Savannah Georgia FD Hiring Process

[Water-Hammer]

COME ON GUYS AND GALS, I KNOW AT LEAST A COUPLE OF YOU OUT THERE MUST HAVE SOME INSIGHT INTO THIS FOR ME. Anyone have any idea how this process runs? I was down in Savannah last June/July for the written portion of the testing. I was supposed to go back in October for the cpat/interview portion but the city cancelled all testing until further notice. I got a letter approx. a month ago to report down for cpat/interview in early june. Couple questions: After initial interview will I need to go back down for follow up interview before being placed on list?, Does having FF1, FF2, EMT-B, Haz-Mat, Driver-Operator/Pumper give me any advantage with getting hired with this dept? If they are hiring, does anyone know how many?, When academy could possibly start if they are hiring? Thanks in advance for any questions answered.

[EgressOne]

Try checking out the website on your own to answer your questions and/or call a recruiter!!

Pulled from the website "email heather_hilderbrand@savannahga .gov with any questions regarding the recruitment process"....if it wasn't so hard for me to find, I wouldn't imagine it being hard if you were that serious about the job!!

[fptacin]

After your initial interview you should not have to come back down for a 2nd. But confirm this with Mrs. Hilderbrand.

Having certs can help you get hired. However, you will still have to complete the Savannah Fire Academy.

We started a recruit class of 29 yesterday. Plans of another class have been mentioned but nothing set in stone. Currently there are 9 stations in planning but those will be put in place as the economy dictates.

[Water-Hammer]

thanks for the reply fptacin.

[Water-Hammer]

fptacin, when i looked at the website, it said if you were certifired you would have an abbreviated academy. do you know how this works?

[fptacin]

"Could" have an abbreviated academy. This is not the case for the academy going on now. They have talked in the past about doing an excellerated academy but have thus far not. The current academy is sixteen wks.

[NHFD174]

what is the call volume?

[Water-Hammer]

thanks again fptacin. appreciate the insight. good luck and keep us posted how it is going.

[andrewmac1419]

Anyone have any information abot Svannah Fire when it comes to their budget. Are they projecting any furloughs or lay offs? Also read somewhere they had plans to add stations, so with that being said how many do they plan to hire?

Any info would be great.

[fptacin]

The budget is taking hits like anything else, however, its not bad compared to most. No furloughs or layoffs in sight. In fact we just hired 30 and are suppose to hire another class at the end of this year or beginning of next. 9 stations are in planning with 3 suppose to be broken on soon, economy dependent.

The new stations will have 5 personnel per company minimum. That being said, most stations in Savannah are dual stations. So you're looking at a minimum of 30 per station.

[Water-Hammer]

thanks for the update fptacin. how are the advancement opportunities within this dept? Any idea when they could be calling people to come in so that the interview process and backgrounds could get underway? thanks for any info you could provide.

[fptacin]

Advancement oppurtunities are going to be slim in the next few years. Promotions are going on now with the promotion of close to 70 people. However, with new stations in the future comes more promotions. No clue on the backgrounds and interviews. If we hear something we will let everyone know.

[Fire1986MTN]

I will be taking my written test in July and sending in my CPAT certification thereafter but have never tested with a Southern Department. I was just curious if anyone could give me a rundown of how there recruit process works and any major differences from a Northern Fire Department:

Average size of applicant pool? How interviews are run? Do they look for high interest in just running fire? Call volume? Any other differences in Savannah compared to Northern FD's.... I.E. VA, D.C., City Departments. I am currently certified as a FF II, EMTB, and Hazmat Operations do these certifications help?


I have read a lot of info on there website and received some info from a recruiter..... but was really looking from an insiders perspective of the dept.


A bit of other info I wanted to share with others, they generally hire recruit classes of 30 and could possibly be starting a class by the end of the year.

Thanks

[Firedawg42]

John,

I'm pretty sure Sav wont honor your CPAT card from anywhere else. I know someone who has one from ESEC INDY and they wont even take that.

[Fire1986MTN]

I have asked recruitment if they will accept, The IAFF CPAT Cert and they said it would be accepted. It's the exact same test, not sure why they wouldn't accept it. If not I will just make the journey down South.

[fptacin]

John, the City of Savannah will accept your CPAT from elsewhere.

The big difference between Northern and Southern departments is applicant pool itself. In the North you will have thousands applying for a few jobs where in the South its not quite as bad. Most Savannah tests host hundreds of applicants. There is no polygraph.

Savannah is a fire only department, at this time anyways. The shift to EMS will happen sooner or later. The Departments runs about 5000 calls a year with the busiest companies running between 1500 and 2000 calls.

I myself came from a Northern Department and there are some differences, but nothing major. Savannah tends to be a very aggressive department as far as fire attacks go.

As far as your certs go, they obviously dont' hurt but neccesarily dont' help either. If you're hired you still must go through the Savannah Fire Academy.

[galice]

ga is an emt i state basic is worthless down here i came down with it

[NHFD174]

So Savannah runs 5000 calls a year as a whole department. With 15 stations that averages out to be about 333 calls a year per station, meaning you may work a whole 24 HR shift and not even get a run.

[fptacin]

Oh NHFD you have no idea, you ready?

We have stations that do one run a month. We had a truck company go over 2 years without a run. The North Battalion stations are all pretty busy with the South Batt. following closely. The West Battalion stations 12, 13, 14 and 15 are the ones that dont' take too many runs.

Here are some approximate stats for compainies in a year.

E-1: 800 E-6: 700 E-11: 500
E-2: 800 E-7: 500 E-12: 15
E-3: 1300 E-8: 1000 E-13: 50
E-4: 600 E-9: 400 E-14: 40
E-5: 1500 E-10: 300

T-1: 600
T-2: 500
T-5: 1000
T-13: 30
T-15: 12
T-16: 600

R-1: 1800
R-2: 900

[galice]

wow really why are they adding more stations then haha