ECOS Executive Team Fall Planning Retreat

Meeting Report

 

The ECOS Executive Team meet at Menucha on October 11-12, 1999 for a fall planning retreat.  Participants included:  Patti Swanson - Eastwind Center, Jess Kappel - Vocational Rehabilitation, Sharron Kelley and Robert Trachtenberg - Multnomah County Board of Commissioners, Suanne Jackson and Kristin Wolff - worksystems inc., Mary Kowalsky and Gwen Nothwang - MHCC, Karen Cusick, Dave Allen, and Sue Taylor - Employment Department, Joanne Espinosa - Springdale Job Corps, Carolyn Morrison - Childcare Support Services, Claudia King and Helen Estrada - Human Solutions, Kelly Carroll - Adult Community Justice/Parole and Probation,  Charlotte Dorsey - Colormyweb, webmaster, Lorena Campbell - East County Caring Community, and facilitator - Joan Pasco.

 

Opening Exercise: 

East County One Stop:  What is it and what does it mean to you?

 

·        Opportunity to work together

·        Relationships - two systems working in concert  -- workforce and social services

·        There are no silver bullets left.  Lots of issues and we need to work together to solve problems

·        Hard for individuals to survive economically - ECOS offers an opportunity to look at the issues facing individuals and what systemic issues can be negotiated  -- together, as a team, to improve the life situations of the people we serve

·        ECOS offers the customer good/efficient referral and information on services and helps us connect with each other

·        A better focus on the applicant and the employer, more rounded scope of activities and more people being served

·        The early ECOS focus on technology was wise, creating systems that work together and can interact has been important to us

·        ECOS has developed as a pro-active tool; prior to our coming together we were always in a reactive role - for everyone, the customer, the employer and our agencies.

 

What is one thing that ECOS could do for you/your agency/your customers?

 

·        Better coordination with employers

·        Marketing what ECOS is and what it is accomplishing

·        Expanding/finding new resources for child care and helping deal with breakdowns in child care…

·        Stay current with the implications and impacts from population growth in east county and the changing demographics, growth in children and low income families

·        Continue to work on reducing the need for multiple agencies to knock on doors…the One Stop concept is not there yet.

·        Foster the awareness that business services and social services need to work together and support each other.

·        Figure out a way to evaluate soft services, there are ways to do this.  We need new tools to evaluate what we do, and how well we do it….are we succeeding and how do we know?

·        Continue to inform the rest of the region about the nature of east county:  the large geographic area in relation to rest of the county, the fact that over 2/3’s of the county people are served here.

·        Continue with the “any door is the right door” approach - and identify the doors and market the system

·        Expand the ECOS focus within each agency.  Get at least 1/3 of agency staff involved at some level, help market the ECOS partner services within each of our agencies.  Do this before starting to market to the outside community of employers and job seekers

·        Develop resources in multiple languages

 

What has changed in the past year?  How is our environment/landscape different?

 

·        More advanced technology

·        Workforce Investment Act has changed the focus; being an early implementer is difficult to anticipate regs and other issues

·        Human Solutions going through leadership change

·        Job Corps:  new leadership locally, lots of changes and reorganization at the national level that have local implications

·        What does Universal Access really mean?  What will we each have to do to be compliant? How do we serve walk-ins that are new populations for us?  Lots of questions

·        More pressure to expand focus beyond our traditional populations, must work with other agencies in a more integrated way, must be able to share information more freely and easily

·        Employers are required (by WIA) to be more involved in the design of our programs, and traditionally, this has been difficult to achieve

·        Training needs will increase as we roll out WIA - certification of programs and providers will required new system activity and resources

·        Trust levels are higher than they were last year - both within ECOS and between other one stops in the region

 

System Capacity Issues and Creative Solutions:

 

Commissioner Sharron Kelley set the stage for this discussion by providing an overview of the latest east county population demographics.  2/3’s of the people needing social services live east of 82nd Avenue.  There is a higher percentage of children and single heads of households in the area, and the population’s average family income levels continue to decline.  Most programs are experiencing a 15% annual increase in the number of clients they are asked to serve, with no increase in resources to do so.  In some cases, budgets have forced staff cuts while the population to be served continued to climb, creating huge case loads for remaining staff.  There are significant system capacity issues emerging from this trend.

 

The group discussion focused on resources, or lack thereof, and barriers to providing adequate services to the population of east county.  One significant area of need is access to mental health services for all ECOS partners.  Mental Health services/providers should be at the ECOS table and currently are not.

 

Community Asset Discussion:

 

Four areas defined as untapped resources to help build system capacity were:  Youth, Religions Institutions, the business community and Senior Citizen groups.  The planning group split into four work groups to develop ideas on how ECOS could develop relationships that could bring these three resources together with defined system need.  The group recommendations included:

 

Youth:

 

“New and Do”  Project:  Program to teach youth something new, and find what they can in turn do for someone else.  Site the project in one of the local churches.  Create a “youth one stop” at this site and incorporate it with the existing ECOS system.  Project will involve:

1.      Needs Assessment:  What can young people tap into?  Where is assistance needed? 

2.      Figure out a reward system:  savings voucher/gift certificates donated from local merchants? Something of value for the kids that participate

3.      Interview Youth: What are the resources kids bring to the table?  What can they do? Assess their talents and expertise

4.      Connect youth with projects that will teach them something new also…make them more employable, help them build a portfolio

5.      Try to get the schools to institutionalize a community service requirement in order to graduate

Issues to be worked out:  Drivers license requirements - other transportation issues; certain liability issues if kids will be working with young children/day care situations, etc.; any pre-training or testing that may have to be completed to enable young people to work with certain populations.

 

Religions Institutions:

 

Project to help meet the child care needs of the east county community:  Use local churches to:

1.      Conduct and site after school projects from 3 PM to 6 PM for kids with no one at home and no where to go

2.      Site ESL and limited English speaker training, tutoring, mentoring activities

3.      Tie in to local high schools community service projects to get assistance with day care, after school projects, and language tutorials

4.      Use local congregations as access points to market ECOS services/activities

 

Create and fund a full time position to coordinate this activity with the youth project described above.  Tap into federal state and local child care resources, apply to foundations for funding, consider city park and rec funds as potential contributors to both of these projects.  Tie them together into one funding package…

 

Business Community

 

Concept:  Create a relationship with the new hotel/motels in the east county area to do two things: 

1.      help them find and develop a pool of job applicants

2.      engage them in a process to donate empty rooms to displaced people needing emergency shelter

Discussion:  how to engage the small business majority in workforce system activity.  Key issue:  income gap between what most jobs in the county pay and what is needed to exceed poverty levels.

 

Senior Citizens

 

Goal:  Help seniors get matched into jobs.  They are often overlooked, need income, may wish to be self-employed, may be able to mentor emerging new businesses, ie. SCORE.  Utilize a multi-employer approach to hiring senior citizen’s on full or part time basis.  Consider the resource seniors could provide to larger employers.

Goal:  Engage seniors in meaningful volunteer activities that contribute to system capacity

 

Two Year Approach:

 

Year one:

·        Identify skills of this population:  Maturity, Life skills, Job skills, Reliability, etc. 

·        Identify the occupational areas most appropriate for this population, where will seniors be able to compete for jobs?

·        Determine the skill requirements of the occupations

·        Determine gap training needed for job entry

·        Conduct employer outreach,

 

Year two:

·        Link seniors to employers

·        Establish a single place for employers to contact the senior working network

 

Second Pilot Project:  Connect seniors to childcare needs: 

·        Train a cadre of volunteers or paid helpers to enable them to provide care for sick children, the developmentally disabled or children with issues that make them hard to care for in home or traditional child care centers. 

·        Utilize local retirement centers as potential emergency care centers for these children

·        Focus on the Rockwood area and other low income areas where working moms have few childcare options

·        Use the senior group as mentors for teen parents and parents who need parenting skills

 

Funder possibilities:  Ronald McDonald Foundation, AARP,

 

Employer Services Strategies:

 

Dave Allen and Joan Pasco presented an update on the Business Services Specialist position and activities.  The following activities will comprise the initial focus for this position in East County:

 

Business Services Specialist: (Dave Allen’s position)

 

1999 - 2000 Task list:

 

·        Staff and coordinate the Employer Services Team

·        Attend and support the Job Developer Network

·        Assist with the distribution and marketing of the employee referral card to employers

·        Help craft career path strategies for industries such as the hospitality/hotel/motel folks that pay minimum wage to most of their employees…educate employers about their role as a revolving door for entry wage employees; organize an initial fact finding meeting with representatives of this industry and our employer services team

·        Help establish an employer advisory team that uses existing forums such as the Gresham Employer Council and the program advisory councils at MHCC

·        Work with the regional task force that is establishing a regional employer services strategy

 

Ideas discussed: 

·        Attend meetings where employers gather:  Chambers, Rotary, Human Resource groups, and others

·        Listen to employers - conduct a needs assessment

·        Find solutions for business needs as expressed in the needs assessment

·        Become a resource for them

·        Develop relationships

·        Single point of contact:  Outreach and access.  Prevent multiple contacts - work together for any employer outreach - schools, job corps, ECOS, and others - employers get tired of being approached and are weary of surveys…we all ask the same questions.  They want to know why we don’t talk to each other instead of to them.

·        Do a gap analysis on the needs of small businesses - what can we do for them?  Training, workshops, benefits?  Create win-wins between the workforce development community and small businesses

·        Market a menu of employer services that ECOS can provide to the employer community

·        Conduct short employer recognition sessions:  lunch or breakfast

·        Use the Internet more as a point of information distribution to employers

·        Conduct mini-workshops like the EAP workshops that are being conducted by Working Solutions - four sessions, breakfast meetings, issues:  retention, family friendly work policies etc.

·        What can we offer?  People - potential employees, Services:  LMI, SIP, training, EAP and employee counseling, treatment, retention, low cost training, coordination of activity and approach, should be able to save them time and money.  Probably our two best selling points….if we can follow through.

 

The summary reports from employer survey and focus group activity were distributed and discussed.  (Attached to this document)

 

Demand Side Workforce Strategy for East County: 

 

Dave Allen and Joan Pasco led the discussion/review of the community plan completed last spring prior to the RFP process for worksystems inc.  The group split into four workgroups to flesh out program ideas for each of the four goals identified in that process.  Group reports are represented in the attached action plan matrix.

 

 

501 c 3 Discussion: Led by Robert Trachtenberg and Jess Kappel

 

ECOS established a structure committee in April of 1999 to explore legal structure options available to manage as an independent organization and to solicit public and private funds.  Robert and Jess reviewed the process to date, the articles of incorporation, bylaws, timeline and formation agreements that have been prepared by Robert and reviewed by the Executive Committee.  The Executive Committee agreed to make a recommendation to proceed at its September meeting.  After extensive discussion by the retreat participants, this recommendation was reaffirmed with MHCC abstaining from the vote.  The full ECOS Steering Committee will act on this recommendation at the October 29 Steering Committee meeting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marketing:  What do we have to sell and to whom?

 

After an overview of the types of marketing materials being used by other workforce regions, the state, and individual programs, the group split into small teams to develop ideas on how to market the services being provided by ECOS and its partner agencies.

 

The small teams were charged with identifying who ECOS should market to, what action is desired from each market segment, how each can be reached, and what tools would be most effective to reach each target market.

 

Participants identified an internal marketing approach as the first step.  Staff of our own agencies need to have information on ECOS, what it does, what our partner agencies do, and what services are available collectively and individually within the east county one stop system. 

 

Beyond the internal marketing, the groups identified the following targets:

 

Employers/Business Community:  to include - Business Associations, Human Resource Associations, Chambers of Commerce.  Use a separate approach for large, medium and small businesses, all of which will need different approach.  The most effective approach to businesses of all sizes, will be one-on-one.  This is expensive and time consuming.  Materials that we do use should have consistency in look and appearance.  We should not market to employers until we are ready with a defined product that can be delivered quickly.  The best approach to get information to employers will be through speaking opportunities where they gather:  association meetings, business trade fairs, etc.  The marketing tool recommended by this team was a printed file folder where employers can file ECOS and workforce development information.  They also recommended use of the state one stop logo and having a stamp made…to id business cards and other materials with the one stop logo.

 

Job Seekers:  The job seeker team explored the following marketing targets:  Public transit users, people who are really desperate, the general public, the underemployed, emerging employees (youth, corrections, displaced homemakers), Latino youth, and ethnically specific populations.  The following tools were ID’d as appropriate ways to reach these targets, with each message being specific to the intended target audience.

Bumper stickers on all state, county and city cars directly people to the one stop system.

Posters on MAX and buses.  Signs or stickers on kiosks and lottery machines, park benches.  Notices in church bulletins,  grocery stores and grocery bags, milk cartons, ads in movie theaters - on the screen prior to movies, OCHA Leadership Conference, Job fairs, web sites, cable access, Internet banner ads, care stereo stores, libraries, food banks, hospital waiting areas, and the post office.

 

 

 

 

 

Community at Large: Flyers, posters, grocery bags, sponsor community events, kiosks, public speaking, PSA spots on Latino radio stations.  Need to develop a list of talking points to distribute to our people to use when they get an opportunity to talk about the One Stop System.

 

Our own One Stop partners:  Staff meetings, retreats and training, more shared logos, training more people within each organization, job fairs and career development events.

 

Local Government:  Create an advocacy strategy:  presentations, one-on-one.  Need to begin to create an identity with the four commissioners who will be on the board after Sharron is gone.  We will lose our champion at that level in January, 2001.

 

Workforce Investment Act Discussion: 

 

Kristin Wolff, worksystems, inc. presented an update on WIA:  What it is, what it means, how it will impact what we do.  Highlights included:

 

Our region is an early implementer and as such, we have a chance to help define the regs and performance measures. The first draft of interim regs are due out in December.  The legislation has a five year span, sunseting in 2003.  This legislation is a universal service model, but still maintains the traditional JTPA target groups:  low income and welfare to work groups.  Local Workforce Investment Boards have the capacity to identify additional target groups – i.e. refugee, non-English speakers, etc. The local board has identified the Region 2 target as families who need services. Period – wsi put the income cap at a middle class level versus a poverty level. 

 

Local goals include a life long learning continuum - helping people with 1st job, 2nd job, and next job.  Key elements include:  One Stop is now law, mandated partners will have to work within the local one stop system,  empowering the individual to be in charge of their own training activity is integral to the act, changes offer lots of promise and lots of possibility – should be more flexibility at state and local levels.  There is an opportunity to experiment with different kinds of models and locally, we will fight any resistance to this ability to experiment.

 

Youth services are being treated very differently under the new act.  Oregon used workflex authority to combine year around and summer job programs., WIA mandates the year around activity and if you want summer programs you have to carve these out of the existing budget.  A two year follow up is required and this is expensive to run, the cities are unhappy as they perceived lots of reasons to run the summer programs - crime reduction, etc.

 

“If it’s not in the law, you can do it.  Proceed until apprehended” – seems to be the tendency at the federal level right now, so early implementing areas are not raising issues that may bring resistance from the feds.

 

Program certification of local one stop providers:  Who can be a one stop provider?  Local boards are responsible for this determination thru their RFP process, certification criteria will be developed at the state level, but refined at the local level. 

 

Individual Training Accounts:  Discussion around models being used locally.  May model after the ITA’s currently used by Human Solutions or the DWP process.   OJT, community based training, and specialized programs will be allowed to accept ITA vouchers.  Access to training dollars will depend on need - low income, however, wsi is trying to pull in other dollars that are less restrictive, such as the Bureau of Community Housing Department funds that were part of this year’s RFP.

 

There is a statewide taskforce working on provider certification issues.  We should be able to learn something from the recommendations from this group.

 

The Memorandum of Understanding between partners must be something that adds value to the process…most likely will continue to be addressed through the contract process.

 

Performance measures:  will drive the system, and we don’t know what they are going to look like.  Employer and customer satisfaction surveys at the regional level have enormous potential as a key indicator to determine if the One Stop system and its services are meeting local needs.  There will be an effort to more the performance measurement drivers in this direction…some support from other early implementer states.

 

State level structure for WIA implementation oversight:  Falls under the Governor’s Office with Annette Talbott at the helm of the Governor’s Workforce Policy Cabinet which is comprised of Cam Preus-Braly as head of the Oregon Department of Community Colleges and Workforce Development, Virlena Crosley - Employment Dept., Lynnae Ruttledge - VRD, Sandie Hoback - AFS, as well as reps from Oregon Community and Economic Development and department of Education.  The Oregon Career Network which has been administering the Federal One Stop Implementation grant reports to both the Governors Policy Cabinet and the Employment Department.

 

Final Comments and Next Steps:

 

Priorities: 

 

·        Develop concrete concept papers around the ideas generated during the community asset and action planning process.  Several have the capability of attracting foundation funding if packaged into a proposal.  Many can be implemented with existing resources.  Next step is to work out the details on these concepts - what, who, resources needed, when…create a strategy to approach funders.

 

·        Marketing:  One or two ideas are doable right now: The file folder for employers and the bumper stickers to go on all public and agency cars

 

·        Staff awareness:  of what ECOS is – more training on how to make the process work.  One Stop operational workshop in Jan - Feb., the one stop contact person training on October 27, more interaction between agencies, visit staff meetings, coordinate a job shadow program.

 

·        Employer Services Inventory:  Get this completed at the regional level. 

 

·        Meet with Dr. Tom Kennedy regarding new ways to fund workforce development, creating our own entity and aggressively pursuing new funding.

 

·        Create a way to get mental health professionals/agencies involved at the One Stop table…  Kelly and Lorena will organize a meeting with Rod Caulkins, Janice Gratton, and others to begin the dialogue with ECOS leadership.

 

·        We also need more involvement from AFS and from aging programs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Report Attachments and Meeting Handouts:

 

Employer focus groups:  Key suggestions and recommendations:

 

When coaching people for interviews:

 

Do Not: 

 

Advise applicants to call back after the interview

Advise them to send thank you notes unless it is for a professional/management position

Have applicants use the same resume writing program/formatting - too often they all look alike

Over coach to the point that the applicant appears plastic/or is obviously delivering rehearsed lines

Allow program participants to get by with a poor attendance or participation rate, create the same rules that they will have to live with in a work environment

 

 

Do: 

 

Have applicants bring a portfolio with credentials, awards, certificates, past performance evaluations, anything that can demonstrate above average performance.

Brief them on the assessment tools that employers will be using.  If in doubt, call first to find out.

Video them in practice interview sessions.

Set high standards for job training programs and adhere to the standards.

Teach team work - this is complex and complicated, do it right, bring in employers to help

 

What employers tell us they want in job applicants:

 

Integrity, motivation, honesty, good attitude,  a sense of urgency,

Communication, communication, communication:  written and verbal

Willingness and ability to learn

Work ethic

Customer service, people skills, how to be a nice person

Drug free

Applicants that can do what their degree/certification indicates they should be able to do

Send us people with realistic expectations about what the job can offer - students are often not aware that they will start at the bottom and have to work up

Technically competent - computer literacy is essential for all jobs

 

What training employers are requesting:

 

·        Classes in computer forensics

·        Employer training on use of assessment tools - how to construct, how to use, legal issues surrounding employment,

·        Teach employers (esp. small businesses) how to hire, how to find talent, what interview questions to ask to determine good fit etc.

·        Pre-employment training on what employers will expect, what employers are looking for

·        Formalized internship programs

·        Workforce training programs need to be working with the high schools and middle schools

·        Interactive, 2-way training, video, on-line training,

·        ESL support

·        On-site customized training

·        Training for the older mature worker on how to adapt to a new way of working/new technologies, working with a more diverse group of co-workers

·        JIT:  employees to understand a push work environment

·        Training on quality, continuous improvements, statistical product control, ISO 9000 processes

·        Classes on the Internet:  how to use, email, how to market on the Internet

·        Professional development for management staff

·        Training for people moving up from technical jobs to management/supervisory jobs

·        Safety training, environmental issues, OSHA training etc.

 

Misc. suggestions:

 

·        Do an employer orientation about what MHCC services are available to them. 

·        Host a day on MHCC campus for employers to meet with instructors

·        Employers will come to the classroom, use them.  Bring them in - make it a close tie with the employer’s occupation and employment need, brief them on what is expected, what are the outcomes from the process, etc. be specific about what you want the employer to impart, but use them more

·        MHCC needs to do more marketing of itself – sell its programs

·        Internal customer service training is needed, how to treat students and employers like customers

·        Create an evaluation system for students that can become part of their hiring portfolio:  comments from instructors, attendance stats, something that will give an employer information about how reliable and dependable this person was as a student.  This is especially important for students with no work history.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

East County Employer Survey/Focus Groups Results

 

Executive Summary:

 

Over the course of the past summer (1999), MHCC, with assistance from Joan Pasco, consultant, conducted a mail survey and held focus group discussions with members of the East County business community. The purpose of the survey and focus groups was to gather information on the employment and training needs of employers. The information gained as a result of this endeavor will help the college in the formulation of strategic planning efforts through the first decade of the new century. Following is a brief summary of what this community of employers had to say in response to survey questions and focused discussion sessions.

 

In addition to the specifics described below, the employers also expressed a strong need for flexibility in the delivery of educational and training services. This includes technology-based services, such as Web-based and other distance education delivery systems, that are independent of time and place. Thus, MHCC will need to continue to expand and refine its instructional delivery systems.

 

Essential qualities

v      Virtually every respondent indicated that ability, combined with a positive attitude and willingness to learn, are the most important attributes of successful employees

 

Basic training or “skill sets”

v      Basic math and communications abilities

v      Customer service training

v      Interpersonal/team building skills

 

Most common reasons for rejecting a job applicant

v      Lack of ability to communicate

v      Unstable work history

v      Inappropriate or inadequate experience

v      Poor appearance or interview skills

v      Incomplete job applications

 

Specific equipment job applicants should be able to use

v      Basic office equipment including

ü       10 key adding machines

ü       Calculators

ü       Word processing

ü       Spreadsheet software

 

Internal strategies to recruit / retain qualified applicants

v      Employer contributions to training/education/degrees

v      Flexible work schedules to accommodate family needs

v      Use of current employees to attract/recruit job applicants

v      Recruitment from training programs and academic contacts

 

External sources of recruitment

v      Classified ads                          90%

v      Temp/Staffing services                        40%

v      Walk-ins/signs in window            39%

v      Employment Department            38%

East County Employer Survey/Focus Groups Results

 

Introduction:

 

As part of the master planning process, MHCC 2010, MHCC conducted a mail survey and held several focus group discussions with members of the East County business community during the summer months of 1999. The purpose of these activities was two fold: first, to maintain awareness of the training and education needs of local employers and second, to assess employers’ perceptions of the state of readiness of job applicants.

 

Using a mailing list obtained from East Multnomah County One Stop Career System, surveys were sent to a representative sample of 580 East County businesses. The survey was accompanied by a cover letter from Dr. Joel Vela, President of MHCC, explaining the recent planning activities underway at the college and asking the potential respondents for their participation in this ongoing effort to develop the institutional master plan which will guide our development in the first decade of the new century. Of these 580 local area employers, 66 (11%) completed and returned the survey. In order to compliment the findings of the written survey, a series of focus discussions with an additional 17 local area employers were conducted with the assistance of Joan Pasco, consultant. The survey and content of the follow-up discussion groups comprised six questions. The following section presents a summary of responses to those questions. The last section of this report presents a summary of the results of a focused discussion group held in February 1999 which was used to help formulate the questions used in the present survey and resultant focus discussion.

 

Highlights of Employer Survey Responses: 

 

1. What special training or certification is required for jobs with your organization?

 

Virtually every survey respondent indicated that a good attitude and the ability and willingness to learn is one of the most important employee attributes.  Specific skill requirements mentioned by respondents included: basic math/algebra, communication skills, customer service training, data entry, interpersonal/team building, making change/cash handling, people skills, outgoing, friendly, reading and writing skills.

 

2. When you must reject a job applicant, what are the most common reasons?

 

Employment readiness topped the list of responses to this question. Lack of ability to communicate, work with others, poor attitude, unstable work history, poor appearance, poor interview skills, incomplete job applications, inappropriate or lack of experience, lack of energy/hustle, immaturity, and lack of confidence were the most common responses.

 

3. What industry specific equipment do you expect job applicants to be able to use?

 

Respondents indicated that most job applicants should be able to work with basic office equipment including 10 key, adding machines, calculators, computer (word processing and spreadsheets), copy, fax, and other basic office machines. 

 

4. What internal strategies have you developed to recruit qualified applicants?

 

Use of current employees to attract/recruit job applicants was the most frequent response.  Many businesses offer cash bonuses and other incentives to employees who successfully recruit new employees.   Retention and benefit programs designed to retain a qualified workforce were often mentioned as internal recruitment tools.  Examples include: employer contributions to training/education/degrees, and flexible work schedules to accommodate family needs. Word of mouth, posting of job openings, recruitment from training programs and academic contacts were also frequent responses to this question. A few employers use commercial interview and testing programs as part of their strategy to screen applicants. 

 

5. When asked to select various external sources of recruitment, employers listed the following: