The American Public Power Association provides an array of resources for members to use in workforce development operations and decision making. You can also visit our workforce topic page for the latest news and events, as well as videos on public power careers.
Reports and templates
Members have free access to HR 360 – an attorney-reviewed source for HR news, tools, forms, and training. Get guidelines and resources for healthcare reform, recruitment, performance reviews. Download what you need from hundreds of downloadable forms and policies. Subscribers can access HR360 here.
The Public Power Mentoring Toolkit helps you develop a mentorship program at your utility. It includes a guide and templates for mentor and mentee interactions. Download a PDF or a Microsoft Word file you can customize.
The 2018 Salary Survey Report presents salary information for 27 management positions and 24 non-management positions in public power by utility revenue class, customer size, and region. Members may buy a copy here.
Why Competitive Pay Is Vital to the Public Power Business Model provides comparative salary information and suggests how you can communicate the need for competitive pay to governing bodies.
Preserving a Vibrant Public Power Workforce discusses how you can create a succession plan at your utility and provides tools to identify, evaluate, and mentor future successors at all levels.
How does your utility’s HR function measure up? The Checklist to Assess your Human Resource Functions provides an overview of best practices for your HR function to help you assess your effectiveness in five critical areas.
The 2015 Workforce Survey Summary Report highlights how public power is preparing for the anticipated retirement of a significant portion of its workforce.
Check out the resource pages - Sample Job Descriptions and Sample Human Resource Policies - prepared from the APPA Human Resources listserv question archives.
Engage and take action
Sign up for our Human Resources listserv to discuss issues with your colleagues.
Join the Public Power Women group on LinkedIn to network and grow your contacts.
Check out jobs in public power and post your openings.
Learn about funding and internship opportunities for students under our DEED program.
Government Compliance
The following is intended to be a summary of best practices for posting jobs online that comply with the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Public Power Jobs prohibits any posting that requires U.S. citizenship or lawful permanent residence in the U.S. as a condition of employment, unless otherwise required in order to comply with law, regulation, executive order, or government contract and requires that all employers treat equally U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, temporary residents, asylees, and refugees in recruitment or hiring.
Please avoid the following language in job postings:
Only U.S. Citizens
Citizenship requirement*
Only U.S. Citizens or Green Card Holders
H-1Bs Only
Must have a U.S. Passport
Must have a green card
*UNLESS U.S. citizenship is required by law, regulation, executive order, or government contract.
For more information, please go to http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/osc/htm/best_practices.php
You can also view Look At The Facts. Not At The Faces. Your Guide To Fair Employment which can be found at http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/osc/pdf/publications/ee_factsfaces_english2.pdf
EEOC
It is illegal for an employer to publish a job posting that shows a preference for or discourages someone from applying for a job because of his or her race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information. For example, a job posting that seeks "recent college graduates" may discourage people over 40 from applying and may violate the law.
It is also illegal for an employer to recruit new employees in a way that discriminates against them. For example, an employer's reliance on word-of-mouth recruitment by its mostly Hispanic work force may violate the law if the result is that almost all new hires are Hispanic.
How To Create Job Postings That Attract Top Talent
Creating a job posting that produces great candidates is easy if you remember one thing: it’s an advertisement for your association, not a job description. Too often, job postings are developed from internal job descriptions, which result in messages that fail to promote an association’s unique value proposition as an employer or attract response from A-level players. By using the following simple steps, you can create a competitive advantage and succeed in hiring top talent.
Step 1: Make a list covering…
- The personality traits that fit your association’s culture.
- The education and experience required or preferred.
- The primary responsibilities of the position.
- The unique features of working at your association.
Step 2: Put yourself in the candidates’ shoes by answering these questions…
- What would compel you to make a job change?
- What would attract your attention in a job posting?
- What information would you want to glean from a job posting?
Step 3: Use your marketing skills…
- Create a compelling headline and subhead.
- Write a brief intro paragraph to express your association’s mission, vision and values.
- Tie the responsibilities of the position to your association’s overall direction and goals.
- Use bullet points to highlight required (or preferred) skills and characteristics.
- Describe your offer package to include any special benefits, incentives and professional development opportunities.
Keep in mind that the most talented people have many options available to them including search firms, direct access to competitors, and infinite networking opportunities. However, they do review recruitment ads and if your job posting is especially inspiring and interesting, you will attract high-caliber candidates who can make a difference for your association.
Sample Job Posting
| Rare opportunity to use your leadership skills to make a global difference… TAKE CHARGE AS OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR! (ASSOCIATION) is a volunteer service organization with nearly 10,000 members around the world. Through our members’ generous donations of time, funding and goods, we improve the lives of thousands of people in need. Established in 1900 and headquartered in DC, (ASSOCIATION) now has a presence in North America, South America, the Caribbean, the South Pacific, Southeast Asia and Europe. Globally acknowledged for our service to disadvantaged populations, we seek a visionary leader to guide our future. Working in concert with our board of directors, the professional we select will have overall responsibility for (ASSOCIATION’s) performance in membership growth, operational efficiency, financial stability, market presence, affiliated partnerships, fundraising, and staff development/performance. The collaborative team-builder we need will genuinely respect diverse points-of-view and strive for an environment in which inclusiveness drives productivity and results. Other requirements include:
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