How do I complete step 3?

Step 3: Begin Outreach and Recruitment

This step is broken into the following four segments:

1. Develop a list of recruitment sources. For each source, identify a contact person, mailing address, telephone number, and email address.
2. Use the OA’s Universal Outreach Tool to develop this list.
3. Keep your recruitment-source list updated.
4. Send notices of all openings to your recruitment-source list.

1. Develop a list of recruitment sources

For each source, identify a contact person, mailing address, telephone number, and email address. 

• Here are examples of the kinds of recruitment sources that adult RAPs use. Programs for out-of-school youth can use these as well:
  The public workforce system’s One-Stop Career Centers
• Local workforce investment boards
• Community-based organizations
• Community colleges
• Vocational, career, and technical schools
• Pre-apprenticeship programs
• Federally funded youth job-training programs such as YouthBuild and Job Corps

Schools will want to identify places within their walls where students will seek information on these kinds of opportunities. These could include:

• Career engagement centers, career counselors' offices, and guidance offices
• School entryways / bulletin boards / virtual displays
• Student common areas

2. Use the OA Universal Outreach Tool

Your task will be much easier if you use OA’s Universal Outreach Tool to begin to develop your list of recruitment sources. A tutorial for using this tool can be found at the link below.

Click here to access the OA Universal Outreach Tool Tutorial.

This tool opens on a clickable map that allows sponsors to quickly locate recruitment sources in their area. The tool draws from a database that contains all American Job Centers, all community colleges, YWCAs, Goodwill programs, and many others, that work with local communities and diverse populations. Some of these organizations focus on specific populations, such as women, African Americans, the Asian community, or individuals with disabilities, while others serve the general public. These organizations may be able to help sponsors publicize apprenticeship openings and refer potential candidates.

Here’s an example of one view of the results from a search conducted using the Universal Outreach Tool. 

And here is an example of the spreadsheet results you can get using the Universal Outreach Tool. Ta-da! Your list of recruitment sources! 

You will also need to refine your list. Although it will be a very helpful, great start, the list that you will get from using the Universal Outreach Tool is not going to be perfect. (Far from it!) The GIGO principle ("garbage in, garbage out") applies to this tool with a vengeance: all the errors in the websites from which the tool pulls its data will appear on your list. Also, the tool is supposed to be updated regularly, but the people updating it are only human. So be sure to review the list that the tool produces for you for errors (especially in the contact information). In addition to correcting errors, delete programs that you know are not likely to reach or lead you to potential apprentices (for example, an association of Hispanic doctors in a community). And—more importantly—add programs that do not appear on the list that are likely to reach or lead you to potential apprentices.

Special note for in-school youth apprenticeships:
You don’t need to develop a list of recruitment sources in your recruitment area using the Universal Outreach Tool if your program is open only to, say, juniors and seniors in one or more local high schools. For you, it is the population of those juniors and seniors that is your “recruitment area,” and you could give them all notice of openings in your program simply by mailing or emailing written notices of openings to all rising juniors and seniors at those schools. Of course, you’ll need to get the schools’ cooperation—perhaps you can add your notice to any other communications that they send at the beginning of the school year.

If you can’t send notices directly to the entire eligible population, you will need to develop a list of recruitment sources that reach these students. The guidance counselors at all the high schools from which you recruit, and the school LISTSERVs that the students and their parents use, should be on your recruitment-source list. In addition, are there student clubs you can send notices to? School teams?

3. Keep your recruitment-source list updated

Develop a procedure for updating your recruitment-source list at least once a year. If you are using the Universal Outreach Tool, be sure to rerun it each year. And, of course, again refine your list to make it accurate and to reflect your program’s context.

4. Send notices of all openings to your recruitment-source list

This is, of course, the reason for making a list of recruitment sources in the first place: to use it to inform them of program openings so that they, in turn, can identify candidates, notify them of openings, and refer them to you if they are interested.

Notification by email is sufficient.

Use your list every time you have an opening. Send the notices preferably 30 days before the application deadline.

The OA recommends that these notices include the following information:

• Availability of specific apprenticeship opportunities
• Requirements for apprentice selection
• Application procedures

And they must include the Equal Opportunity Pledge, as follows:

[Name of sponsor] will not discriminate against apprenticeship applicants or apprentices based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), sexual orientation, genetic information, or because they are an individual with a disability or a person 40 years old or older. [Name of sponsor] will take affirmative action to provide equal opportunity in apprenticeship and will operate the apprenticeship program as required under Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations, part 30.

Your next step

At the end of each of the five steps, we will ask you to record your next step using prompts from the course expert. Why? So you can walk away from this course with tangible things you need to do next. You can either record your answers for step 3:

• In this Road Map,
• Right within Canvas by clicking TAKE THE SURVEY,
• Or both!