EFFECTIVE RECRUITING AND PLACING METHODS OF CAMPUS COMPACT AMERICORPS*VISTAS Jonathan Romm, NC Campus Compact VISTA Director March 16 th, 2010

Relevant Statistical Overview of NC Campus Compact’s AmeriCorps*VISTA Program  30 VISTAs at 29 different Institutions  ~95% Retention Rate/Completion Rate  100% of COSers employed or in graduate school within 6 months  Over 70% of current VISTAs attended a member institution  2009 Recruitment: 175+ applicants, 100 phone interviews, $650+ in phone bills.  2010 Recruitment (to date): 110 applicants, 40 interviews, $17 in phone bills

VISTA Recruitment  Current VISTAs are the best marketing tool.  They are the ones on the ground with the experience to share with potential candidates  Good stewardship of current VISTAs and project sites with orientations, trainings, and ending with a banquet – give them a good experience and they will stay or be your best recruiter for the position  Recruit quality, current students - they know them better than you (?), staff (?), and faculty (?)  Know what it takes to “Get It Done.”

VISTA Recruitment  AmeriCorps Website (interviewees, 96% stated so)  Idealist (weak, less than 2% last year)  National Campus Compact (no stats to reflect effectiveness)  Your website – KEY – Thank you Mrs. Leslie Garvin  You want technologically savvy volunteers, market to them – put information online.  Place the VAD for each site on their website  Current VISTA contact information – delegate  Hyperlinks to the Campus  Google map of locations – let the geography lend a hand in the marketing.  Executive director, Dr. Lisa Keyne, is always looking to increase member benefits – VISTA is a wonderful benefit!

Pros and Cons of Recruitment to Date  Filled all CNCS slots  Quality candidates – majority of campuses are pursuing reenrollment  Having incentives – assistance with room and board is huge  ~10% of VISTAs are males  ~15% are minorities  National recruitment, but majority from member campuses  Heavily reliant on AmeriCorps.gov ProsCons

Questions?

VISTA Application Process – don’t let it keep you up at night!!!  AmeriCorps Website – ask for CV/résumé to be sent to you  Review of applications submitted online  In general, immediate rejection of 40%  Initial phone/Skype interview with NC Campus Compact  Second phone interview with project sites  Project site contact references  Offer “balance game”

Application Timeline: (Note, the majority of members are brought on during the July PSO)  January 15 th - Open AmeriCorps website  February 2 nd - First round of phone interviews with NC Campus Compact  February 19 th – Signed MOA from project sites  March 1 st – Project sites receive first packet of candidates  March – May 15 th – NC Campus Compact and project sites are conducting phone interviews and placing VISTAs  May 15 th - VISTA enrollment documentation is being sent to State Office  July 15 th (ish) PSO in Atlanta, GA  Following Thursday VISTA & Supervisor Orientation at NC Campus Compact

eGrants  Order of Events 1. Educational Requirement – Attained Bachelor’s Degree 2. Motivational Statement Keys – a. Interested in serving on a college campus b. Show higher level of service (watch for key words: engagement, reflection, direct/indirect service, etc.) c.Passion of Service 3. Community Service a. Track record – watch for attention span b. Variety of service or deepening of one theme c.Indirect service a plus (they will be going from “client” to “provider”) 4. Previous Experience a. Student Leadership/Resident Assistant b. Service Track record – watch for attention span c. Higher level of service involvement 5. Reference – can make or break an applicant

NC Campus Compact Interview  Live by Microsoft Outlook for interviews  Print & review résumé & application and staple interview questions (forthcoming)  30 minute interview with 15 minute review  Skype has the potential to save us $500 this year

Campus Interviews  Application Packets – Résumé, AmeriCorps application and other  It’s like the NBA draft: teams (campuses) are looking for the best players (applicants) so the best ones* can go quick – relay this to campuses with the caveat that we are still accepting applications  Sample questions to campuses to assist them  Send out clusters of applicants to campuses

The Balancing Act  Live by the spreadsheet. I track:  # of applicants/campus, # of campus/applicants  Status of each applicant at campus – interviewed, declined interview, offer, offer accepted, etc.  Status - Applicants who remove themselves from the pool  You are the communication conduit between project sites and applicants  Offers – two days to accept early on, 24 hours later in the game

Questions I think I’d rather recruit VISTAs…