GovernmentExecutive.com

In its quest to hire a new generation of civilian employees, the Pentagon has started paying students to recruit their college classmates.

So far, the Defense Department has hired two students -- one at Michigan Tech University and one at the University of Puerto Rice at Mayaguez -- to market Defense jobs to their peers. Next fall, the Pentagon plans to expand the program to three more schools.

Speaking at an October press conference on the campus of Michigan Tech in upper Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula, Patricia Bradshaw, deputy undersecretary for civilian personnel policy, announced Robert Frankovich as the university's student recruiter. Frankovich is both a GS-4 Defense Department employee, earning about $10 per hour, and a business management major.

"We want to make sure students know that working for the DoD does not mean you have to wear a uniform," Bradshaw said.

The recruiter positions last for a semester or a full school year. The student-workers' duties, according to Defense officials, are to implement a marketing plan for Defense jobs aimed at attracting candidates from certain majors. The recruiters use campus newspapers, banners, posters, videos, slide presentations and even marquees to promote the jobs. They speak to student organizations, participate in panel discussions about Defense careers, run booths at career fairs and serve as points of contact for professional Pentagon recruiters.

"Each year, DoD agencies travel all over the country spending countless hours and valuable resources to recruit the top talent from colleges and universities," said Mark Smith, chief of the recruitment assistance division on the Pentagon's civilian side. "It was decided that a more permanent presence on campuses would help brand the Defense Department as an employer of choice."

Frankovich and Nydia Roman-Albertorio, who attends the University of Puerto Rico were hired under the Student Temporary Employment Program. The program gives federal agencies special authority to hire students for up to a year. Usually, the students come into a federal office; they don't stay on campus. In addition to their government paycheck, these students also earn school credit for their Pentagon work.

The two schools were selected because they focus on engineering and science. The Pentagon lists engineering, science, math, languages and health professions as its most needed occupations. In the case of the University of Puerto Rico, diversity was also a selling point, according to a Pentagon spokesman.

Student recruiters are the latest attempt to woo young people into the civil service as federal agencies face a large number of baby boomer retirements. This year, the Office of Personnel Management launched the first-ever television ad campaign to promote federal jobs.