Our Volunteers Make Great Employees
You are looking for employees who are hardworking, well trained, and can easily pick up new skills. National Service members spend a year of service in communities of need building leadership skills, participating in workforce development training, and working as part of a team to accomplish goals. Hiring a National Service member is an investment worth making for your business or organization.
What is National Service?
The term national service traditionally refers to a nationwide program of community work in which citizens serve a term or complete a set number of hours at a sub-minimum wage to help the community as well as themselves.
There are several National Service programs:
While the projects and locations differ from one program to the next, members acquire the same core skill set, making them ideal employees once they’ve left National Service.
3 Reasons to Hire a National Service Member
- Our National Service members receive a minimum of 225 hours of workforce development training during their service year. Additionally each member has opportunities to earn certificates in environmental education, fire safety, CPR & first aid, and many other beneficial skills.
- During their year of service, our members develop real world skills in leadership, team building, computer software, natural resource management, and technical expertise in areas such as forestry and habitat restoration.
- National Service members are customer focused. They spend a lot of time working within the communities they serve, and that experience teaches them to listen carefully and to strive to be helpful.
Become an Employer of National Service
Employers of National Service is an opportunity for employers to highlight that they value the skills gained through national service. The implementation of job description language or a checkbox does not grant automatic preference to a given group. Some Employers of National Service are choosing to grant preference within their hiring process (and we encourage others to explore this option), but this is not a requirement.
How to Get Started
More than 600 businesses and organizations have signed up as an official employer of national service. You can sign up here.
Benefits to Your Organization
- Employers of National Service have a competitive edge in reaching a large and diverse pool of talented individuals.
- Participating employers will have their job opportunities highlighted via promotional channels that reach a vast network of talented job seekers.
- Every employer from the nonprofit, government, and corporate sectors will benefit from the value that national service alumni add to their organization.
Get in Touch
If you would like to learn more about Rural Action’s National Service Programs, current members, or alums, please reach out to us at 740.677.4047 or service@ruralaction.org. We look forward to working with you on developing opportunities to employ members of National Service.
