Tag Archives: retention

Lots to Tweet About

There’s been plenty to tweet about lately regarding recruitment and retention in the fire service. Some of the info shared is good news and some is bad news, regardless, it all contains lessons we can learn from. Sometimes there’s so ...

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Got Cash for College?

A college education is one of the greatest gifts and rewards we can ever offer a volunteer firefighter. Giving them the opportunity to earn a college degree makes them more employable. Making them more employable offers them the opportunity to secure ...

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Funk or Junk? Rockland’s Bravest

The FireRECRUITER’s helmet is off to my good friend and fellow recruiter Frank Hutton and Rockland County’s Creative Approach to the Fire Service Committee for putting forth a great effort in addressing recruitment and retention in their region. With the help ...

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FireRECRUITER Goes to Indy

Tiger Schmittendorf, aka the “FireRECRUITER” will be going back to Indianapolis later this month to present at FDIC – the Fire Department Instructors Conference – the largest gathering of firefighters in the world. He’ll be presenting “Understanding and Motivating Today’s ...

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Syosset Seeing Success

I came across this great story while scouring the web for recruitment success stories and was not surprised to see that this department was having success in bolstering their ranks. According to this news story on their web site, the Syosset ...

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The Difference Between Flush and Flushing

Having just completed a week-long National Fire Academy course in Advanced Safety Operations & Management, I was thinking of the correlation between safety — and recruitment — and retention. One could argue that the connections are both direct and significant. If ...

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Can you afford to live without a live-in?

As many volunteer fire departments struggle to maintain adequate staffing, there’s still a long-standing solution available that is often overlooked. Like many of the challenges we face, the solution to inadequate staffing may require more imagination and sheer will than it ...

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Tempering Turmoil

As many communities are asking lots of questions and weighing the costs – and the value – of their volunteer fire service, this columnist offers what I think is one of the most balanced news editorials I’ve seen about the volunteer fire service ...

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Make the Right Investments

Is it just me, or does any one else smell opportunity? You say you don't have enough volunteers? Here's an idea, take those donations and invest them in a VOLUNTEER RECRUITMENT CAMPAIGN!!!! As I've spoke and written of many times before, why is it that we spend the thousands and sometimes millions of dollars to support the inanimate objects of our jobs that are entirely useless without the proper quantity and quality of firefighters to operate them?

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