Thursday, April 21, 2022
Fire Department Sworn Recruitment/Hiring and
Bilingual Services Status Annual Report
Public Safety, Finance and Strategic Support Committee
April 21, 2022
Item (d) 2
Presented by:
James A. Williams, Assistant Fire Chief
Background
2 Thursday, April 21, 2022 • Department filled 79 sworn and 25 civilian vacancies – over 12% of the
848.48 total authorized positions
• Each classification has unique job
requirements and minimum
qualifications; requires separate
recruitment processes
• External recruitments are
conducted for entry-level Firefighter
rank
• Internal recruitments are conducted
for promotion to non-management
sworn ranks
Sworn
Position (Rank)
Authorized
Positions
Filled
Positions
Vacant
Positions
Fire Chief 1 1 0
Assistant Fire Chief 1 1 0
Deputy Fire Chief 4 3 1
Battalion Chief 21 16 5
Fire Captain 175 168 7
Arson Investigator 3 3 0
Fire Prevention Inspector 13 13 0
Fire Engineer 234 220 14
Firefighter 267 259 8
Total 719 684 35
Authorized Full-Time Sworn Positions
3 Thursday, April 21, 2022
• San José Fire Department Women’s
Boot Camp
• Accredited Local Academy
• South Bay Regional Public Safety
Training Consortium
• San Jose Fire Explorer Post 888
• Advertising, Marketing and Social
Media Resources
• Fire Department Career Fairs
Recruitment, Marketing, & Outreach
4 Thursday, April 21, 2022
.
2020 SJFD Women’s Boot Camp
San Jose Fire Explorer Post 888
Firefighter Recruit Hiring Process
5 Tuesday, April 19, 2022
POST SJFD
FIREFIGHTERRECRUIT
CLOSE SJFD
FIREFIGHTERRECRUIT
DETERMINE PASS
POINT, AND HIRING
NEED
PERSONAL HISTORY
QUESTIONNAIRE
(PHQ)
ESTABLISH
QUALIFIED
CANDIDATE GROUP
ORAL BOARDS
FIRE CHIEF'S
INTERVIEWS
BACKGROUND
INVESTIGATIONS
CONDITIONAL
OFFER OF
EMPLOYMENT
FINAL OFFERS
RECRUIT ACADEMY
BEGINS
ACADEMY
GRADUATION
APRIL JUNE JULY AUGUST OCTOBER DECEMBER JANUARY MAY
September 2020 Firefighter Applicant List
6 Thursday, April 21, 2022
.
Demographic Data Point Percentage
1 Applicant Hiring List established in September 2020 (1,135) 100% 2 Residents of the City of San Jose (135) 12%
3 Non-City of San Jose Residents (1,000) 88%
4 Non-California Residents (111) 10%
5 EMT Certification (898) 79%
6 Paramedic Licensure (129) 11%
7 Applicants by Ethnicity
➢ American Indian, Alaskan Native (11) 1%
➢ Asian, Pacific Islander (147) 13%
➢ Black, African American (79) 7%
➢ Mexican, Hispanic, Latino (327) 29%
➢ Undisclosed (66) 6%
➢ White, Caucasian (505) 44%
8 Applicants by Gender
➢ Female (80) 7%
➢ Male (1,042) 92%
➢ Undisclosed (13) 1%
• Firefighter Eligibility List
established September 6, 2020
• Two Firefighter Recruit
Academies started in 2021
• Academy 21-01: 22 graduates
September 5, 2021
• Academy 21-02: 19 graduates
April 17, 2022
Fire Sworn Personnel Demographics
7 Thursday, April 21, 2022
.
Senior
Staff
Battalion
Chief
Fire
Captain
Arson
Investigator
Fire
Prevention
Inspector
Fire
Engineer
Fire
Fighter
Female (22) 1 3 1 6 11
American Indian, Alaskan Native (4) 2 4
Asian, Pacific Islander (50) 1 15 2 18 14
Black, African American (17) 1 7 2 4 3
Mexican, Hispanic, Latino (120) 1 5 29 3 47 35
White, Caucasian (277) 4 11 80 3 6 117 58
Undisclosed Race/Ethnicity (187) 4 19 27 134
The Fire Department seeks to actively recruit, train, and support a talented and diverse workforce. To that end, demographic data is maintained to monitor progress and to guide recruitment efforts.
Data as of March 2022
Current Certified Bilingual Employees
8 Thursday, April 21, 2022
Note: Other languages include the following: Armenian, Assyrian, Cambodian, French, German, Japanese, Korean, & Turkish. These languages made up less than 1% of the total reported
68%
12%
11%
5%
5%
Spanish
Vietnamese
Cantonese, Mandarin,
Portuguese, & Russian
Tagalog
Other
Language Translation Needs as Reported by Responders
9 Thursday, April 21, 2022
41%
2%
9%
46%
3%
Bystander
Language Line
Other
Fire Department Responder
Police Department Responder
Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding San Jose Fire Stations Map
10 Thursday, April 21, 2022
33 Total Fire Stations
• 23 have Bilingual Assigned Personnel
• 9 Identified as a Core Bilingual Service Need
• 2 Non-Bilingual Stations
Questions?
James A. Williams, Assistant Fire Chief
11 Thursday, April 21, 2022
Fire Department Sworn Recruitment/Hiring and Bilingual Services Status Annual Report April 21, 2022
Item (d) 2