Rethinking Recruitment: Partnerships and Strategies

Recruitment planning should begin far before recruitment itself. Recruitment for the next cohort should start before or directly after the current cohort completes orientation or Mental Toughness.

The Power of Partnerships

Community Partners

Community partners can include other youth-serving organizations, apprenticeship sponsors, employers, trade associations, unions, American Job Centers, local courts and justice institutions, existing program partners, and local community leaders and public service providers. Program strategies may include the following:

• Ask partners to post a flyer, repost a social media message, or refer young people directly to your program.
• During Mental Toughness or orientation, identify ways you can invite recruitment partners to engage in programmatic activities (i.e. career exploration, mentoring, life skills building activities, etc.).
• During active programming, you can identify a variety of opportunities to engage community partners:
  • Monthly or quarterly community meetings that partners can attend to meet the YouthBuild program staff and youth participants to see firsthand how their investment in the YouthBuild program as partners is helping youth and the community;
  • Service-learning projects with youth participants;
  • Opportunities for work experience, such as on-the-job training, job shadowing, or mentoring; and
  • Referral services to community partners providing such support. 

Alumni as Partners

The strongest advocates and source of promotion for the YouthBuild program are the young people who have completed the program successfully and are thriving in their lives beyond YouthBuild. A strong alumni network is a key recruitment ingredient, both because it encourages former participants to stay engaged with the program and because it allows current participants to envision their own success.

Successful YouthBuild participants will be more likely to tell all of their friends about the amazing experience they just had and how good they feel about the next step in their lives, as well as the continuing support they receive from the program in their follow-up year. They will share this news with family members, friends, postsecondary classmates, and coworkers. In order to successfully recruit young people, it is crucial that the young people who are participating in the program and transitioning out of the program are seen as partners in recruitment as they are the living representation of your program model and outcomes.

Social Media

Many young people learn about opportunities through social media. Similarly local businesses, community partners, and education and employment partners will all likely have a social media presence on major platforms. Therefore, it is vital that during the recruitment process, the YouthBuild program creates relevant and appropriate messaging that can be shared with the right partner and via the right platform to best engage partners and young people. Good content is visual. Share photos and highlight real success stories of participants and alumni. Before posting good news with any identifying information, ask participants if the program can share their first name and photo. It is a best practice to document this through a photo release. If a participant is under 18, you should ask a parent or guardian to sign the photo release. Find a model you can use under Sections of a Case File and Sample Documents. Case managers can include a photo release form in case files.

Learn more: Developing Strategic Recruitment Techniques for a Successful YouthBuild Program

Face to Face Recruitment

In addition to recruiting via social media platforms, in-person contact is critical. Set up days and times for program recruitment staff and a few young leaders from the program to visit partner sites to speak to young people who might be interested in enrolling in the YouthBuild program. Hold open houses or information sessions in-house, at public libraries, and at public events where young people or members of their family and community can learn about the program. Make sure other youth-serving, nonprofit, and social service organizations in your area are aware of the resources YouthBuild can provide. 

Partnerships and activities are important, and it is integral to have a timeline and a strategy for who will be handling the program’s recruitment efforts, who the staff will be engaging outside of the organization, the methods of engagement, whether in-person or virtual, and of course, clear recruitment goals and benchmarks for success.

• Last Updated:
• Created:
• Posted by: Lisa Reddy
• Posted in: YouthBuild