If this is the best job in the world, why are we having trouble recruiting?
Originally published on LinkedIn
I’ve written before that I have the best job I can imagine. I really believe it. It changed my life. But anyone paying attention has read and heard for years that the volunteer fire service in the US is facing a recruitment/retention crisis. Now we are seeing these same issues trying to fill career positions. When I took the test for my fire department I was one of nearly 100 applicants, now our tests draw 15-20 people. What’s going on?
The starting salaries for departments are typically decent, nobody gets rich doing this job, but I suspect pay isn’t the issue. Pension benefits for new employees have been diminished during my career, but I doubt the average young candidate really takes retirement benefits into account. Something else is causing these changes and I think it is the changing workforce and our failure as fire service leaders to keep pace with the labor market. The bottom line is we have put up too many barriers.
Where I work, (in the suburban Illinois fire service) most departments require certification as a firefighter and licensure as a paramedic as conditions of hiring. This means that an interested candidate needs to have figured out how to navigate two separate state agencies, and put themselves through two years of training (at a minimum) at a cost of thousands of dollars…just to apply for a job.
This is made even harder because there’s so much bad information about how to get a job at a fire department. For example, community college counselors tell students that if they get a degree in Fire Science they can get a job at a fire department. While higher education is important and a degree may get a candidate some preference points on a hiring list, most degree programs don’t include certification as a firefighter.
We all know people who are second or third-generation firefighters. There is nothing wrong with carrying on the family tradition. As a father, I would be proud to see my kids work in the fire service. However, I’d be willing to bet one reason there are so many second and third-generation firefighters is that the hiring process is overly complicated and it really helps to know someone to guide you through the extensive process.
A sample case:
Let’s imagine a young, enthusiastic person who dreams of a career in the fire service. They somehow find out what is required to get started and find their way through the years-long process of receiving their needed certifications. They are now certified as a firefighter and licensed as a paramedic. Now they have to find a job.
Under state statute, each department maintains its own eligibility list, which they make by holding tests and interviews. Our candidate is looking for a job in the suburbs and needs to fill out a separate application for each department, often paying application fees of $50 or more. They will also need to demonstrate that they are physically fit, which usually means they need a current Candidate Physical Ability Test (CPAT) card, which can cost them $100 or more.
Based on their performance on the written test and a panel interview they are placed on an eligibility list, where they can wait for months, hearing nothing about a job. Then when their name reaches the top of the list they will receive a phone call from a fire chief and receive a “conditional offer”. Even after the schooling, the written test, the panel interview, and the waiting, they still have a long way to go.
They’ll likely have to submit to a psychological assessment, a polygraph, a full medical evaluation, and perhaps further interviews. All this additional testing is done on their own time. If they pass these components, they will receive a start date.
From the day our candidate decided to pursue this career to the day they got hired years have passed. They have demonstrated again and again that they are determined, smart, tough, and willing to sacrifice to get the job. However, when they arrive at work on their first day they learn that none of what they went through means anything. In addition to being given a big book of training objectives to accomplish within a prescribed timeframe, a lieutenant or captain will go over performance expectations. This is necessary and good, clear expectations are essential. But then comes the real expectations talk.
In all likelihood, a senior firefighter will take them aside and tell them what is expected of them regarding firehouse life. They will be told not to talk too much, to make sure the kitchen is clean, and the laundry is done. They may be told to keep fresh hot coffee in the pot until 3 pm because chief so-and-so likes a cup after lunch. They have just spent years preparing to do a demanding and complicated job, only to be handed a mop and told to be quiet.
Starting with Why
I’ve sat at enough firehouse tables to know what firefighters my age think of the younger generation. “They always want to know why” is the common complaint. I don’t think this is an accident, as a father I intentionally raised kids who ask why. Critical thinking is an important skill after all.
I am a big fan of the Simon Sinek book “Start with Why”. It has become a bit of a cliché but if you’re in leadership and you haven’t read this book, you should.
Don’t get me wrong, I see the value in maintaining a high standard. I fully recognize the value in “earning respect” and starting at the bottom. But if we want to remain competitive and attract talented and motivated people from current and future generations, we have to change the way we recruit, hire, and treat our new people.
Really think about it for a minute. We make our candidates get their own certifications (unlike our own police counterparts), we make them pay for the privilege of applying for a job, we put them on a list and don’t contact them for months, we put them through a battery of additional tests, then when they have undergone all this we hire them and allow them to be treated like they aren’t valuable. Why?
Let’s examine the “why” for the things we do:
Why don’t we actively recruit as well as other agencies and industries? Shouldn’t we have a presence at high schools, job fairs, and on social media? The days of hoping great candidates show up at the firehouse are over, if we want the best candidates we need to cast a wide net.
Why do we require certification as a firefighter and licensure as a paramedic to even apply for a job? Are there otherwise qualified people who could make great employees but don’t have the resources to put themselves through years of training in the hopes of a job? Are we requiring this because it’s the best thing to do, or because it’s good for our budgets?
Why do we charge an application fee? What are we accomplishing by doing this? Is it ethical to charge a fee to apply for a public job? There is no application fee to apply for a job at city hall, why is there a fee to apply for police and fire positions? Is this the right thing to do or are we just shifting a burden to our potential employees?
Why does the CPAT card cost so much? I completely understand the need to maintain a standard of physical fitness. Shouldn’t we be paying for this? We aren’t making candidates pay for other testing components, why are we making them pay for this?
Why do we not communicate with candidates on our hiring lists? The people on our list are valuable future assets for our department. At a minimum, we could set up an email list and send them periodic updates on upcoming positions.
Why would we allow employees to be ostracized or treated differently because they’re new? I know this is baked deep into firehouse culture in a lot of departments, but let's be honest about it. Is it really the best approach to treat our new employees like they’re not valuable after we made them objectively demonstrate their value before they even walked through our door?
I know these questions are uncomfortable, and I predict some pushback to these ideas. But given the labor situation we are facing; we owe it to ourselves and our departments to change our thinking.
What are your thoughts?
