Want to Recruit the Best? The U.S. Army Is Doing This. (But You Should Probably Do the Opposite)

I am an Army recruiter right now and I can tell you that we do compete with our current economy and school system. Everyone's numbers will be different depending on where they are recruiting. Where I recruit we lose a lot of individuals to college, because the local college has the largest student body in the nation. We do however thrive in lower income areas, like much of the rest of USAREC. Believe it or not, the military has, is and will get the leftovers from individuals who don't pursue a higher education. Society tells kids that college is the answer for after high school and anything less is a failure. That is the way our society is wired. Until that thought process changes, the military will continue to compete with colleges and the economy. Our nation views the military as a last option and if you join, you couldn't make it in college. Of course that is false, but that is the reality of our society's thought process.

I spent four years Recruiting in Massachusetts in it's more rural areas. What worked for me was knowing the area and opportunities available to the prospects. This allowed me to lay out future financials and potential for them in order to determine what they wanted(using sites like Glass Door and others). This allowed them to see what they could make if they just went to the workforce vs. College+Reserves vs. Active duty. That's just one of the things I did right and many more things but, the most important that worked for me and any successful Recruiter has to be to NEVER COMPROMISE YOUR INTEGRITY. In this technological age if you lie to a prospect or applicant, they'll just go home look it up and come back t ok call you a liar right before they head into the next Recruiters office. Along with that someone who has a bad experience will tell anyone who will listen, someone wh ok has a good experience will only tell those closest to them. If you see what I'm getting at? I wasn't successful by playing the system I was successful because of how I interacted with each person and their willingness to spread the word of their positive experience when we were done.