Burlington City Council challenged its Fire Services to improve their firefighter hiring process to better reflect the diversity of its City's population. This presentation describes the innovations put in place to address Council's challenge. The City introduced the MMI (Multiple Mini Interview) to assess applicants for their soft skills - communication, teamwork, problem solving, ethical and moral judgement, empathy, resilience, interpersonal relations and conflict resolution. The City of Burlington was the first municipal Fire Service to adopt the virtual format of the Multiple Mini Interview when the pandemic restrictions contraindicated face to face interviews. This presentation will describe the process, outcomes and potential that the MMI process can have in improving diversity and shifting the culture within Fire Services.
Learning Objectives:
To become aware of a new approach to recruiting and selecting firefighters.
To become aware of the positive outcomes that can be achieved through implementation of this recruitment approach.
To appreciate the potential that this recruitment and selection approach can have in improving diversity and shifting the culture within Fire Services.