How do we get Civilian Supporters, Recruiters, and Military Family Members more involved on RallyPoint?

2015-11-21T09:55:55-05:00

How do we get Civilian Supporters, Recruiters, and Military Family Members more involved on RallyPoint?

We have a lot of Civilian Supports (Corporations, Non-Profit Organizations, and Businesses); Civilian Recruiters (from various corporations and businesses) on RallyPoint today, as well as Military Family Members. Some advertise to support this site and I salute them, but is there more that can be done on RallyPoint?

RP Members what are your suggestions to get Civilian Supporters; Recruiters; and Military Family Members more invovled in helping veterans and providing more job opportunities and services?

Think outside the box!

Response by MAJ Alvin B. made Nov 21 at 2015 9:59 AM

2015-11-21T09:59:37-05:00

Communicate and market the fact that they are eligible to join. Add topics that might appeal to them,- relocation, surviving the deployment, education options, support group links, etc.

Poll the current members to see what they would like.

Ensure they (actually all) are welcome to post and comment.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 21 at 2015 10:11 AM

2015-11-21T10:11:59-05:00

COL Mikel J. Burroughs, I see too much unprofessional conduct on RP for those you mentioned to be interested. There are still too many flame wars. For this site to become more efficient in job opportunities, it will have to come from within RP. For instance, if a RP member sees an article about a company helping or hiring vets, it should be posted. Most of the members I see are looking for a job. We can help each other by looking out for each other. I may get some negative feedback for my post. As long as it stays professional, I don't have a problem with sensible criticism. I'm just as bad as anyone for allowing criticism to offend me. I wouldn't want my friends or family to see a lot of rude expletives addressed to another member. This is a great gathering place for currently serving and vets to exchange ideas and post interesting questions. The trouble makers need to go somewhere else or become more of a team player and leave their negative attitudes and language at the door.

Response by CPT Jack Durish made Nov 21 at 2015 10:14 AM

2015-11-21T10:14:46-05:00

Invite them. I have. I'm talking up RallyPoint to family and friends as well as veterans groups. Just last night I sat next to a USCG Vietnam Veteran and send him on his way with my business card on the back of which I had hand printed the RallyPoint URL.

Response by SFC Eric Williams made Nov 21 at 2015 10:16 AM

2015-11-21T10:16:06-05:00

Why would we encourage turning RP into a Facebook replica?

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Nov 21 at 2015 11:44 AM

2015-11-21T11:44:37-05:00

COL Mikel J. Burroughs since this site is focused on military and veteran issues I think the main focus needs to be on active duty and veteran issues.
Individual civilian supporters seem to be doing quite well and engaging on this site.
Attracting family member is another matter entirely. The language and tone of some discussions has turned existing rallypoint members off and several have left already.
Some of the current corporations and businesses which advertise here make me cringe every time I see them because I have found more than enough disreputable behavior by their employee and management. I know this is a young organization and I hope and pray they will exercise wisdom and discernment in attracting corporations and businesses.

Response by MAJ Hugh Blanchard made Nov 21 at 2015 12:44 PM

2015-11-21T12:44:37-05:00

Yes, volunteer in York County Emergency Management, at my church and in rescuing abandoned dogs. Since my team and I may lose our jobs shortly, I may have a lot more time to volunteer in the days ahead.

Response by SMSgt Tony Barnes made Nov 21 at 2015 1:04 PM

2015-11-21T13:04:08-05:00

We shouldn't

Response by Rhonda Likins made Nov 21 at 2015 4:23 PM

2015-11-21T16:23:07-05:00

Perhaps an admin can set me right, but RP is supposed to be a "LinkedIn" for military personnel (rather than like FB) as LinkedIn is a professional networking site, which by the way does not keep require that you be a civilian to join. There are some interesting military topics that I enjoy reading(Military history, etc), though I feel like many general interest topics/discussions here at RP would never fly over at LinkedIn. Perhaps RP decided to allow civilians so that military personnel about to transition out of the military can make professional contacts for civilian employment, or so that young civilians considering a career in the military can ask experts.

That said couldn't there there be a way to share a link to your LinkedIn profile, on your RP profile, even if for nothing more than the convenience of a click to possibly make a professional connection? Though, LI lately appears to be extremely limited in how much user feedback they consider, so I don't know if they will let users include a link back to your RP profile, which I think might bring more business contacts to RP.

I can only speak for myself as a civilian here. I will try to be a productive member of RP in as much as I ever may be able help someone make a connection that might allow them to find suitable civilian employment.

Response by PO1 John Miller made Nov 24 at 2015 2:47 AM

2015-11-24T02:47:42-05:00

I'm a little late to the party, but all of my concerns have already been hit up.

"Job Seekers" and other non-military affiliated types having full access is not cool.

Response by Cassie M. made Nov 24 at 2015 10:03 PM

2015-11-24T22:03:45-05:00

I am the Daughter to my father who served German War including MP for the Nuremburg Trials. I am the sister to a brother who served in the Vietnam World as a highly decorated Marine. I am the mother of a deceased daughter who's husband, my son in law, who is currently active in Homeland Security and the Coast Guard. So, you ask how you can get us Civilians to come aboard? Don't treat us like the outsiders who have no rights. This is how the Gov may have done you all in your time, yet, on the same hand, we were treated the same way then, and now.!
I came here to find comfort in knowing I was around others who understand our thoughts that we to deal with daily. But to comments like some Ive seen here, we, the Civilians have no place to run. What now ?
I look for the Missing Military of all Branches, and this saddens me. My personal opinion to suggestions on getting CIVILIANS here, treat us with kindness, respect, and understanding. Help us Help you and us understand more than we ever could alone. We might learn something from all sides.
Respectfully I ask.

Response by Chris Cherrington made Nov 27 at 2015 8:43 AM

2015-11-27T08:43:59-05:00

As a military family member with young sons in the Navy and Marines, I find articles in RP very helpful to both my sons and to my own knowledge of military life. They have chosen a military career, and I know one day they will need to transition to a civilian one. So even within my employer, I volunteer to work with veterans and military families to help recruit, train, and assimilate their qualities to my employer's work force. So to answer your question, you have recruited me and other like minded individuals, we just need to find our niche and start to give back to your wonderful community.

Response by Doug Macdonald made Dec 8 at 2015 7:18 PM

2015-12-08T19:18:39-05:00

Don't charge them.

Response by CPT Gurinder (Gene) Rana made Dec 16 at 2015 2:27 AM

2015-12-16T02:27:17-05:00

Leveraging the Civilian Support and the Civilian Recruiter through Rally Point is the way to secure your next career gig.

Response by Katheryn Sato made Dec 16 at 2015 12:47 PM

2015-12-16T12:47:20-05:00

Because of another social liberal president (but not the - just no words) who hurt my family for two lifetimes. An ethnic group both evolved and being so grateful that our country accepted them - they threw themselves into not only becoming as much like other citizens, driven to be productive and willing to die and cause their own families such hurt to go protect this country. I'd do the same. fyi another social liberal who installed things in our Constitution absolutely not wanted and mutually admired by Hitler and Mussolini also absolute believers of social liberalism. Now with one who said in his book "I want to bring this country into par with the rest of the world" I can document crystal clear symptoms of a cruel sociopath but it would go on - my life twice seriously damaged by true believer social liberals iff Fascits in spirit and exact translation. Because of things I experienced as a young young child - I revere life - the life of >315 million good people - oh yes I'm involved and would do anything to protect a kind and generous country - one heroic enough to constantly send it's own into danger to help others. Me I spent my entire adult career as a scientist and engineer working sap projects to save our peoples' lives. My desire for a new career is actively in the protection of our citizens against a real threat from a large group who have turned so many into TV demented and violent pre-humans. That hurts. Our black hole economy deliberately created and lied about - I even saw the ACA hurt people personally and directly lowering their ability to have even small luxuries - coincidentally if you track violent crime? That has exploded in a time so short I've never seen anything like it. Deliberately done. I think more bright people understand the manipulation the media creates. I think they'd want to do something. I don't see the terrorist threat becoming really serious for awhile but the grave threat is sure working hard. Many of my friends who represent the brightest, the most courageous warriors (all tail of the curve types) saw this clearly well before I did. I hurts me and I could not live with seeing our people thrown into an undeserved chaos. Yep I'm passionately involved. I happen to love our country and it hurts deeply to see once bright friends becoming deliberately demented and threatening by those interested in greed with no compassion although they frequently use the word - and something I have no adjectives to describe oops mea culpa for the rant but I am in a chronic state of anguish and fear for our people

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Dec 18 at 2015 4:54 PM

2015-12-18T16:54:04-05:00

Going to have to scratch my bald head for a bit on that one. More Involvement would be great. I'll have to get back to you if I have a "Moment" if I can think of something.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 18 at 2015 9:20 PM

2015-12-18T21:20:07-05:00

This is a great question sir, COL Mikel J. Burroughs! I just shared a post about two organizations that have paired together to help Veterans find jobs with one-on-one job coaching. Here's the link (http://www.nextjob.com/scholarships/veterans/). Please pass this along to as many Vets as possible. There are roughly 50 scholarships still available!

NextJob

Everyone who wants a job should have a job.

Response by MAJ Hugh Blanchard made Jan 1 at 2016 12:46 PM

2016-01-01T12:46:57-05:00

We can strive to be relevant to the needs and issues that affect our military and their families. A great majority of the forces are married, unlike times past, and family issues are hugely important to keeping our best service members in the force. Any leader who ignores family issues will soon encounter problems and start losing their best people.

Response by Cathy Suarez made Jan 22 at 2016 11:00 AM

2016-01-22T11:00:13-05:00

I am in recruiting and found this site," by accident." I was googling a potential civilian candidate and saw that she's on here. Until now, I've been using Linkedin to connect to military candidates. Maybe if you had a group there focused on employment, or a way to share in addition to the FB and Twitter sharing capability, that would get more recruiters involved.

Response by SGT David Ewers made Jan 29 at 2016 8:11 AM

2016-01-29T08:11:18-05:00

My company actually has a group of former military that work with our recruiting department, I'm one of them. I reached out to the RallyPoint team to see about claiming our company's page and was given a pretty steep price. We'd love to post information about workshops and recruiting efforts but the cost to claim our company page was just a little too high for our budget. LinkedIn fits more within our budget. Posting job information in the general forums just doesn't have the same appeal to me, this is our site and I enjoy reading the posts and articles from current and former military members, why clutter it up with ads and posts that are not relevant to us? I think keeping the postings isolated to the company pages would be much better and keep the forums more interesting.

Response by Brittany Harmon made Feb 2 at 2016 10:02 PM

2016-02-02T22:02:44-05:00

I have personally never heard of this website until today. My husband served 6 years in the Army National Guard. If I had known there was this kind of support system, I would have joined a long time ago. I would suggest placing some promotions on Facebook to spread the word.

Response by SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL made Mar 19 at 2022 10:51 AM

2022-03-19T10:51:18-04:00

Thanks for sharing.