what is the hardest adult position to fill?

[Lisabob]

If somebody walked in to your unit off the street and said "I'll do whatever you need me to do" (and they really could do it well, assuming no issues that would bar them from volunteering for you or make them otherwise undesirable), what would you hand them?

 

What makes that position hard to fill?

 

 

[moosetracker]

Well since I am on District and not in a unit, my answer will be a little different. For District training it is always the plants & animal guy. We want someone with more the average scout knowledge, simply because most times we have a participant with more then scout knowledge who if so chooses could run circles around someone with basic scout knowledge..

 

We have this long list of people who can do it, but everytime we go through this list of 20 to find no one is available.. I am hopeful though, we just got a great knowledgable guy in our district who is very dependable.. He was running our Council Camp, now has a Environmental position at the State with Sat. & Sundays off.. So, hopefully we will be able to ask before he commits his weekend elsewhere, and not be starting to climb the walls in a frantic search after asking for 5 months and still having no one one week from the training date.

 

 

When I was in the unit, I guess it would have been the financial guy. We had someone excellent, and if given the choice would keep him forever. Problem was after 20+ years as the financial guy he had wanted out for about 5 years, we had no one to replace him so he stayed probably out of a sense of guilt if he left us without a replacement person.

 

[fred8033]

Two different questions -

 

Hardest to fill? Treasurer. It's hard to fill because the person needs to be committed to spend hours with scouting on paperwork during off-scouting hours. Their main preparation for scouting meetings is to prepare reports and chase money. Not to mention the person needs to be fairly organized and slightly technical savy.

 

What would you hand them if they walked in off the street and wanted to volunteer? Something fun. Something specific. Organize and run and event. Run a program segment for a pack meeting. As specific as possible and as fun as possible. Something to get them ownership of the unit.(This message has been edited by fred8033)

[Oak Tree]

Our troop has found the hardest to fill is treasurer. We literally had your situation, where a family moved in, the dad was an experienced Scouter, and he said "I'll do whatever you need me to do". We made him treasurer, because at the time, our former one had just stepped down and no one had thus far volunteered.

 

I think that part of what makes it hard to fill is that it takes a fairly dedicated person, but those people usually are already volunteering for more visible roles. People who like to work in the background don't necessarily want to take a job that requires such constant attention.

 

Plus there is a smaller selection pool, since this is one job you really don't want someone to do badly at.

[Engineer61]

Advancement Chair - I'll see the Treasurer's "hours" with the AC's "months".

 

Between the data entry, camp scheduling, griping parents and Troopmaster crashes and countless trips to the Scout Store, the AC is the position that will turn over a lot. Not to mention 20 reams of paper and ink jet cartridges we donate per year.

 

My wife is calling it quits after two years.

[qwazse]

Female backpacking/wilderness consultant. More the big sister type with a few open weekends than worn out mom pulling two shifts to pay college tuition!

 

No agism on my part. There are some retirees who could fill that big sister role. Fewer of them would clear the physical demands for wilderness activities, but some of their wisdom is just what my youth (male and female) would need.

[ScoutNut]

The position rather depends on the unit, and it's needs. Any position can be hard to fill.

 

Treasurer is a good one as the person needs a certain amount of financial knowledge, ability to use spreadsheets, and the time to put into it.

 

Tiger den leader is another position that is both very important, and hard to fill.

 

The last hard to fill position would be Committee Chair. Finding a CC who knows what the job is, and actually does it is not easy.

[ScoutNut]

I would say that Advancement Chair is not as hard to fill, as it is hard to keep filled.

 

What with the "cat herding" to get things reported (especially at the Pack level), time needed to do the work and keep it up to date, and then having to pay out-of-pocket and wait to be reimbursed, this job can burn you out fast.

[smalltroopSM]

Great question, but not easy to answer.

 

I always ask a newbie to just be an unassigned Committee Member until we get to know them better. Had many disappointing experiences with "experts" straight off the street, including getting the application back from the Council with a felony No-go stamp. Better to be safe than sorry!

 

Most troop and pack positions are optional, with the possible exception of Committee Chair and SM. Those two positions need your best and most experienced. Try temporary assignments to find strengths and weaknesses. If training is done well, by the end of one year a new member will be able to take the helm, or have proven inabilities that will keep them in the shadows permanently.

 

Everyone loves a title, but fulfilling the responsibility is another story!

[Second Class]

I think the point about the Advancement Committee member is true. As SM I try to make a loud point at committee meetings that the paper, ink jet cartridges, etc. all need to be repaid promptly. It is not a small thing to have to run down to the store and drop $130.00 on paper and ink for all the paperwork that has to be done now. I think if you can keep one for three years you've done well.

 

Treasurer; needs to be done by a competent person. Find an interested lady (or man) that wants to help but doesn't like to camp. They can make a real contribution to the unit here.

 

Outdoor activities coordinator; works with the PLC (not against them) to plan the trips they've voted for. Helps move the monthly program plan forward, helping the SM and ASM's incorporate the upcoming venues into the monthly program.

 

An ACTIVE ASM; that is plugged into the SM's system and can step in for him if needed. Even SM's have to attend the PTA now and again.

 

An interested and motivated Popcorn Kernal. Face it. The job no one wants; but if done right can fund a troop for the year. Gives the Scouts the opportunity to "help pay their way". This puts rubber on the road.

 

I could go on.(This message has been edited by second class)

[kari_cardi]

I think this thread is doing a good job of pointing out issues in keeping people in positions that can be tweaked so the job is easier. Our pack advancement chair has a tracking program to simplify the award process and a debit card to purchase awards at the scout shop. Much easier than collecting emails from all the den leaders and getting reimbursed for expenses.

 

I would hesitate to give a person new to my unit the positions of committee chair, scout/cubmaster and treasurer. All three require a level of trust beyond competency in the job. Trust in leadership, trust in keeping the scouts safe, and trust with troop funds are all important.

 

The position we have the hardest time filling is chaplain. Finding a person who has a strong faith and interest in expressing that faith as a leader with the scouts has been difficult for us.

[NJCubScouter]

Any of the positions can be difficult to fill successfully (which I would define as filling the position with a person who does the job well and for a long time), but I would have to agree that treasurer is probably the biggest challenge, followed closely by activities coordinator (or camping chair or whatever your troop calls it.)

 

As for Advancement Coordinator (or Chair), Engineer says:

 

Between the data entry, camp scheduling, griping parents and Troopmaster crashes and countless trips to the Scout Store, the AC is the position that will turn over a lot.

 

I must be doing something right, because I am an advancement coordinator/chair and I hardly do any of that stuff. And I don't see on that list the main things that I actually do. I schedule Boards of Review and chair them. (In our troop we try to make a BOR available to a Scout at the troop meeting after their SM Conference for a rank, so this can result in several consecutive meetings with BOR's and sometimes two BOR's in a night, especially when a COH is looming.) I also have conversations and handbook-reviews with Scouts who do not appear to be advancing. (I know the book says there should be non-advancement BOR's for that purpose, but we don't think it's necessary to subject a boy to a "panel" of adults for that purpose. I just have a chat with the Scout on a bench right outside the meeting room so people can see us.) I read pre-project workbooks with Eagle candidates and discuss their projects with them so I can sign the workbook, though the official "mentoring" is done by someone else. When asked, I will review and make suggestions on the Eagle workbooks. When there is an Eagle BOR (which are conducted at district level with troop committee members joining the DAC representative) I will serve if I can. That's about it. Someone else does the data entry, submission of advancement reports and purchasing of awards.

 

I do not understand the mention of "camp scheduling". What does an advancement coordinator have to do with that?

 

Other than that, I realize that the "book" may designate all these tasks as being those of the advancement coordinator, and more power to those in other troops who may do all of it. I think we have it divided about right. On the other hand, I know one troop that has approximately FIVE people doing these tasks: One does the regular BOR's, one takes care of all Eagle-related matters, and they have a lead person and two (or so) assistants handling the record-keeping and badge-obtaining functions. They are better than we are at getting people to volunteer for things, apparently.(This message has been edited by njcubscouter)

[Wëlënakwsu]

Advancement... Treasurer... I'm surprised. I would have bet that at the Unit level the hardest job to fill well is Scoutmaster. Someone who will show up every week, is an outdoors person, has the personality and skills to work with kids and parents, etc.

 

At the District level... Capable people for Activities and Training get my vote. Not even considering Membership which often handled by DE anyway.

[Basementdweller]

Ya NJ I was wondering why they were scheduling summer camp as well.

 

 

people stop printing and killing trees...............For they life of me cannot figure out what your printing.......

 

 

Most of my parents have smartphones and computers....so I know your parents do.......Print to PDF's and email them.....Simple

 

I use a free pdf creator called bullzip.....it is just another printer you can select and print to that creates a pdf.......

 

 

With troop master.....for the amount of money your spending on ink and paper you should just get troop master web and allow the parents to look at scout son's advancement.....it is like $70 a year less than 3 ink cartridges and associated paper.

 

With those changes you won't have to print anything.

[Tampa Turtle]

Some great comments. I would say Scoutmaster...it is the hot potato. The last three SM's all ran afoul of angry wives wanting them back. Folks will jump to Committee Chair, Advancement, or Training just to be sure they are committed before the "SM roulette" begins. It is a huge time commitment.