Capt. Betsy Arndt, Dearborn Medical Recruiting Center
Benefits of Using AMEDD SMEs
By Capt. Betsy Arndt, Dearborn Medical Recruiting Center
March 27, 2015
How does one reach a subject matter expert in any given area of concentration within the Army Medical Department, and how can they help us? One great tool we have is Report Management Zone where we can “Locate an AMEDD Officer.” Another tool we’ve been provided by our Army Medical Corps Tiger Team is the Tiger Team SME list, which Col. Thomas Hustead manually solicited and generated.
These tools are both very helpful and have paid off multiple times, but what about the not-so-common AOCs such as nuclear medical science officer? What do nuclear medical science officers do in the Army, and who can tell me better than one who is already serving in the Army? After using Report Management Zone to “Locate an AMEDD Officer” and generating zero, I realized I had to be a bit more creative.
One morning, as I was checking my e-mails, I looked at one of the S-1 Net messages I normally just automatically file in my interesting-things-that-I’ll-read-when-I-have-time folder. I spotted the SY15 Long-Term Health Education Training release to see if there was anyone I knew selected for this great opportunity. As I was scanning through the names and AOCs, I came across one lone 72A and I thought to myself, “This one should mean something to me.” This was one of the RA AOCs on my Annual Medical Recruiting Mission Assignment, so I contacted him.
After speaking with this officer for quite some time about his background, goals, reasons for joining the Army and how his job compares with the civilian sector, I learned he was willing to speak to anyone interested in the Army about what he does and even involved his assignment manager. I was able to locate a local annual scientific meeting for nuclear scientists and asked him if it would be something worthwhile for AMEDD Recruiters to attend. Since the AOC is quite small, he had a close relationship with his assignment manager at the Human Resources Command so he e-mailed the event agenda/invitation to his assignment manager for verification.
Active-duty officers are fairly easy to find because they have direct access to military computer systems and are able to quickly respond. Army Reserve officers, on the other hand, can be difficult to contact. The global address book can allow us access to anyone’s government e-mail address around the world, but how often is an Army Reserve officer able to check his government e-mail? Most units use personal e-mails in order to send correspondence to their members because accessibility to government e-mail can be a challenge. This is why it is very important for AMEDD recruiters to develop a relationship with local Troop Program Units who can send messages to personal e-mails and phone numbers of prospective SMEs.
SMEs are a great tool to use for various opportunities. They can tell you why and how they joined the Army, share information about their profession, and speak directly to prospective applicants about what they enjoy about their job. SMEs can also be a link to their Army and civilian peers that might assist in the recruiting mission. The best thing about SMEs is they have already been recruited and more than likely can relate to what recruiters do.
By Capt. Betsy Arndt, Dearborn Medical Recruiting Center
March 27, 2015
How does one reach a subject matter expert in any given area of concentration within the Army Medical Department, and how can they help us? One great tool we have is Report Management Zone where we can “Locate an AMEDD Officer.” Another tool we’ve been provided by our Army Medical Corps Tiger Team is the Tiger Team SME list, which Col. Thomas Hustead manually solicited and generated.
These tools are both very helpful and have paid off multiple times, but what about the not-so-common AOCs such as nuclear medical science officer? What do nuclear medical science officers do in the Army, and who can tell me better than one who is already serving in the Army? After using Report Management Zone to “Locate an AMEDD Officer” and generating zero, I realized I had to be a bit more creative.
One morning, as I was checking my e-mails, I looked at one of the S-1 Net messages I normally just automatically file in my interesting-things-that-I’ll-read-when-I-have-time folder. I spotted the SY15 Long-Term Health Education Training release to see if there was anyone I knew selected for this great opportunity. As I was scanning through the names and AOCs, I came across one lone 72A and I thought to myself, “This one should mean something to me.” This was one of the RA AOCs on my Annual Medical Recruiting Mission Assignment, so I contacted him.
After speaking with this officer for quite some time about his background, goals, reasons for joining the Army and how his job compares with the civilian sector, I learned he was willing to speak to anyone interested in the Army about what he does and even involved his assignment manager. I was able to locate a local annual scientific meeting for nuclear scientists and asked him if it would be something worthwhile for AMEDD Recruiters to attend. Since the AOC is quite small, he had a close relationship with his assignment manager at the Human Resources Command so he e-mailed the event agenda/invitation to his assignment manager for verification.
Active-duty officers are fairly easy to find because they have direct access to military computer systems and are able to quickly respond. Army Reserve officers, on the other hand, can be difficult to contact. The global address book can allow us access to anyone’s government e-mail address around the world, but how often is an Army Reserve officer able to check his government e-mail? Most units use personal e-mails in order to send correspondence to their members because accessibility to government e-mail can be a challenge. This is why it is very important for AMEDD recruiters to develop a relationship with local Troop Program Units who can send messages to personal e-mails and phone numbers of prospective SMEs.
SMEs are a great tool to use for various opportunities. They can tell you why and how they joined the Army, share information about their profession, and speak directly to prospective applicants about what they enjoy about their job. SMEs can also be a link to their Army and civilian peers that might assist in the recruiting mission. The best thing about SMEs is they have already been recruited and more than likely can relate to what recruiters do.