Step 4 – Solicit Ambassadors
As part of your communication plan from Step 3, develop a marketing strategy to solicit management and staff participation in ongoing and future recruitment opportunities by encouraging them to participate in your organization's CAP. A strong marketing campaign with pertinent information as to what role they will play and what their responsibilities will be is the key to a successful rollout of the program. Determine how you are going to train your Career Ambassadors to set them and your CAP up for success.
Below are some points to consider when customizing your marketing messages to managers and employees to encourage them to become Career Ambassadors for your organization.
Develop your marketing campaign and decide what to include in your messaging:
- When developing a marketing campaign ensure you are attracting managers and employees to participate in the program. Key messaging should cover any frequently asked questions that may arise. Encourage participation in the program by promoting that CAP activities are a fun and exciting way to expand an organization's outreach scope.
- Key points to cover in your marketing strategy may include:
- Marketing to employees the personal benefits of participating in the program (i.e. employee engagement, work experience that looks good on a resume, and making a difference at your organization).
- Strong appeal to Subject Matter Experts from mission critical classifications to participate so that they can help attract the most qualified applicants to your organization.
- If they may be partnered with a Human Resources representative who can explain the civil service hiring process, make sure they know their role may be limited to what it's like to work in their particular area of the organization.
- Training on the state hiring process and how to conduct outreach may be provided to all program participants.
- This will be especially important if your organization isn't able to partner your Career Ambassadors with a Human Resources representative who can explain the civil service hiring process and navigate the Cal Careers website.
- Recruiting the next generation of employees is vital to the organization and the state as a whole.
- Outreach related to this program is done on state time and not on employee's personal time.
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Per Diem and travel expenses will be paid by the employer.
- Participation in CAP supports the organization's mission and goals.
- Time away from the office is minimal for employees participating in CAP.
- Employee participation in CAP is subject to supervisor's approval.
- Encouragement for Managers to allow their employees to participate as a way to positively influence future candidate pools.
Deliver your key messages effectively:
- Develop recruitment collateral to announce your organization's CAP. Ensure information in the collateral contains why this recruitment program is important to the employee, the management team, and the organization. Collateral may include a:
- Memo from your organization's director, executive sponsor, or Human Resources manager to employees and/or their managers highlighting the importance of participation in the program.
- Email from an employee's division chief and/or manager encouraging employees to be a part of CAP.
- Flyer or marketing brochure to announce and promote your organization's CAP.
- Webpage on your organization's intranet providing information about CAP and encouraging employees to participate.
Raise awareness and promote your program post-launch:
Develop selection criteria for participation in your CAP:
- The goal of defining the selection criteria for Career Ambassadors is to set clear expectations. A robust selection process is a vital part of any good recruitment process. Tailor your organization's selection criteria based on your recruitment goals. Work with your Human Resources team to determine the appropriate selection criteria for participants and identify who in the organization it would be most appropriate to make any selection determinations. Some possible selection criteria to consider are that employees be in good standing and secure their supervisors' approval prior to asking to participate.
- Develop a survey that solicits employee participation in the CAP. Survey results will assist your organization in matching employees with focused recruitment events. An
example survey has been provided. To assist your organization with matching Career Ambassadors to focused recruitment events, survey questions should gather the following information:
- Employee's name
- Classification and working title
- University or college attended
- Degree and concentration information
- Clubs, organizations, and professional societies the employee is associated with
- Specific demographic group(s) on which the employee is interested in focusing (i.e. veterans, persons with disabilities, women, ethnicities, occupation-specific, geographical region, educational institutions, etc.)
Create tracking methodology for Career Ambassadors:
- From the survey results, develop a spreadsheet that tracks employees interested in serving as Career Ambassadors. Your CAP Program Owner can then reference this spreadsheet when seeking the appropriate Career Ambassadors to assist with focused recruitment events. Customize your spreadsheet headers to coincide with the questions on the interest survey referenced in the bullet above.
In tandem with your marketing efforts and to continue your efforts to build awareness about your CAP, determine how you will train your Career Ambassadors.
To ensure your organization's Career Ambassadors are effective in outreach efforts and are confident in the information and message they are charged with delivering, offer training for them to set them up for success. Consider whether the scope of your CAP may be best suited by offering training on an annual, bi-annual, or as needed basis. If Career Ambassadors are partnered with Human Resources representatives at outreach events, formal training may not be needed. Your organization's training may include:
- Understanding the state hiring process
- Unique selling points of the organization and the State of California as an employer of choice
- Career opportunities at your organization
- Role of Career Ambassador
Understanding the State hiring process
Information regarding the State hiring process training may include:
- The three step process for obtaining a state job – search for career opportunities, take an assessment, and apply for vacancies
- How to navigate the CalCareers website, how to set up an account and complete an application
- Understanding the difference between an assessment bulletin and a job announcement
- Veterans Preference – who is eligible and how does it work
- Limited Examination and Appointment Program (LEAP) - alternate testing method for persons with a disability
- Tailoring a state application to the vacancy announcement and duty statement
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Online tutorial videos showing commonly used features on CalCareers website
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Frequently asked questions about the state hiring process
CalHR's
"How to Begin Your State Career" presentation covers all of the information above, and can be customized to fit your organization's needs.
Unique Selling Points of your Organization and State Government
In addition to marketing the attributes that make the State of California an employer of choice, your organization should also consider the unique selling points that make it an attractive place to work. Furthermore, the state has key attributes that make it the premier employer. Below are examples of unique selling points Career Ambassadors can discuss when informing job seekers about career opportunities at their organization and with the state.
Consider which of the following to include for your organization:
- Mission statement, Vision Statement, and Core Values
- Every state organization has an incredibly compelling mission that can be a very effective recruitment tool
- The organization's Vision Statement and Core Values can be very useful in describing the organizational culture
- Free parking, or parking available nearby
- Close to public transportation, local eateries, and/or city landmark (parks, arena, river, etc.)
- Onsite cafeteria, gym, and/or daycare
- Flexible working hours (alternate work week schedules, flex time, telecommute, etc.)
- Career advancement opportunities and/or other learning opportunities (mentoring, job shadowing, or job rotation programs)
- Organizational commitment to professional development (training, possible reimbursement for job-related education)
Example Unique Selling Points for the State of California:
- Health, dental and vision benefits
- CalPERS retirement
- 401(k) and 457(b) optional savings plans
- Accrue leave benefits (sick, vacation, annual, personal development days, and holidays)
- Purposeful work
- Work-life balance
- Public Service Loan Forgiveness
Career Opportunities
Ensure you provide your Career Ambassadors with classifications they should promote at recruitment events. Information about salary, minimum qualifications, career ladders, and current vacancies is important for your Career Ambassadors to have when conducting outreach. To determine which classifications your organization may want to concentrate on, consider occupational groups that are difficult to find strong candidates for, the areas of your organization you may be expending higher level of resources to source candidates for, or classifications in which your organization seeks to increase its diversity. Work closely with your Human Resources team to ensure your recruitment efforts align with your organizational data. For additional information, please see the following reports on the CalHR website:
Census of Employees
Women's Earnings in State Civil Service
Departmental Civil Service Demographic Statistical Reports
Statewide Civil Service Demographic Statistical Reports
For an example of a very comprehensive Career Ambassador training, please see
SMUD's
Career Ambassador Toolkit. This toolkit provides SMUD's Career Ambassadors with everything they need to know to effectively represent SMUD at a variety of educational institutions. Another resource available to you is the
Institute for Local Government. Their online resources provide information on how to connect with the next generation of employees and how to engage youth about careers in public service.