FY2010 Arlington Fire Department Annual Report FY 2010 | Page 37

The Arlington Fire Department Recruitment Officer reports
directly to the Assistant Chief of Administration and is
responsible for the following job functions:
Coordinating and scheduling yearly hiring processes.
Representing the Arlington Fire Department at job fairs,
community programs and business meetings.
Developing programs to enhance cultural, age and
gender diversity of applicants.
Make recommendations regarding hiring processes and
budgetary needs for recruiting.
Developing program objectives, performance measuring,
analyzing data and evaluating the effectiveness of programs.

Innovation in Recruitment and Selection
In 2010, the Arlington Fire Department introduced a new hiring process. The process was open to
individuals, 19 years or older, who possessed a high school diploma or GED. This new process
allowed us to significantly increase our applicant pool by a difference of 1,480 submitted applications
(as compared to 2009). The new 2010 hiring process also enhanced the cultural, age and gender
diversity of applicants. In 2010, the Arlington Fire Department became the first fire department in
the state of Texas to administer a $50 application fee, which proved to be an effective process
improvement.

Application Process
The application period opened August 2, 2010 and ended August 31, 2010. Within a month, 1,894
applications were received. The success in receiving this substantial number of applicants is due to
the implementation of the Recruitment Officer position.

Written Test
The written test was administered to 1,674 applicants on September 8, 2010 at the Arlington
Convention Center. Applicants achieving one of the top 250 scores were eligible to advance to the
1.5 mile run.

1.5 Mile Aerobic Run
The aerobic run was added to this year‘s hiring
process in order to test the cardiovascular strength
and overall fitness level of candidates. The 1.5
mile course was staged in Parking Lot 11 of the
Cowboys Stadium. In order to move forward in
the process, each candidate had to run the course
within 13 minutes 57 seconds.

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Working Together to Make Arlington Better.