So, occasionally you will get a quest saying that there are outlaws nearby, and you have to go kill them. Outlaws are similar to soldiers because of the fact that they are for the combat support, however, the way you get them is different. If you are battling, all you have to do is tell them to follow you, and they will follow you wherever you go. You can also choose soldiers for your crew, and the function of soldiers is obvious: they help you in the combat.

And it will be really hard to recruit janitors. Janitors only increase your crew number without increasing any productivity. They try to look like as if they are doing something when actually they aren’t. The janitor is absolutely useless, and even it’s mentioned on the wiki. There are different types of the crew and you should select a crew that fits your requirement, and then you can train the crew accordingly. Once you find the crew members, they will give you the quests, and as you complete those quests, you will get a chance of that villager joining your group. You can take crew members from any village you like there is no specific village for choosing crew members. Crew members can help you in many tasks and activities, but finding the right crew members and then consequently training them is a tricky task.

Starbound getting crew members