Recruiters adapt to COVID-19 pandemic

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By ELAINE MALLON
Capital News Service  

LANSING — With 16 high schools and one college in Staff Sgt. Heather Dake’s territory 

in Sault Ste. Marie, the Army National Guard recruiter looked for innovative ways to find recruits. 

Lacking her traditional access to high schools due to online classes, Dake turned to her 16-year-old son for guidance in reaching his peers. 

“During this time while they’re all online, I’m like ‘Oh, how am I going to do this?’” Dake said. “My oldest son had mentioned, ‘Well, you know you have the armory and you have your office why don’t we try to get your current soldiers and your current recruits to bring in leads throughout the day.’” 

The plan was for Dake’s recruits to contact their friends and peers and bring them to the armory. At the armory, the leads would work on homework and participated in a simulated weapon firing system. 

Dake taught the leads how the entire training system operated and watched as they relaxed. 

“In one of my informal appointments, I wasn’t in uniform,” Dake said. “One of the leads sat down with me and said, ‘You’re the recruiter?’ He’s like ‘You’d be surprised how many of us don’t talk to recruiters because they’re intimidating.’”

She said, “I actually learned more about recruiting and myself by bringing these kids in here like that.”

According to Lt. Col. Alex Garn, recruiting retention battalion commander, recruiters have adapted well to the new envirnoment. 

“We had the highest number of recruits for March, so we outpaced ourselves (over) last March, which was really the beginning of the pandemic,” Garn said. And the number of Michigan National Guard applicants this March was higher than in March 2019, a year before the pandemic hit.

“That’s good news,” Garn said. “It shows that things are trending upwards in the right direction.”

In addition to an uptick to recruits, Garn said that the retention rate remains high as well. He attributes it to current events resulting in more real-world missions for soldiers. 

“They’re knowing they’re having an impact on protecting the homeland and really helping out in this crisis — in this situation to make things better,” he said.

In spite of current hindrances to traditional recruiting methods, the Air National Guard is also boasting record numbers. 

According to Senior Master Sgt. Kevin Shirkey, recruitment numbers in the 2020 fiscal year exceeded those in 2019.

And 2021 is on track to do the same,” he said. 

“Even with the pandemic going on, our recruiters rose to the challenge and found success,” Shirkey said “We’re able to hone in on folks that we’re looking to add to our ranks.”

In the past, in addition to attending schools and public events, recruiters relied on what is called “area prospecting.” the technique of picking an area which is frequented by a recruiter’s targeted audience.

“It’s time-consuming,” Garn said. “Some of these recruiters have anywhere from two or three ZIP codes — up to 12 ZIP codes — so the geographic dispersion in their areas is gigantic.:

“They also have some that are very dense population areas, and they just can’t get to all four corners of their area,” he said.

Realizing that much of their target audience is online, many recruiters have turned to social media sites like Facebook and Instagram. 

Shirkey said, “Without actually being able to have face-to-face contact, using virtual platforms has really expanded our recruiting efforts and has been able to garner us the outcomes that we’ve been looking for.”

The use of social media isn’t a new recruitment method, but has expanded since the pandemic began.

Two years ago, Airman 1st Class Silvana Palazzolo, of Macomb County, was scrolling through her Facebook feed when she saw an ad that would change her life. 

At the time, Palazzolo was a student at Macomb Community College and worked part time waiting on tables. When she saw the advertisement for the Air National Guard, she said she felt the opportunity calling to her — an opportunity to help pay for college and to learn technical skills.

Like the potential recruits who visited Dake’s armory in Sault Ste. Marie, Palazzolo said she felt nervous and was happy that her initial encounter was virtual. 

“When going into a recruiter’s office, most people don’t really know what to expect,” Palazzolo said. “I feel through online services you have more time to come up with questions and to think things through. It gives yourself that time to kind of reflect.”

Garn said he recognizes the success of online advertisement, and said that Michigan National Guard is creating video and online ad content featuring landmarks in the state. 

“To see stuff that’s from Detroit or to see some new buildings from Grand Rapids, people can connect and relate military service to their hometown because that’s truly what the National Guard is all about,” Garn said. 

“Anytime we can highlight that in a commercial or video and show people what guardsmen do in Michigan that’s going to help our cause,” he said.

While the ability to serve Michigan attracts many to enlist in the Guard, Garn said many are intrigued by the tuition assistance offered. Garn said that was an opportunity he took advantage of. 

“It’s literally changed my life,” Garn said. “Serving with folks from all over the world, all over the country, the places I’ve been able to travel and all the educational opportunities.

“I’ve earned an undergraduate degree. I’ve got an MBA from the Ross School of Business (at the University of Michigan), and I have another graduate degree that I earned here in the military. It has all been free. I haven’t had to pay a cent.”,” he said.

While online advertising has continued to help recruiters, Dake said she’s found a great deal of success from word of mouth.

“Every recruiter has their own technique of how they talk about the Guard, and to me it’s all about the family — family and trust,” Dake said. “It is all about taking care of the Army family that I generate. 

“That’s huge to me, so that’s why they would come in,” Dake said. “That’s why my troops would help me. In our community, in the National Guard it’s because we’re a family.” 

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