Poor diversity representation becomes a negative reinforcing cycle. If a department has only one or a few members from underrepresented groups, those individuals might be constantly asked to represent the department around hiring time, which is not necessarily fair to those members. One solution to this problem is for fire departments to work together when doing formal recruitment and outreach events.
There is economy of scale when departments collaborate in this way, and it can also be an opportunity for departments in a region to get to know one another better and develop good cooperative relationships. Ultimately, the goal is to introduce potential members to what it means to be a firefighter or paramedic in a fundamental way, from which individual departments can then distinguish themselves.
Fire departments must use the media, and social media in particular, to project and manage their identity in the community. Media presence may ramp up during formal hiring processes but should be an engaging and ongoing effort at all times. Some fire service leaders may not feel especially comfortable with social media and its technical aspects, but there are plenty of people out there who are, and some of them may already work in your department.
Do a skills inventory in your organization and seek out those with expertise and interest in this area. If necessary, solicit outside help. Regarding social media, the formal positive message can be seriously undermined when individual department members behave inappropriately in this forum. Even single events of inappropriate behavior can undo a lot of effort on the positive side.
For this reason, every department member must be trained on their personal accountability and responsibility when it comes to social media, and the reasons for policies in this area.
All department members are acting as potential recruitment representatives all the time and need to understand that this is the reality they live with. Everyone is a member of the recruitment team. Linda Willing is a retired career fire officer and currently works with emergency services agencies and other organizations on issues of leadership development, decision-making, and diversity management through her company, RealWorld Training and Consulting.
She is also an adjunct instructor and curriculum advisor with the National Fire Academy. Connect with Willing via email. You must enable JavaScript in your browser to view and post comments.
More FireRescue1 Articles. You will be expected to take responsibility for developing your own skills and ensuring that your fitness levels are maintained as the work can be demanding, both physically and mentally. Becoming a firefighter in the fire and rescue service does not come easily.
In fact many serving firefighters have spent months and years applying and preparing themselves prior to application. You too must be prepared to work hard and also be patient if you are to pursue a career within the fire and rescue service.
The process of joining the fire and rescue service varies throughout the UK but the principles you need to follow are the same. First of all, we suggest you read each and every one of the pages within our recruitment section by using the menu on the left. In fact, the amount of emails we recieved resulted in us closing our contacts page permanently. Once you have read the pages and have decided its the career you wish to pursue, you will need to find out if, and when your local fire and rescue service are recruiting for firefighters.
There are various methods of obtaining this information through the site. If you are applying to join the retained service then a trip to your local fire station should be your first port of call.
Once you have your application form, you need to follow the information you have gained by reading the recruitment section of the site. This follows the same for each stage of the recruitment process. Thankfully, overall the number of incidents we attend is decreasing. Our service is focusing more and more on prevention and protection work so that we can continue to reduce the number and impact of incidents in South Yorkshire. Our firefighters spend a lot of their time out in the community delivering fire prevention advice and other safety messages.
This involves conducting home fire safety checks and fitting smoke alarms. They also deliver presentations and talks to school children and community groups. South Yorkshire communities are diverse and we are working hard to meet their differing needs through the services we provide.
Our firefighters must be able to communicate effectively with varied individuals and groups- from older people, young adults and school children to religious groups and people from a variety of backgrounds and cultures. Wholetime Firefighter — this is a full time role and for the majority of these firefighters this will be their primary occupation.
Wholetime firefighters are required to work days, nights, evenings, weekends and public holidays on one of three duty systems.
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