JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas (AFNS) -- To help better communicate, inform and inspire new recruits and with embedded tools to guide them into the right total-force career path, the Air Force Recruiting Service’s Innovation team launched the “Aim High” mobile phone application June 15.
With recruiters no longer meeting potential recruits or applicants in person due to the COVID-19 outbreak that has crippled much of the nation’s industries, AFRS expedited the release of the app to help recruiters overcome this obstacle and allow them to communicate better with recruits throughout the process of joining the service on active duty or going to the Air National Guard or Air Force Reserve.
“The Aim High app has been in the works since 2018 and was originally set to be released this summer,” said Chief Master Sgt. Jason O’Donley, AFRS Innovation superintendent. “But with the current COVID-19 situation, we have been working tirelessly to get it released sooner to help our recruiters accomplish their mission. The app is full of information about the Air Force and many of the features will help recruiters and applicants communicate, allowing people to make an informed decision based on the information all in one location.”
The Aim High app is a comprehensive, intuitive recruiting tool powered by a data-rich, enterprise solution that helps the Air Force find elite Airmen, as well as guides recruits to discover their passions through intuitive, interactive means. The app also provides family and friends a way to have insight into a recruit’s training and keeps Airmen involved in recruiting well after being assigned to their first duty stations.
“What we have developed is a one-stop shop for all things Air Force,” O’Donley said. “Currently there is a lot of information about the Air Force, careers, delayed enlistment, etc., but the information is in different locations, which has meant recruits have to visit multiple resources to get informed. With the app, information is pulled for them from a variety of sources, and the recruits are connected with the information in one location so they don’t have to go looking for it, which can be frustrating.”
For recruiters, the app includes tools such as messaging that allows them to stay in touch with recruits throughout the process.
“Having informed customers usually leads to more satisfied customers,” O’Donley said. “Focusing on our potential recruits and the informed decision of what career they want in the Air Force, the messaging feature provides a more robust capability as opposed to just using text.”
Using Google Analytics, recruiters can monitor the number of active users, the pages they visited, as well as how long they viewed each page. Additionally, mobile traffic and specific page performance information can be obtained. This will help determine any efforts requiring enhancement and/or modification to the app’s features.
A major feature of the app that all Airmen can utilize is the ability to capture leads and refer them to AFRS, enabling the We Are All Recruiters program to be managed better.
“One of the main tenets of the Aim High app is to enable all Airmen to capture leads and be able to pass them directly to AFRS,” O’Donley said. “By broadening recruiting, the Air Force will increase the pool of qualified recruits and, in turn, increase the appropriate career-to-Airman matches.”
In its current state, the Aim High app can send normal and “A-list” referrals, which is a lead captured within the app that is given priority and bypasses normal recruit filtering. Instead, the referral goes straight to a recruiter, ensuring quality leads are handled in a timely and expedient fashion, O’Donley said.
The app can also be used by recruits’ family and friends of those as they attend Basic Military Training, giving them a sneak peek into the training environment of their loved one.
“Through the app, recruits can invite family and friends to experience basic military training through photos throughout the entire process,” O’Donley said. “This feature does two things: increases the number of people using the Aim High app and shows a snapshot of what the initial steps into the Air Force are really like for their Airman.”
As AFRS continues to evolve into a total-force enterprise, it is important that all events throughout the total force are available to be seen by everyone.
“The Aim High app currently integrates active duty and Reserve events into one location,” O’Donley said. “The integration of the Air National Guard events is in progress. The events feature is the first step of total-force integration in the app. The Aim High app is taking disparate, component-centric data sources (normally viewed separately) and integrating them into a comprehensive, user-friendly experience.”
Additionally, capturing direct user feedback allows users to report issues all within the framework of the app. Utilization of this feedback will enable management to prioritize requests and provide features quickly.
“One cool feature with the app is any user can send feedback and it goes straight into a log we keep with developers,” O’Donley said. “We review all the feedback from our users, whether it’s a glitch or an issue that might have outdated information or if they want a feature added. With this information we will consider future capabilities of the app. We want to know what users want.”
The Aim High app can be downloaded on Android or iOS. Type in "Aim High" in the app store to find and download.