Recruitment is the way a fire department attracts new members.
This article outlines the basic elements of targeted recruitment programs and presents some insights from programs already in place. But a productive recruitment drive is just part of what it takes to increase the number of women on a fire department. For recruitment to be really effective, managers must establish a positive climate within the department before encouraging women to become firefighters. Fire departments must also begin to recognize, and take advantage of, the recruitment impact of most of their public activities. Expanding the concept of recruitment in these two directions will make the recruitment drive itself more productive and will increase the likelihood that the women who are recruited will actually become firefighters.