high school this year had a couple people representing RMC come by during a day where different universities set up their different booths in the gymnasium. I heard them boasting about the free education and other little benefits such as getting paid in the process. But i never once heard them utter anything about the 6?8? year commitment that is accompanied with it. They didn't even explain the role of the officer and such. Speaking with a couple friends after that picked up forms that seemed interested did not have a clue what they were signing up for. Somehow the CF must fine-tune their recruiting strategies and go with, as i stated before, a video of some sort to show the students.    

Ah its getting late, just my 2 cents

-- Your correct in this review, as I have liased with the RMC recruiters as well. The RMC recruiters should focus not only on the free education, but also the fact that you get a paycheck AND a guaranteed job for 5 - 6 years after school. Not many Universities & Colleges can boast that.

 

[2Lt_Burgie]

In my high school their was a "career week" in which all of the 11 and 12 students picked a few different things that they'd like to go see. The army was one of the choices and they had a information session in the common area which was without a doubt the most popular thing that students chose. They had a slide show and had a bunch of guys in the dress uniform. In the high school there is about 3000 kids and its a good bet that most of them were at the info session. They brought a bunch of the equipment and had different guys talking about what they did. Although it was geared toward the regs I don't know why a few primary reserve units couldn't get together and do something like this. Some kids do think the only job in the army is being infantry or driving a tank but you showed them what you acually do it would attract, say, people who don't want to be rambo but want the benifits.

-- Awesome to see a large portion of 3000 students attend a CF information session. I will definetly take this under advisement in the future to send the green fleet when we have an oppurtunity.

Thanks again!

 

[2Lt_Burgie]

Sir, try using your CO and Cadet LO.   If you don't have a LO, volunteer to act as the LO.   It has brought a lot of success for me down here.   Cadets are the best recruiting tool we have.

-- Great idea. I'll followup in the next few days on this. Most cadet units in our areas don't have a liaison officer/member at this time, however.. this like many things is easily remedied.  8)

 

[2Lt_Burgie]

Another thing I thought about while reading the school idea....

Put more than 1 or 2 guys there!!   Put at least a woman, and put a lot of people, so they are not in a hurry to give out a CD and talk to someone else...   Either in a school, in a park or in a job fair, it's the same thing...

-- Great suggestions on how to resolve some issues. The aspect of having lots of people at one given location however is not always a financially viable, but great suggestion.

When I went to job fairs in Quebec City, the people there (there was 2 or 3) didn't seem to want to give out info..   I know it's a pretty hard day on them, if you need, change the personnel at noon...

Frank

-- I know I am always ready to part with information/business cards whenever ANYONE wants them. I've put in a request to Brigade for more Recruiting material, usually I get an answer within two to three days.

As for recruiters who are not always willing to speak with the general public, this is always a sensitive topic as you must imagine, however I personally do not endorse such behaviour.

My job as a recruiter is two fold. First, educate the public on the Canadian Army, Reserves & Reg Forces. Second, grasp onto those people who are interested in learning more, and possibly those who are interested on doing this as a job/career.

Thanks again!

 

[Tpr.Orange]

Damn i just wrote a whole long message and it got deleted.
:crybaby:


well it was in regards to Huggys comments.

Recruiters have rules in place which stop them from activley persuing potential recruits in schools. We call ahead, book a time, setup a booth, and for the 2 hours or so we are at the schools we are approached with questions and we have answers and if we dont, we take down the persons info and get back to them. We have flyers and a giant backboard display, and when someone shows interest we take down all of their imporant information and have them come into the unit for an session on a parade night. We cant just walk around and hand out flyers and put on huge demonstrations.

As for colleges and Universities, the CFRC's in your areas are in charge of recruiting there, a unit recruiter has to have permission to go there, specifically because CFRC's are looking for officer candidates there.

Now in regards to the experience you had with walking up to a display where two recruiters just gave you a flyer and a cd. That just shows the units lack of drive for recruiting. A good recruiting team activley persues a candidate once they approach. We give 100% attention to the interested parties and answer whatever questions we can. Once that is done we give the candidate the option to come in for an information session we have at the unit, we take down their info, (name phone number etc...) get in contact them and invite them to come down.

One last point about malls. They are great places to recruit. But not just to recruit, to also help the public gain awareness that the Canadian Forces employ in their area. We go out and have tons of interested parties come up to us and ask questions not just about recruiting but about the forces in general. Being in the public eye like this is vital to keeping up our image.

The Canadian Forces don't aggressivley persue candidates for one reason. Because we are a volunteer army. We make ourselves available and at the disposal of the public, but they have to take the first steps to approach us. That is why our army is so special because we need people who want to go that extra mile, and show interest and ask questions and get involved. Thats what recruiting in the Canadian Forces is all about, not like in Farenhight 9/11.

 

[Tpr.Orange]

-- Great suggestions on how to resolve some issues. The aspect of having lots of people at one given location however is not always a financially viable, but great suggestion.-- I know I am always ready to part with information/business cards whenever ANYONE wants them. I've put in a request to Brigade for more Recruiting material, usually I get an answer within two to three days.

As for recruiters who are not always willing to speak with the general public, this is always a sensitive topic as you must imagine, however I personally do not endorse such behaviour.

My job as a recruiter is two fold. First, educate the public on the Canadian Army, Reserves & Reg Forces. Second, grasp onto those people who are interested in learning more, and possibly those who are interested on doing this as a job/career.

Thanks again!

First off well said sir! and secondly our unit has an interesting background display we use at recruiting events. Im going to take a picture of it at the unit and send you a copy. You might be interested in having one at your unit. Its deffinatley catchy and financially it might be financially attainable by your unit. Give me a couple of days to get the pictures done. If you have a DND email account setup, PM me with the address and ill send it to you through my DND account.

 

[Fruss]

As for recruiters who are not always willing to speak with the general public, this is always a sensitive topic as you must imagine, however I personally do not endorse such behaviour.

My job as a recruiter is two fold. First, educate the public on the Canadian Army, Reserves & Reg Forces. Second, grasp onto those people who are interested in learning more, and possibly those who are interested on doing this as a job/career.

I read my post again, I'm sorry if I sounded like I was telling you how to do your job, it wasn't my intention (and I'm sure your doing a fine job already)...  I just tried to get some idea out using examples..  I understand your unit might not have the mean to have a lot of people..

Frank

 

[2Lt_Burgie]

First off well said sir! and secondly our unit has an interesting background display we use at recruiting events. I'm going to take a picture of it at the unit and send you a copy. You might be interested in having one at your unit. Its deffinatley catchy and financially it might be financially attainable by your unit. Give me a couple of days to get the pictures done. If you have a DND email account setup, PM me with the address and ill send it to you through my DND account.

--Excellent. I also liked your BMQ video you have posted on your unit's website. For those potential recruits out there, its a must see to get an idea what a PRes basic is all about. Not to steal any of CFN. Orange's thunder, but here's the web link:
http://www.army.gc.ca/25Service_Battalion/videofiles/bmq_WM.wmv

Keep up all the good work, and great ideas!

 

[Tpr.Orange]

Dont worry about my thunder i believe thats a 32 brigade video 

 

[2Lt_Burgie]

If you're wondering about how to make CSS appealing, just a thought, but thinking very recently to when I was in high-school, and when recruiters would come, I seem to recall that the local circus batallion always had the most popular displays, because they'd bring along an ML or somtimes even an HL. The opportunity to hop up in the cab was always great... it's a big green army truck... what could be cooler then that?

-- Absolutely.

 

[Huggy]

The one thing that, I find funny is when ever I talk to a Recruiter all they ever talk about is all the positives â Å“things to look forward toâ ? but as some one seeking more info I not only want to hear the good but the bad. What are some of the bad point of BMQ and MOC and well military life in general. There is no way life is always super all the time, give me ALL the point and let me toy around and figure things out, weight it see if this life is for me.

Unfortunately, any videos produced by the Government of Canada, epically recruiting videos can't be rented for-profit from a public video store. However, with that being said, they can be given away. I know that once we receive our recruiting video, I'm planning on getting the rights to reproduce it on credit card sized CDs and give away as many as people will take.

That suck, you should be able to produce a video and place it for rent or sell.
How long of a video can you fit on those little CD's??? I have one here and there is a lot of info on it but no real documentary on things to come.

My main concern with the US system is that by drawing in the large numbers, you can sometimes be selling a false product to some people, and thus increases your wash-out rate.

I think the only real way to sell a false product is by answering questions untruthful, the people who want more info will get it, the people who want a free cd will walk up and grab it.

Reply to CFN. Orange statements
I always thought that they just came to the school, and set up. If that's the case where they are make booking times to show up I think more of an effort need to be shown in the school parts, to let students know ahead of time.

 

[Ghost]

Stop putting nerds all over the posters.

Put cool pictures like a fighter jet firing a missile or people sliding down a rope out of a helicopter none of the close up portraits of some guy smiling.

Something more like this

not crap like this

 

[Tpr.Orange]

comparing video game covers to an actual job where people can keep there head up high and be patriotic... hmm kinda like comparing apples and oranges.

Also i dont think the forces wants to put images like that(ghost recon cover) because thats not all the forces are about.

But dually noted.

 

[Canuck_25]

Stop putting nerds all over the posters.

Put cool pictures like a fighter jet firing a missile or people sliding down a rope out of a helicopter none of the close up portraits of some guy smiling.

Something more like this

not crap like this

You know, he has a point. I saw a scouts canada advertisement on televison that showed kids canoeing, hiking, repelling, skiing, and kayaking. CF television add seemed rather poor in my oppinon. As far as i know, the CF add isnt on television anymore.

 

[Ghost]

Well thoose 2 things have marketing in common.

But anyways that's what appeals to young people,  the other stuff doesn't.

I am 21 I know this stuff