Lack of qualified volunteers and subject matter experts (SMEs)
Inability to retain qualified volunteers and SMEs
Lost volunteer and SME communications due to inbox overflow
Difficulty tracking volunteer and SME logistics (e.g., travel plans, CEU allocations, dietary restrictions)
Outdated volunteer and SME biographical information
As a project manager in the assessment industry, part of my job is helping clients schedule exam development and maintenance activities. Most (if not all) of the clients I work with at Alpine Testing Solutions struggle with at least one of these aspects of volunteer and SME management. In this blog post, I’ll explain how Lineup’s volunteer management platform can help address the first challenge in this list—recruiting qualified volunteers and SMEs.
How do you recruit your volunteers and SMEs? Do you actively bring new experts into your cadre, or do you rely on the same talent pool to develop and review your items? Does the idea of recruiting new volunteers, collecting their qualifications, then vetting their eligibility feel overwhelming?
Bringing in new professionals to serve as volunteers creates many benefits—for example, fresh perspectives on your exam content, new ideas for item topics, and less volunteer fatigue. Our clients with the most successful talent pipelines typically maintain a diverse group of “veteran” volunteers, but they also bring in new recruits on a regular basis. The veteran volunteers typically mentor newly appointed volunteers to help them learn about the role and receive training on how to write high-quality exam items.
Here are a few ways you can bring new volunteers into your Lineup system:
Ask existing volunteers to refer new volunteers. Your (successful) existing volunteers know what it takes to serve in their role, and they may know other professionals in their network with the right skill set and experience. Just ask your volunteers for the name and email addresses of any potential volunteers they want to refer and enter them into Lineup (either manually or with a bulk import via the import template). Then send an invite with a custom application via Lineup (which your Lineup PM can help you set up) to start building a skills map of your volunteers. Lineup will automatically attach each volunteer's information to their record, including resumes and other documents.
Send out a call for volunteers via your website, newsletter, etc. Set up an application link so potential volunteers can create their own record in Lineup. This gives your talent pool of volunteers the opportunity to share valuable information about their skills, experiences and collect the necessary information you need to select the right person for the right opportunity. Additionally, if they have an existing Lineup record, they can update their information and maintain a single record in Lineup (as long as they use the same email address that's already on file).
Host a volunteer/SME recruitment station at conferences/industry events. Invite potential volunteers to fill out an application on the spot by embedding the link to your custom Lineup application into a QR code. (Simply search “free QR code generator” in any search engine to create one.) Using their smartphone, potential volunteers can scan the QR code and be taken directly to the application to fill out then and there—or print business cards with the QR code (and/or application link) and invite volunteers to fill out the application when it’s convenient for them.
Conduct targeted recruitment from existing databases. If you have an existing list of current certificates/license holders/successful candidates, you can send them an invitation from Lineup to become a volunteer. If you have existing demographic information, you can import it into Lineup. If not, collect it via a custom application. Lineup has an integration with the CertMetrics candidate management system to make this process even easier—you can create volunteer eligibility as a “benefit” for current credential holders. Their information will import directly into Lineup once they accept the benefit!