Hiring and Retention Toolkit
If you’re helping advance the public health workforce, this toolkit is for you.
Practical resources to support your outreach, recruitment, and workforce development efforts.
- The toolkit includes the following resources:
- Social Media Guide
- Commission Report
- Digital Career Guide
- Hiring and Retention Resources
Feel free to share, print, and adapt these toolkit resources to support your outreach and workforce development efforts
Become an Ambassador
Help raise awareness and take action to recruit and sustain a public health workforce that is responsive, resilient, and connected to the communities it serves.
Click below to access the resources:
Key Messages
Why a Skilled, Community-Connected Workforce Matters
A strong public health workforce isn’t just about filling roles; it’s about building teams with the skills, experience, and local knowledge to deliver real results. These messages are designed to guide conversations, shape workforce strategies, and help you make the case for hiring and retaining professionals who are both capable and connected to the communities they serve.
Builds Trust
Public health works best when communities know and trust the professionals serving them. Shared language, local familiarity, and consistent presence strengthen relationships and increase community participation.
Opens Pathways to Leadership
Invest in your workforce through mentorship, training, and clear paths to advancement. Helping skilled professionals grow into leadership roles strengthens both your team and the field.
Delivers More Personal Care
Teams that understand the social and cultural context of their patients deliver care that feels respectful, responsive, and effective — and gets better results.
Closes Health Gaps
Workforces grounded in community knowledge are better equipped to recognize the root causes of health challenges and design interventions that actually work where they're needed most.
Inspires the Next Generation
When young people see capable professionals leading in their communities, public health becomes a career they can picture for themselves. A visible, qualified workforce builds tomorrow's pipeline.
Promotes Prevention and Wellness
Professionals who understand local values and behaviors can encourage early intervention and healthy habits more effectively, reducing the long-term burden of chronic illness.
Shapes Better Policies and Programs
Decisions grounded in frontline experience and real community knowledge produce more effective, responsive programs. Hiring well means designing well.
Strengthens Emergency Response
In a crisis, communication speed and credibility matter. A workforce that communities already know and trust responds faster, communicates more clearly, and delivers more effective care under pressure.
Recruit & Retain Your Workforce
Tools to help you attract, hire, retain, and grow a strong public health workforce. Explore practical resources for every stage of the hiring and retention process.
Digital Recruitment & Retention Guide
Build a resilient workforce with practical strategies for recruitment, onboarding, employee engagement, retention, and workforce development.
Inside this guide: Digital recruitment and outreach strategies; onboarding and employee engagement best practices; retention and workforce development approaches; and emerging opportunities to leverage AI and digital tools.
Job Description Guide
Create clear, compelling, and inclusive job postings that attract qualified applicants and reflect your organization’s mission, values, and workforce needs.
Inside this guide: Effective job descriptions; best practices for qualifications and competencies; and strategies for inclusive and equitable hiring language.
Job Interview Guide
Conduct more effective interviews with structured questions, evaluation tools, and proven techniques to identify candidates who will thrive in your organization.
Inside this guide: Interview planning and preparation; behavioral interviewing techniques; and candidate evaluation and selection frameworks.
Retention Best Practices
Practical strategies to reduce turnover, support professional growth, and create a workplace where public health professionals can thrive.
Inside this guide: Strategies to address burnout, support career advancement and professional development, strengthen organizational culture, build leadership pathways, and improve long-term workforce stability.
Prepare the Next Generation
Help students explore public health careers, build essential skills, and navigate the path from education to employment.
Inside this guide: Explore public health specializations, build essential skills, choose the right degree path, find internships and fellowships, develop professional networks, and prepare for resumes and interviews.
Reach & Engage Your Community
Use social media as a recruitment and awareness-building tool to reach job seekers, engage communities, showcase public health careers, and strengthen your organization’s visibility.
Inside this guide: Platform-specific strategies, ready-to-use content ideas, messaging and hashtag tips, ways to showcase career pathways, and approaches for reaching communities traditional recruitment may miss.
Explore AI & the Public Health Workforce
Explore how AI may support recruitment, training, and service delivery—while examining the risks, equity considerations, and policies needed for responsible adoption.
Inside the report: AI-assisted recruitment and training, workforce development opportunities, bias and data-quality risks, the digital divide, equitable adoption, and recommendations for responsible AI governance.
Commission Report
Can AI Save the Public Health Workforce?
As public health agencies face a staffing crisis, with more than 129,000 practitioners projected to leave the field, AI is emerging as a potential tool to support recruitment, training, and service delivery. This paper explores:
- How AI can support targeted outreach, mentorship, and reducing hiring bias in public health recruitment
- Where AI shows promise for personalized training and workforce development
- The risks of AI bias in healthcare, including poor data quality, inaccurate diagnostic readings, and medical over-surveillance of marginalized communities
- The impact of the digital divide on equitable AI adoption in public health
- Policy recommendations for responsible AI governance, community engagement, and expanded representation in clinical trials
- The disproportionate impact of workforce shortages on Black, Latino, and Indigenous communities
Digital Career Guide: Empowering Public Health Students
Learn how to navigate a successful career path in public health, from setting goals to landing the job. This guide covers:
- Career exploration across specializations like epidemiology, global health, environmental health, and health policy
- Building essential skills, including data analysis, communication, and cultural competency
- Choosing the right degree program and understanding accreditation and licensure requirements
- Finding and applying for internships, fellowships, and entry-level opportunities
- Networking strategies, including building mentor relationships and using professional associations
- Resume building, interview prep, and how to present your strengths to hiring managers
Hiring & Retention Resources
Building a strong public health workforce starts with the right tools. Download our three-part hiring toolkit to help your organization attract qualified candidates, make informed hiring decisions, and retain top talent for the long term.
Step 1: Attract the Right Candidates
Job Description Guide
You'll learn:
- How to write effective job descriptions
- Best practices for qualifications and competencies
- Strategies for inclusive and equitable hiring language
Step 2: Select the Best Talent
Job Interview Guide
You'll learn:
- Interview planning and preparation
- Behavioral interviewing techniques
- Candidate evaluation and selection frameworks
Step 3: Retain and Grow Your Workforce
A Digital Recruitment and Retention Guide for Public Health Officials
You'll learn:
- Digital recruitment and outreach strategies
- Employee onboarding and engagement best practices
- Retention and workforce development approaches
- Emerging opportunities to leverage AI and digital tools
Building Strong Hiring Practices Through Interviews
LEARN MORE
Building Inclusive Hiring Practices Through Interviews
Your Guide to Hiring Right & Growing Talent
LEARN MORE
Your Guide to Hiring Right & Growing Talent
It includes best practices for crafting inclusive job postings, best platforms on which to post jobs, keywords/phrases to include, and a sample job description.
Partner With Us to Strengthen the Public Health Workforce
Strong partnerships help build a stronger, more connected public health workforce. Partner with us to expand the reach of these resources and support workforce development in your community.
As a partner, you can:
- Access additional social media and outreach materials
- Co-host webinars and educational events
- Share workforce resources with your network
- Collaborate on opportunities to strengthen the public health workforce
Interested in Partnering?
Complete the form below to connect with our team and learn more about partnership opportunities.
Social Media Guide
Learn how to use social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and YouTube as a recruitment and awareness-building tool for public health organizations. This guide includes: