So here is the new post everyone has been waiting for. I didn't post the last two days because nothing at all new happened. We took our PT Test Wedsnesday, everyone but one person passed. But nothing happened to that person. So it's not a real big deal. The 2 mile run is a little weird and I think that it will play a mind game with you so you aren't sure exactly how well your doing, so my run was a little slower. Not to mention about 200 other people trying to take a PT test that day. But none the less I passed. The instructors don't mind if you do the minimum and get up. However, the person with the highest PT score gets the Iron Man award at the end and the score gets factored into your overall course grade. And against all info I've been given they do have an honor grad for this course.
Anyway, as far as classwork, you just practice creating the applicants processing paperwork. It's all at your own pace, so most of Wedsnesday and all of Thursday I just kinda did what I wanted to do. They'll give you a paper with a bunch of information on it and you go into the computer system and input all the data and then reserve their slot in the Army. From start to finish each packet will take anywhere from 45 mins to 2 hrs. The test was today (Friday), it was the same thing we've been doing all week. There was no percentage grade, it was either Go/NoGo. Everyone passed. After lunch we met with our small group instructors, so this was the last day with the whole class for instruction. The small groups seem like it will be a fun time. We'll see come Monday. Week 4 starts Monday and it's the telephone part. I'm not liking the idea of that, I've never been one to talk on the phone very long, and when I do I like to get up and walk around, but I doubt that will fly in the Recruiting world. Other than that, we did next to nothing the last three day. Oh, we did do a CG's Run today (Friday) minus the CG. So I guess he didn't wanna come out and pl
A U.S. Army Recruiter Blog
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Ok, so the blogs may be short and sweet for the next few days. They may also say the same thing, so if thats going to end up to be the case I'll just roll them into one at the end of the week. So if nothing is posted new everyday just be patient. This week starts the hands on things. Mostly learning how to create the proper reservation documents and what not to get applicants in the Army. Today however was all powerpoint, the last of it until week 5 we are told. It was about enlistment incentives and bonuses for the Army and Army Reserve. It was boring for the most part, then we just watched Army recruiting videos. We took a 20 min break almost every 30 mins because no one could stay awake. Hopefully this hands on stuff is more exciting.
I had nothing to do this weekend so it was all free time. Although I do have to say that it's sometimes hard to stay busy. I mostly used my time to create some of my "Army Story" book. So it was kinda a protective weekend. Other than that I did nothing at all. Oh, I did eat out alot.
FINALLY!!!! The end of week 2. It was the longest week so far. We ended it with a test. It covered some of what we learned in the first week and then everything we learned this week, and even one or two questions about the Pre-BCT PT. Only one person failed, and it was only by 2 questions. Two people and myself got a 100. It wasn't that hard really. If you know how to use the "search" feature it will be too easy to find the right answers.
Also, it was safety stand down day. So we had all the usual classes, Suicide, Sexual Harrassment, Spousal/Child Abuse, Sexual Assault, and Recruiter Improprieties. The Recruiter Improprieties was by far the funniest. It was just a bunch of recruiters acting out some scenarios that were pretty far fetched but gave us a long needed laugh. We were outta there by 1530, the earliest yet. Next week we have the CG's run and our PT test. In class we'll be learning how to make reservations and all that fun stuff on the computer, so it should be pretty fun. Today was a pretty decent day. It started off with a quick class. And then a briefing/class on ourselves. The other day we took a survey answering 144 questions on ourselves and someone took those results and put them into a report type of thing. It was called TAIS, some may have done this before. So that was pretty cool to see where our strengths and weaknesses are. You have to see it and do it yourselves, its a little to complicated for me to explain. After that was lunch. After lunch we had a class on our Recruiter Operating Procedures (ROP) which is basically our monthly/weekly/daily schedule that we have to keep track of to get credit for our prospecting efforts. It also allows us to see what it takes to put 1 person in the Army. By some simple math it shows us exactly how many people we talk to and test and make it to the Army. So you may talk to 50 people a month and of those only 1 or 2 end up joining. So that was kinda cool.
The only other thing we really did the rest of the day was to work on our certificates for Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Outlook. I guess you have to have a certificate from each of those to be a recruiter. Its all good though, nothing to hard. No PT tomorrow thank god, but we do have our 2nd week test, so that should be fun. I'm so glad this week is almost over. This morning we did PT again, we ran in preperation for the CG's run next week. Once we got to class we went back into all the regs and started reading again. ALL DAY! It covered how to interact with high schools and colleges. It was kinda interesting in a way. I mean, it will give you some good ideas on how to do things creatively. Oh yeah, we also got a reintergration briefing and talked about how things will be a lot different out there being a recruiter than it is in the regular Army.
On a side note, I've put on 7 pounds since I got here. Guess I gotta put Golds Gym membership to use. By the way, speaking of the gym, the Gold's Gym here is awesome. It's like a $25 processing fee and $39 a month. And since you'd be in the military, 30 days from when you leave you just bring in your travel orders and they cancel it when you leave no questions asked. If you've never been to Golds Gym, everything is included except tanning and the nail salon. But they have tons of cardio machines (all of which you can watch tv on) free weights, a pool, a indoor track, and some workout programs. So its pretty nice. These days seem to get longer and longer. Doesn't help that the content is dry and boring. Yet again another day of looking through about 10 different regs at stuff. Today had a lot to do with the Army Story, the Army Interview, prospecting, lead generation and the like. Not going into how to do them, but basic overviews on these subjects since weeks 4, 5 and 6 cover those in great detail.
As far as homework goes, we have three things to do. Only one is due this week, and it's our Army Story, a 5 paragraph paper on why we joined the Army. The others are due week 4. First, there is a presentation we have to give, and it has to be tailored to our target audience. For example, I have to give a presentation on "Personal Courage" to Boyscouts. My group will be the audience but I gotta act like they are boyscouts. It's only 5-8 minutes long, but we were advised to take as long as it took and maybe the small group leader would cut us off early. The 2nd is our real Army Story, that big book thats almost like an "I Love Me" book, but has a lot more to do with Army programs. We have to have one done by week 4. Tomorrow is supposed to be more on what to do as a recruiter, mainly putting together school programs. Until next time..... So today was the day that everyone has been waiting for, assignment day. We found out our assignments. Well, at least the Battalions. The volunteers at least got something off of their list. I got Great Lakes Battalion and that was my 4th choice. Another guy got his 2nd choice of Tampa. Most weren't too mad about their assignments. Just a word of warning though, if you have to re-enlist or extend to meet the retention requirements I suggest that you get that handled as soon as possible because you won't find out your assignment until then.
The retest for those who failed the first test was today, and those that failed for the 2nd time were sent packing. The rumor on the street is as long as you got above a 70% this time they would bring you back. Our class is now down to the mid 20's which is the smallest one here right now. As far as instruction today we learned about the Pre-BCT PT this morning when we did PT and the classroom stuff was boring. It's so dry and unstimulating that the instructor was having a hard time staying motivated to teach. It's all about being a recruiter basically, what you can and can't do with applicants and the government equipment and how to interact with the community. There is another test this Friday. The material comes out of all kinds of AR's and UR's (USAREC Regs.) so that makes looking up stuff on the test that much more fun. This week promises to be just as fun as today. This weekend was ok. Did a little community service on Saturday which was pretty fun. Gotta watch a bunch of JROTC students get all motivated and play Army for a day. Then all day Sunday was mine. I slept in and went to the movies. Thats about it. Just chilled and spent time to myself.
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