By Jesse Schilling
For many fire departments, recruitment efforts simply were not an issue just a few years ago. Fast forward to the present day, and 90% of paid fire departments are struggling with bringing in new members. Volunteer departments are experiencing the same challenges, if not worse.
There are many theories about why the fire service is experiencing these issues. Headlines about pay, cancer, PTSD, suicide and COVID have become associated with the profession. Even though the headlines are not entirely wrong, they are often the loudest voices online, shaping how our profession is represented. Yet most of us in the profession would agree that it is still one of the greatest professions there is — and we would do it again.
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So, how can we reignite the interest to drive people back to this career? It all starts with getting back to the basics.
5 back-to-basics steps
Here we’ll review five basic concepts that you can start immediately to bring your recruitment efforts up to speed. But remember, this is not a one-and-done project. Recruitment is about playing the long game. What you start now needs to be maintained, and if you stay consistent, it will grow.
Step 1: Know your people
You will need to find the social butterfly or “town mayor” as your recruitment lead. Find that person who will happily interact with anyone and everyone and bring out the best in those they engage with. Many younger individuals are shy and timid; it takes a special person to make them feel comfortable and draw them out of their shell. Younger generations have had a unique experience over the past few years, so leaning on your most engaging, enthusiastic recruiters will make a meaningful difference in breaking through with them.
Step 2: Connect with community
Your lead will not be the only recruiter, of course. It’s imperative to identify those members with a passion and a niche in other areas related to recruitment, such as veterans or fitness communities, even fire/EMS service instructors. Leverage what your people are naturally good at and give them the space to use those strengths.
Some of you are already doing this; others are not. And if you are not, you can start this ASAP. Tapping into your community is key to recruitment. Seek out the career advisor at your local high school and determine when they will hold their next career expo. And if they don’t have them, determine when you can send in your recruitment team for a quick presentation. Then do the same thing with all of your local colleges and technical schools. After that, expand your radius within a reasonable distance because the departments around you are likely not reaching out to them.
Additionally, find your local Boys & Girls Club, Girls Inc., or any other youth programs in your area and start getting your team involved. This is a great opportunity to expand your CRR efforts as well. You can easily tie in home fire safety, CPR training or any of your community’s strategic CRR initiatives into your recruitment efforts.
I know that sounds like a lot of youth targeting, but remember, recruitment is a long game.
Step 3: Tap into academies
Now, let’s identify the people who are ready to start the job tomorrow. Where I live, there are approximately 40 schools across the region that have fire academies that students complete to become state-certified before they can get hired.
And much like the situation with high schools, you need to start connecting to all of those academies and find out when they are having career days where you can show off your department.
Step 4: Sell your department
This brings us to the most important question: Why should they work for you? This is where you need to highlight what makes your department stand out. Sounds easy, right? I have sat through other departments’ recruitment presentations, and I can tell you, it’s not. Whether it’s presenting to a high school, college or fire academy audience, it’s all about selling what makes you unique and relatable. If you have a collective bargaining agreement, pull out all of the high-value benefits and tell them. If you have the highest pay, best educational benefits, best schedule, show them. If you don’t, that’s fine, show them how your culture, your leadership, your people makes your organization a great place to work for.
Step 5: Address their concerns
Remember those issues I mentioned above that could scare off potential applicants? You need to make it clear how you are combating those issues. How are you working to prevent cancer in your department? How are you addressing PTSD? How are you addressing mental health challenges? It might seem like a lot, but if we fail to focus to address some of the perceptions about our profession’s most significant drawbacks, why would anyone want to become a firefighter? Show them the steps you are taking to create a fire department where they can be healthy and safe.
Opportunities are everywhere
It’s important to keep an eye out for recruitment opportunities at all levels — local, regional and national.
For example, a few months ago, our department decided to have a recruitment booth at Fire-Rescue International. Not only was it a great place to meet and network with so many of you, but it was also an incredible opportunity to engage with the 7,000 teenagers from across the county who happened to be at the other convention hall, just a few escalators away.
One of our recruiters happened to notice that there was a massive youth group right next door and asked if she could bring some of our flyers to that event. So we walked over and started networking and meeting kids. The recruiter was passionate about engaging with the group, even though they weren’t from our area, to help promote the fire service as a whole. My role was to meet with the administration staff and network with them. If any kids were interested in a career as a firefighter, no matter where they lived, we would help them find the closest fire department and connect them.
Start here
Remember, this is all about the basics — getting your department to baseline with recruitment efforts by getting your people engaged, connecting with your community, targeting academies, selling your department and tackling challenges head-on. And always remember to be adaptable to unique circumstances. Start here. The next part, retention, gets a little harder.
| WATCH: How to create an incredible fire department recruitment video
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jesse Schilling is the battalion chief of Safety & Recruitment for Sarasota County (Florida) Fire Department, bringing more than 19 years of service to the organization. In his role, Schilling leads department-wide initiatives focused on firefighter wellness, risk management, leadership development and continuous quality improvement. He also serves on the IAFC Company Officer Section Board and the IAFC iWork Council, and is currently pursuing his MBA at the University of South Florida.
