Talents and Interests survey

njcant1 wrote:I am aware of - and have downloaded - the Talent and Interest Survey form the church provides.

In case others don't know what you are referring to, the Talent and Interest Survey form is available (free of charge) at store.lds.org. It's a bit out of date (it's 10 years old), but it gives you some ideas and might be a helpful starting place.

While the concept is great, I think most people find the way the Talents and Interests are implemented is too unwieldy to be really usable. It's not easy to input and the reports are limited.

njcant1 wrote:The Talents and Interests section inMLS is a great feature that our ward is not utilizing to its usefulness. We have a great need to find out what the members are interested in and what their talents are in order to fill much needed callings, and to give others different opportunities to serve. We think the best way we can gather this information is by having the members fill out a survey form.

Does anyone use some type of survey form for their wards that would list interests, talents, previous callings, etc.? I would guess that most wards have new move-ins complete this form when they first move into a ward. Then actually put the information in MLS to run reports from the info.

I would love to see any examples that anyone uses that you would be willing to post in this thread. And, yes, I am aware of - and have downloaded - the Talent and Interest Survey form the church provides.

Thanks in advance.

We have one that I could scan and post on this thread. Give me a day or so, I'll try to post it here.

The talent part of our document is not so comprehensive, as the main purpose of the document is to collect the information to help request records. Still, you may find it useful.

I think RussellHltn hit the nail on the head. The feature as implemented in MLS is difficult to use and has limited usefulness. I've had to find other ways to gather and report on this kind of info.

craig wrote:I think RussellHltn hit the nail on the head. The feature as implemented in MLS is difficult to use and has limited usefulness. I've had to find other ways to gather and report on this kind of info.

I believe the initial post was looking for suggestions of what would work, not opinions of what wouldn't work. So if you have used other means to gather and report, please share your experiences.

Alan_Brown wrote:I believe the initial post was looking for suggestions of what would work, not opinions of what wouldn't work. So if you have used other means to gather and report, please share your experiences.

This is true. I agree with those of you who feel the MLS Talents and Interest function is somewhat cumbersome, but we are just looking for a way to gather the information. Whether or not we use MLS to store and query the data has yet to be determined.

Thanks!

mkmurray wrote:We have one that I could scan and post on this thread. Give me a day or so, I'll try to post it here.

The talent part of our document is not so comprehensive, as the main purpose of the document is to collect the information to help request records. Still, you may find it useful.

I apologize it's later than promised. Hopefully it is close to what you are looking for. Here is the attachment:

I posted one that is attached here a while back. But I echo the sentiment that the current implementation of it in MLS and MLS's custom reports options in are to cumbersome and limited to be of much use right now.

I would like to find an interactive PDF version of the Talent and Interest Survey (33812) so it can be distributed via email or LUWS. Ward members can then fill out the form electronically and submit it with a click of a button on the form to someone's email address.

I have started adapting the Talent and Interest Survey to be interactive but it will require quite a bit of work building all of the fields, etc. I'm wondering if anyone has already done this so I don't repeat the effort unnecessarily.

Thank you.

Over more than 25 years of ward clerking experience I've seen talent surveys come and go many times. The lists tend to have fleeting value, and are frequently ignored. Now that we're facing tough financial times I see even more value in gathering and using the data. I can see welfare and fellowshipping value in having talent lists available as decision making tools. But I have yet to see any permanence in the data, or any broad interest in or real application of it. Talents seem to be effectively shared whether we have lists or not. When there are special needs for welfare or fellowshipping, ward leaders seem to be able to find members with appropriate talents. Maybe talent lists should remain informal, at least for now.

Back in 1991 when we were still in the Dos Versions of MLS, we have listed data for members who want their resources known, of their Emergency, Talent and Interest information. We have added EQUIPMENT; trucks, RVs, trailers, backhoes, Generators, Tents, etc, to the Church "Talent and Interest Survey". Listing there also available sleeping rooms, great for the Bishop to know, as the highway here often closes in winter here. We have had the Wards using the data listed there, adding in the link to the TUW program to do updates by member input would be great. Making information available to other Wards, Stake, Region, etc in Activities and Emergencies could be added, linking needs with resources. This has also been useful in Presidencies getting to know what "talents" are out there. We have the data securely in MLS but it is not always easy to get to, in the present form. It may be needed to just have leadership access to the overall info in TUW? It would be great if the Region needed things, they could draw on members resources.
I am in the business of supplying Emergency Support Equipment to the government and the biggest problem they have is knowing what nearest equipment could be used, quickly.

actmess wrote:We have had the Wards using the data listed there, adding in the link to the TUW program to do updates by member input would be great.

What does TUW mean?

I began working with the custom talents and interests area of MLS a number of months ago in my ward. We can now print reports in MLS that show us members and their talents/interests/resources. Here's what I did:

1. I began with this thread and customized one of the questionnaires. My version of that questionnaire is attached to this post. (Member Information Sheet)

2. I then went to: MLS > System Options > Members and added custom talents and interests and resources. I also created custom fields for any item that required more or specific data.

3. I handed each member of the ward the member information sheet and asked them to complete it. I then entered that data in MLS. This is done by going to: Membership > Custom Member Fields > and then selecting a member by name.

The system is working beautifully. Of course I have updated the Member Information Sheet a number of times during the process and will probably continue to adapt it as the needs of the ward continue to manifest. To date, the project has survived two MLS updates without any loss of data :rolleyes:!

My hope is that this system or one like it can be adopted by the church so that this data can move with the member record.

This following photo may be helpful

I have created a sample survey based on the Church's Talent & Interest survey (form 33812) that can be completed online with a free account through Survey Monkey. The intent is to email it throughout the stake for members to complete online. Before making this live, does anyone have any feedback as to the Church's approval of using such a method?

Survey link:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CSK6LMK

woode wrote:Before making this live, does anyone have any feedback as to the Church's approval of using such a method?

If I understand this right, this is strictly a survey. You did not give the site any membership information? Because that's one concern, disclosing personal information to a third party.

The other question is to what extent the local leaders "encourage" everyone to participate, since in doing so they have to disclose some personal information.

I have, for several years, used Custom Fields as a STRING yield six new talents and interest categories called:Sports ability, music ability, Special training(i.e. Dr, Nurse,Welder, Barber, CPR, Mid-Wife, etc) , Food (cooking) specialiy, Heavy equipment (owner/operator of any kind, etc), plus other types of heavy equipment owner/opeator......Our ward has been doing this for years.....Our Bishopric, Priestood leaders, and Relief Society gets a full copy of EVERYTHING submitted by or obtaned from ward members. Ward Councils "can not" function very well with out such info...If any one wants a sample of (1) member data collected, (2) survey sheet....with...definitions for each Custom Field, and (3) Simple steps to achieve this on a single page...please send me your email address: mine is: colingardner3@gmail.com.

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Hi I have just been called as a Ward welfare specialist and if any one as a Talents, Interests,Skills, & Resouces survey template I would appreciate it you can email in Australia on malcolm@mcleancorp.com many thanks Malcolm McLean

MalMac wrote:if any one as a Talents, Interests,Skills, & Resouces survey template I would appreciate it you can email...

There are several options attached to or linked to posts just in this very topic: see here, here, here, here, here, and here.

ryanlott wrote:https://www.lds.org/bc/content/shared/c ... survey.pdf

That's the same form I linked to 8 years ago in this post earlier in the topic.

colingardner wrote:If any one wants a sample of (1) member data collected, (2) survey sheet....with...definitions for each Custom Field, and (3) Simple steps to achieve this on a single page...please send me your email address.

Hi! Is this information still available?

Marty McKay, ward clerk
martymckay9@gmail.com

woode wrote:I have created a sample survey based on the Church's Talent & Interest survey (form 33812) that can be completed online with a free account through Survey Monkey. The intent is to email it throughout the stake for members to complete online. Before making this live, does anyone have any feedback as to the Church's approval of using such a method?

Survey link:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CSK6LMK

I'd love to use this survey. How can I duplicate it so that it comes to me when our ward members complete it?

Does anyone know where I can get this survey https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/bc/ ... survey.pdf in Spanish? I know it's available in Spanish (I found a packet of this survey in Spanish once), but I can't seem to find it online besides via a website called Scribd, which I have to pay for. I also couldn't find it on the Church's online store.