How to involve all of your employees in your recruiting

[00:00:13] Welcome to episode 72 of the High Volume Hiring Podcast. I am Stephen Rothberg

[00:00:18] I am the founder of college recruiter job search site where we believe that every student in recent grad deserves a great career and

[00:00:25] I am joined here today as

[00:00:28] usual not always but usual by my

[00:00:32] Fantastic co-hosts Jeanette Leeds. Jeanette, great to see you today. Great to see you as well. Hi everyone. I'm Jeanette Leeds

[00:00:38] I'm a HR tech entrepreneur and we have a very special episode today

[00:00:42] We are joined today by Brigadier General

[00:00:47] Amrine, God right who is the commander of the US Air Force recruiting service and he's located at the Randolph Air Force Base in Texas

[00:00:55] General welcome. We are so thrilled to have you here today. Jeanette and Stephen. Thank you for the opportunity

[00:01:01] I look forward to the discussion and here we go. Here we go

[00:01:05] So why don't we like level set for all of our listeners just from like in terms of stats and data?

[00:01:12] Because I just love data and a big data geek. So talk to us a bit about

[00:01:16] Like how many candidates a year are you engaging with? How many are applying and accept it?

[00:01:22] Like how does that just sort of give us a sense of that and we can then dive into real fun stuff?

[00:01:27] Yeah, absolutely, and we love data too. We measure it. It's like baseball

[00:01:31] There's a stat for everything but you know, we're all kind of walk you through how we get somebody that is

[00:01:37] Potentially or maybe didn't know they were interested all the way through

[00:01:40] What you would probably consider the hiring process or when we send them to basic training or to officer training school or

[00:01:48] To our service Academy the Air Force Academy or to ROTC

[00:01:52] Which are detachments that are embedded within a four-year universities across the United States, but each year

[00:02:00] We normally engage with

[00:02:04] approximately three million

[00:02:05] Wow people that we would we would call leads and and what I mean by that is it's somebody that is

[00:02:12] Interested that was willing to you know, possibly give their name or what I will say is that we kind of a filtering system on that

[00:02:20] That refines those leads down and sometimes people will be interested and they'll give their information and

[00:02:26] You know, they may be 15 or 16 years old and we're like man

[00:02:29] That is awesome that you are interested in service in the Air Force or the Space Force

[00:02:33] Whether that be in the active duty component or the reg aph as we call it

[00:02:37] The Air National Guard or the Air Force Reserve, but we need you to wait a couple years and then come back to us

[00:02:43] So not every lead is what we would consider a viable candidate that lead then turns into

[00:02:49] What we would consider the appointment so that very first contact where they're going to sit down with a recruiter

[00:02:56] Rather than say they're out in the field

[00:02:58] And they were maybe at an air show or maybe heard somebody speak in the school that they were at or saw

[00:03:04] You know one of our engagements out in the community

[00:03:06] this is an actual appointment with a recruiter and

[00:03:10] For this year we had on the regular Air Force alone

[00:03:13] We had about 105 of those 105 thousand excuse me

[00:03:16] Appointments, but then again you start to refine that down and and that turns into

[00:03:22] 77,000 that were interested in starting the application process

[00:03:27] And so as they go through the application process

[00:03:30] What comes out on the other end is is what we call the shipment or those that we are entering into the Air Force or to the Space Force and

[00:03:38] For this year if I took the three million leads to the hundred and 105 thousand appointments to the seventy seven thousand

[00:03:45] You know entrance into the application process. We ended up shipping

[00:03:50] 27,200

[00:03:52] Regular Air Force so active duty into our enlisted ranks and the leads piece is probably the same

[00:04:00] But when you get to the officer we do OTS recruiting officer training school recruiting

[00:04:06] And so we have probably over 2000 applicants a year

[00:04:09] So that you know skip that step and go right into the applicant process to put in about 500

[00:04:16] What we call line of the Air Force versus breakout specialties

[00:04:20] Which is you know, and then we brought in about 750

[00:04:24] Medical professionals so that's that's kind of the spectrum both for the officer and the enlisted side of our hiring process

[00:04:32] Our engagement etc. First of all kudos to you and to the Air Force for being so data-driven

[00:04:39] I'm not at all surprised but on corporate America

[00:04:43] That's an anomaly and for somebody you know in your position

[00:04:48] Or anybody else to just have those numbers and be so data-driven it then allows you to really look back and say

[00:04:54] Oh, we missed our numbers this year or hey, we blew away our numbers this year. Why?

[00:05:01] What can we learn from that? How can we make better use of taxpayer money next year that you're following?

[00:05:07] So speaking of that as you look back

[00:05:09] What are some things that have happened under your tenure where you would say?

[00:05:15] Hey, we changed this and it was great like things that whether it's

[00:05:22] promotion

[00:05:23] Sponsorship streamline any application process

[00:05:27] Changing who's eligible. What are some things that you've done that? It's like this really helped a lot

[00:05:33] Hey, this is William Tinka work to find hey listen

[00:05:36] I'd like to talk to you a little bit about it inside the C-suite the podcast

[00:05:39] It's a look into the journey of how one goes from high school college

[00:05:44] Whatever all the way to the C-suite all the ups and downs failure successes all that stuff good listen

[00:05:50] Subscribe wherever you get your podcast. So what I will say is there's probably about an 18 month span and we

[00:05:59] Operate on a fiscal year. So we just finished our

[00:06:02] 2024 fiscal year close that out on the 30th of September and this year

[00:06:07] We made goal all components regular Air Force

[00:06:10] Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve as well as the Space Force all made their goal last year

[00:06:16] We didn't we missed by a little over 10%

[00:06:18] And so we kind of saw that train coming a little bit before the actual closeout of last year and

[00:06:25] Corporately the Air Force

[00:06:27] Responded with the things that you were talking about and our current chief of staff

[00:06:31] General Alvin was the vice chief of staff of the Air Force and he led an enterprise wide

[00:06:37] Team we call it a cross-functional team to see what barriers to service were out there

[00:06:43] And so some of those things happen prior to the start of

[00:06:47] One October of last year

[00:06:49] But we looked at some of those barriers and some of them were what we would call outdated policies or policies

[00:06:55] That we could simply just align with the existing

[00:06:57] Department of Defense rather than to have a different policy

[00:07:01] And so we looked at several of those there about four or five of those policies that were either

[00:07:07] Updated or just you know going hey this this policy really isn't isn't really appropriate or it just doesn't apply anymore

[00:07:14] Or we changed it a little bit

[00:07:15] So some of those that happened over the last summer timeframe were we adjusted our body mass index and so

[00:07:24] But we aligned it to the DOD standard so everybody's like oh did you lower standards?

[00:07:28] Well, I would say we aligned it to the existing Department of Defense that the other services use

[00:07:33] But when we get into the the data that really that matters and we're talking about again

[00:07:38] Maintaining all these things were still with the hey

[00:07:41] We have to maintain a quality force and and we brought in several thousand airmen

[00:07:46] That we're now eligible because of aligning with the Department of Defense policy

[00:07:51] And and we had of all of those thousand I think it was like five thousand over the course of 18 months

[00:07:56] We had one fitness failure out of

[00:07:59] BMT and so the standard didn't change on the fitness program or anything else

[00:08:04] We just suggested that policy with the DOD policy another one we had is we launched a

[00:08:12] THC or a marijuana

[00:08:14] Testing pilot if you will and so obviously when people come in and they go through the applicant processing

[00:08:20] They are drug tested and if they were to show positive for only again now only THC or you know marijuana

[00:08:28] Depending on the quality of the applicant

[00:08:30] We would allow them to retest in 90 days and and here is why I think that policy is

[00:08:36] Understandably makes sense over three dozen states in the United States have a variant of legalized

[00:08:42] marijuana and so if you are someone that is unfamiliar with military service and may not realize that

[00:08:49] Drug use is absolutely incompatible with military service

[00:08:53] Sometimes there is that you know you actually have to stop starting on the application process and that brought in several hundred

[00:09:01] Again quality we do we do academic testing as well, and they have to meet very very high standards

[00:09:07] And then they have to test you know negative before they actually get into that full application process

[00:09:12] So, you know again, it's it was an adjustment

[00:09:15] I think that's I would qualify that more as part of an education

[00:09:19] Because the number the number one issue for our recruiting and honestly joint recruiting

[00:09:25] We all testified to the Senate Armed Services Committee last year what the number one challenge is and it is a lack of familiarity

[00:09:32] With the military in America, and so that I would qualify as one of those

[00:09:38] Barriers or policy adjustments that gets to address, you know that maybe they didn't know that so

[00:09:44] So that was another one another policy that was adjusted

[00:09:49] In January of just this year

[00:09:51] So we used to have to require if you were not a US citizen and you can list in our or so

[00:09:57] If you are not a US citizen, but you are a legal permanent resident and hold that type of visa

[00:10:01] The pre-existing rules on that was you had to have a 10-year visa from the age of 14 or beyond and the logic on that

[00:10:09] Understandably kind of made sense because you can get someone probably through their entire first enlistment and their visa doesn't expire

[00:10:16] But again that was in that was an internal policy

[00:10:19] I lined it with the DOD policy and and and that is now a two-year visa

[00:10:24] That is out there again to garner talent and and that was really done to also align with a policy that we put in place

[00:10:31] late last summer which was accelerated naturalization and so now if you are interested in becoming a US citizen

[00:10:38] You can apply for accelerated naturalization while you're going through basic military training when you complete successfully the basic military training process

[00:10:47] And your application and all the qualifications to be naturalized are complete

[00:10:53] You will be naturalized as a US citizen just shortly after graduation of BMT, which is about a seven-week process

[00:10:59] So that's really fast and what we found is that you now have the opportunity

[00:11:04] If you have one of these two-year visas that you can also just mirror into the accelerated naturalization process and

[00:11:10] And so I know I've said a lot and so let me pause there and just but those are some of the things from the policy side

[00:11:16] I would like to shift to we looked last summer actually about early fall on

[00:11:24] revamping our training and

[00:11:26] understanding where we had some manpower shortages and

[00:11:29] Filling those and then really getting what we call back to the basics and training and that was also

[00:11:35] instrumental in in us

[00:11:37] Making goal right out the gate in in 2024. I love that the naturalized citizen

[00:11:43] adjustment, I'm one my neighbor

[00:11:46] immigrated I think two years ago and

[00:11:51] He is in the process of of enlisting and that was a program that he spoke about it was news to me

[00:11:57] But Jen I think we have time for one more question. Do you want to do you want to grab it?

[00:12:00] Yeah, this was great

[00:12:02] I just want to say like I love, you know

[00:12:04] When you're thinking about it from a pipeline and recruiting standpoint to make the numbers just really looking to tie it back to corporate America

[00:12:10] Looking at what are the policies? What are the screening requirements?

[00:12:13] Like what makes sense and changing them?

[00:12:16] And I just think that's fantastic. It was really awesome to hear one thing we were talking about when we are in the

[00:12:23] green room was about how

[00:12:25] The Air Force and really just across the board you involve

[00:12:29] Everyone in part of the recruiting process, which is not always as common in corporate America

[00:12:36] So maybe could you talk to a little bit about how that happens and how that?

[00:12:41] You know ties in when everyone is involved and not just a handful of people in recruiting absolutely

[00:12:46] And that was also last fall. We had a very very big campaign

[00:12:51] Called tell your story tell your Air Force story tell your Space Force story and so we really have done outreach

[00:12:58] To every airman and guardian at all ranks regardless of their affiliation to active duty guard or reserve

[00:13:05] To tell your story get out into the community

[00:13:08] I tell everyone not just the recruiters that work for me

[00:13:11] You need to have a two-minute ten-minute twenty minute and thirty minute version of who you are

[00:13:16] Why you chose to join the world's greatest Air Force or Space Force and

[00:13:20] What you do and what you like about it, you know, why do you stay and and so that's how we really have

[00:13:26] Ulstered, you know our entirety of our Air Force and Space Force and

[00:13:30] Challenge them and really said hey every airman and guardian you are a recruiter

[00:13:34] And again if I go back to that lack of familiarity

[00:13:38] Being the number one challenge

[00:13:39] This is where you have the grassroots campaign where you don't have to go in and say hey

[00:13:43] I'm here for a recruiting visit it may be hey

[00:13:46] I'm gonna go speak at my kids school this week and tell them or there's times that I'm in a grocery store

[00:13:51] And I may be in my uniform and I'll see somebody look at me and if you know if they make eye contact

[00:13:57] I'll say hello. How you doing and normally then they'll ask I see you're in the military and I go yeah

[00:14:01] I am I'm in the Air Force and this is what I've done

[00:14:04] You know, I flew to the airplanes for almost 20 years of my 28 year career

[00:14:08] And I do recruiting now and then see if they want to have a conversation and sometimes you know

[00:14:13] Recruiting is not about hey, you should come into the Air Force right? It's asking the question with people going

[00:14:19] what do you want to do what do you want to do with your life and

[00:14:22] Let me give you some

[00:14:24] opportunities

[00:14:25] Understand who our community and culture is because we are a family and if you want to do something

[00:14:31] I guarantee you I'll say up to probably 99.9 percent if there's a job in the civilian world

[00:14:37] We have it in our Air Force and Space Force and so now you have that opportunity to get a skill

[00:14:42] There's a lot of benefits that come with it education

[00:14:46] continuing education

[00:14:47] medical but also

[00:14:49] You get this community and family even though we move every three or four years

[00:14:54] You fall in on a new family and they're ready to receive you when it's happening

[00:14:58] I think that's a little bit different than corporate America

[00:15:00] But also I get to the purpose and that's really you know

[00:15:05] We do these jobs and they are you know, they are skill sets

[00:15:08] But they're really done so that we can make sure that our nation is safe and that our national interests are insured

[00:15:16] Awesome. Thank you so much for explaining that walking through corporate America

[00:15:21] Those of you who are listening

[00:15:24] Have a look at our friends in the in the military

[00:15:27] What they're doing the thoughtfulness

[00:15:30] It's just beyond it to be on the pale. So thank you and keep me out of a cockpit because it will not end well

[00:15:41] It's really really good hey, can I add just one thing?

[00:15:44] I think you said it was keep me out of a cockpit

[00:15:46] But you know one of those things beyond just telling your stories

[00:15:50] we have incentives for folks to go out and

[00:15:52] We'll give them up to two weeks of we call it permissive TDY

[00:15:55] So it's it's like two weeks of time off

[00:15:58] You don't get additional pay for it

[00:15:59] But it's two weeks of free leave if you will to go back to your town and meet up with a recruiter and help them with events

[00:16:06] So, you know again

[00:16:07] These are incentives that are out there

[00:16:09] Especially if you're very young and you don't have a lot of leave built up and and it just resonates

[00:16:14] And so those are the kind of things that we have out there where we utilize the entirety of our service

[00:16:19] To go tell our story Wow

[00:16:21] And then you're only gonna have the most passionate ones who are gonna say that's me. I want to do that

[00:16:28] Fantastic huge. Thank you. This was amazing and thank you for your service and this is just

[00:16:34] This is fantastic. So a lot lots lots to learn hope everyone enjoyed and

[00:16:39] Enjoy the rest of the day Steven Jeanette. Thank you for the opportunity today. Thank you general out here cheers