Interview guide – military participants

ATTACHMENT G

INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR THE

Veterans Employment and Training Services (VETS) Apprenticeship Pilot

MILITARY PARTICIPANTS

VETS APPRENTICESHIP PILOT

Transitioning Service Member Participant Interview Topic Guide

INTRODUCTION AND PRIVACY

I am/we are researchers with The Urban Institute/Mathematica/Capital Research Corporation, private research organizations based in Washington, DC/Arlington VA which conduct policy-related research on a variety of social welfare and economic issues.

This project is being conducted under contract to the U.S. Department of Labor. Our visit here today is part of the Apprenticeship Evidence-Building Portfolio project, a national study sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor. The study will learn how the Veterans Employment and Training Services Apprenticeship pilot program can help improve the skills and employment outcomes of transitioning military service members. A major aim of the study is to learn more about service delivery design and implementation, challenges, and promising practices.  We will visit programs at eight military installations implementing the pilot. We will be speaking with program staff and participants.

Privacy Statement:  I/we want to thank you for agreeing to participate in the study. We want to let you know that you may choose not to answer certain questions. You may also choose to end the interview at any time. Regardless of whether or not you answer all of our questions, you will receive a $25 gift card to thank you for participating. We expect this interview to last about 60 minutes.

 

We believe the risks of participating in this study are minimal.

We believe there are no direct benefits to you, but we hope that the findings from this study will benefit the VETS Apprenticeship Pilot by providing research insights to improve the program.

My colleague and I will be taking notes in order to document what we hear during our discussion, and we may record this discussion. We do not share these notes with anyone outside of our research team, including Department of Labor, and we will destroy these notes after the end of our project. When we compile our reports, the names of individual respondents will not be included. 

Finally, to help us accurately capture the information you share, we would like to record this interview. The recording is just a back-up for our notes and will be kept within our small research team. The interview recording will be deleted once we have developed a full set of notes from the interview.

OMB Burden Statement: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays an Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is XXXX-XXXX. The time required to complete this collection of information is estimated to average 60 minutes, including the time to review instructions, search existing data resources, gather the data needed and complete and review the collection of information. Send comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden Chiefevaluationoffice@DOL.gov and reference the OMB Control Number XXXX-0NEW. 

 

Do you have any questions before we begin?  

[If we decide to record the interview] Are you okay with us recording the interview to improve the accuracy of our notes?  

Do I have your permission to begin the interview? [BEGIN INTERVIEW IF CONSENT GRANTED]

TOPICS FOR INTERVIEW

• Basic TSM characteristics (note: if spouse is involved in pilot, similar information would be gathered if he/she attended discussions)

  • Demographic characteristics (e.g., age, gender, highest grade completed, service branch, rank, military occupation, etc.)

  • Whether the TSM has opted-in under the pilot

  • Whether the TSMs spouse has opted-in, and if not, why

  • Whether the TSM has been placed in an apprenticeship under the pilot

  • Whether TSM has ever considered entering or previously enrolled in apprenticeship program prior to the pilot

• How came to be interested in participating

  • How first heard about the opportunity to opt-in under the pilot and what they initially thought about this opportunity versus other opportunities presented in the CTTT workshop?

  • Why interested in opting in under the pilot

  • Reservations or challenges the individual might have had to in opting-in under the pilot

  • Goals for opting in under the pilot (e.g., learn more about apprenticeship opportunities; concerns about being able to secure high skill/high paying job directly out of the military (without an apprenticeship), etc.)

• Types of information and assistance received from Apprenticeship Placement Counselor under the pilot

  • Number of interactions with the APC

  • Types of interactions (e.g., in-person, via email, telephone, etc.)

  • If in use, views on the digital tool, including whether it is easy to use and helpful, when it has been used, whether it useful in learning about and finding apprenticeship opportunities, challenges to using the tool and suggested improvements

  • Types of specific assistance received from the APC

  • Whether APC’s information and assistance has been helpful in terms of learning about apprenticeships and being placed into an apprenticeship

  • Which assistance has been most/least helpful and suggestions for improvement

• Types of information and assistance received from State Veteran Apprenticeship Coordinator under the pilot

  • Number of interactions with the State Veteran Apprenticeship Coordinator

  • Types of interactions (e.g., in-person, via email, telephone, etc.)

  • Types of specific assistance received from the State Veteran Apprenticeship Coordinator

  • Whether the Coordinator’s information and assistance has been helpful in terms of learning about apprenticeships and obtaining placement into an apprenticeship

  • Which assistance has been most/least helpful and suggestions for improvement

• Type of assistance received from the base and public workforce system (AJCs, local workforce development agency, job fairs) related to apprenticeships (if any)

• If TSM has been placed in an apprenticeship under the pilot, TSM’s (early) perspectives on the key features of the apprenticeship program to date

  • Views on eligibility, assessment and intake process

• Views on appropriateness, quality, and helpfulness of the on-the-job training component (e.g., duration and intensity, quality and usefulness of instruction received in the workplace, etc.)

• Views on the appropriateness, quality, and helpfulness of the RTI component (e.g., who provides instruction, # of hours, typical schedule, methods of instruction, etc.)

• Views on other supports (financial and non-financial) received under the program

• Challenges individual faced in staying in and completing the apprenticeship program and how they were overcome

• What individual liked best and least about their participation in the apprenticeship program

• What individual thinks could be improved/changed about the apprenticeship program

• Overall, how involvement in the pilot to date has helped (or not helped) the individual to learn about apprenticeship opportunities, gain placement in an apprenticeship, upgrade skills, improve earnings, and move along his/her career pathway

• How did COVID-19 affect your participation in the pilot?

  • Were there any disruptions in services or activities?

  • Did it seem harder to find available apprenticeships?

  • Did the digital tool help in finding out opportunities if you were not able to seek out in-person services?

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