Recruiting Veterans

 

Each year over 200,000 individuals leave military service and return to the community, most from where they were born and raised. These are very talented individuals who have worked within a organized structure to achieve objectives in sometimes difficult and life threatening situations.

Learning from our forefathers, those in the military make good fire and EMS personnel, many times coming with the skills and knowledge already needed to fight fires, rescue people and perform medical services. This is a very talented pool of job seekers looking for military-like or military friendly organization to become a part of for a career or to volunteer. So, the question becomes – how do I attract them? Here are some steps:

1. Develop a recruitment strategy for veterans. Find out who is returning home, when they are returning home, etc. If there are local groups such as the VFW or American Legion (from whom you probably already have members), work them to recruit.
2. If you do have connections to current members of the armed forces (their parents, relatives or friends) advise them the fire company is a way for the returning service member to get engaged with civilians and the community, make new friends, etc.
3. Do the marketing thing. Work with local military recruiters when individuals leave the service to route them to you for engagement. Provide promotional items if necessary, to peak their interest.
4. If there are existing veteran websites in your area, they may be willing to allow you to advertise your organization.
5. Be able to translate the current military activities, language and engagement into your organization. Current members with prior military experience can help achieve this.

These are just a few tips, but here is the big one….Veterans can play a big part in your organization. Recruit them, engage them, make them welcome and they will help make your organization successful.

Using Remote Techniques to Recruit Members

 

Clearly the world is changing and a new normal as being created. The use of social media has been identified as a new normal cultural factor in recruiting people, but basic techniques can still work.

To achieve this, use your various social media tools not just to post messages and photos but to create excitement about your organization, develop a team that will share your messages and then them to be shared again. Solicit and constantly look for ways to get people to like and visit your site(s) for information. This is more entertaining and visual oriented than traditional techniques.

Use your sites for

1. recognizing members of the organization for efforts, achievement and activities
2. agency recognition within the community or the fire service
3. letting the public know what you are doing, fire prevention activities, incidents you responded to, etc.

Use social media and electronic communication techniques (as well as posters and mailers) to:

1. Make members feel safe and confident in doing what is necessary for the organization
2. Publicize volunteer fire and EMS activity pluses & minuses on facebook, twitter and other social media venues you may be using to get the word out.
3. Reach out to those who have left the organization to join your site(s) to keep in touch
4. When you get interest from someone, schedule an interview and tour, using social distancing and access restrictions as appropriate, making them feel comfortable and safe visiting your station.
5. When chatting with someone or meeting with them, stress relationship building, service to community, and developing the skills and knowledge necessary to achieve success.

Today’s volunteer is constantly looking at how the service can help them — so tell them. They can learn or practice skills and knowledge about plumbing, electrical, HVAC, construction and every other trade or management task. There is NO better learning ground for life, than that of a volunteer fire and EMS provider. This is the biggest selling point of all, regardless of where or how you promote it.

Recruitment in a Social Distancing World

 

As with many areas of life, the coronavirus pandemic and integration of social distancing will change how we interact with people and recruiting fire and EMS personnel will be affected. We only need to look at changes taking place in other aspects of life where contacting people is critical to success. Political campaigns (door to door canvasing), military recruiting and college recruiting have all struggled to adjust to the new realities of recruiting in a time of social distancing and shelter-in place orders, becoming almost 100% media and social media driven.

Community activities being curtailed are another scenario which will modify recruitment. With protracted periods of social distancing, these in-person interactions may no longer be viable from a public health standpoint. How then, can we engage people in such a world?

1. Leveraging pre-existing personalized social connections is one option that involves contacts between people who belong to the same social network, such as friends, families, acquaintances, or neighbors. In this model , individuals called “captains” commit to identifying and encouraging at least 10 people they know to join. The captains, in turn, recruit other captains, thereby increasing the reach of these efforts even further. Research demonstrates that this approach can be substantially more effective than traditional efforts.
2. We can take this to today’s world and expand the approach to social medial applications using emails, tweets, text messages, and facebook posts to motivate engagements.

The concept that a person is more likely to be swayed by friends than strangers is very compelling. This is very much consistent with a “word of mouth” effort and the “Everyone Gets One” program promoted in the FASP Resource Center.

What Do You Want In a Member?

 

Like any business or group of people, your members have to serve a purpose and therefore, must have certain interests, skills, knowledge, capabilities, or be willing to engage in those attributes. That means you need to develop a job description and performance expectations for members so that they understand what is expected of them and you don’t waste time and resources developing a member that may not have the critical capabilities to help you.

What are you looking for:

• Firefighter
• EMS responder
• Administrative help
• Fundraising help
• Other

Develop a list of requirements from the candidate:

• Age range
• Education
• Background clearances
• Citizenship & residency
• Physical and mental capability and capacity
• Valid driver license
• Etc.

Then search locations in and around your community, where you can find these types of potential members. Don’t just advertise for members and expect them to flock in and meet specific needs.

FASP SAFER Grant Program Offers Local Grant Opportunity

 

The Firemen’s Association of the State of Pennsylvania’s SAFER Grant to enhance recruitment for Pennsylvania’s fire and EMS community was renewed. As a part of this program, a local grant opportunity is being provided. The Fireman’s Association of the State of Pennsylvania (FASP) is offering recruitment grants to fire and EMS agencies in Pennsylvania as part of a comprehensive SAFER Grant. The grant request must be in the hands of the Grant Review Committee by October 31, 2020. The Grants will be awarded by November 30, 2020.

 

 

 

Details include, by accepting this grant, the agency hereby agrees to provide a report to the Fireman’s Associations of the State of Pennsylvania Grant Program Administrator or funds will be returned to the Association. The grant request and the grant report shall be submitted electronically at www.becomeapafirefighter.com.   THE FUNDS MUST BE EXPENDED/COMMITTED BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR REQUEST. RECEIPTS MUST BE PROVIDED FOR FINAL PAYMENT, AS WELL AS RESULTS OF YOUR RECRUITMENT EFFORT.

 

 

 

The report form for completion is within the grant request. The maximum amount of the grant is $5,000. Grants will be awarded for fire/EMS agencies who want to customize and implement the core recruitment marketing materials and programs in use and/or developed by FASP. The funds can be used to customize the materials based on local recruitment issues as well as to pay for printing costs associated with the materials, enhance your website, etc. The first fifteen QUALIFIED submissions will receive funding. The expected goal is that you will be able to recruit at least one qualified person for specified purposes. To qualify THE AGENCY (FIRE/EMS DEPARTMENT) MUST BE A MEMBER OF THE FIREMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA.

 

 

 

Applications are available on the FASP website www.becomeapafirefighter.com.

 

 

 

If you believe you have a great program, PSA, or recruitment and retention tool in use today, that you think is worthwhile to place on the website for others to use, send a copy and related info to bjenaway@comcast.net for review and possible inclusion in the PA Fire/EMS Recruitment & Retention Website.