With expanded outreach, Sioux Falls Fire Rescue lands record class of applicants

When people love their job, it’s easy to convince others to come work with them.

That’s part of the story the city of Sioux Falls is telling to encourage more people to apply for jobs, and it’s starting to pay off, said Mike Gramlick, assistant chief with Sioux Falls Fire Rescue.

When applications opened for the next class of firefighters, more than 300 people applied – making it the largest pool of applicants in the past decade.

“We hadn’t seen a decline, but applications had leveled off,” Gramlick said.

He credits the hard work of the city’s Human Resources Department to ensure that the city is an employer of choice and to get the word out about the benefits of public service. Marketing campaigns over the past few months focused on the major city departments, including fire and police.

“I’ve been with the city for 25 years, and I’ve never seen that type of strategy before. I have to believe that contributed to people knowing about these jobs,” Gramlick said.

But more than that, they’ve also focused on how a good employee experience turns city staff members into ambassadors for their jobs and departments.

“There’s a huge number of applicants who have a city employee listed as a reference on their application,” Gramlick said. “We’ve been successful at getting people to realize if you have good people in your life, they could be good co-workers.”

“This talent team has done an amazing job,” Gramlick said of the city’s HR team. “We should recruit the same way anyone else does. We should look for talented people and let them know we would be happy to have them, and they can have purpose and meaning. We have to compete just like anyone else. “

For the fire department, having a solid pool of applicants feels good, he said.

“I’m proud of my department. We’re a strong team, and we do great work, and we’ve been successful getting that message out,” Gramlick said. Some of that is changing the narrative of what a firefighting job entails – it’s not playing cards in the fire station waiting for an alarm to sound.

“The new fire service is broad, and our people are experts in things like hazardous materials and chemistry. There is a place for anyone,” he said.

Showing what the department has to offer was part of the reason Kyle Blakeslee held Ignite Academy earlier this year – a weekend event to show women what a career at Fire Rescue could look like. Blakselee, who teaches fire safety, said she was “on the edge of her seat” waiting to see if some of the women who joined her academy applied – and they did.

“I think we did a really good job trying to advertise a job in Fire Rescue,” she said. “We had four from Ignite Academy apply, and that was a big deal and reinforced that we are doing the right thing. That was a huge win in our book.”

Gramlick agrees.

“We are seeing connections from that academy,” he said. “Instead of just waiting, we are out there fishing for the fish we are looking for – the specific candidates and people who want to serve with passion for the city.”

New fire station, Public Safety Campus

Now is a good time to join, he noted, with the recent opening of the city of Sioux Falls Public Safety Campus. That alone is a draw for applicants. “People come through on tours, and they always say, ‘I have a son or daughter or nephew who wants to serve,’ and that’s just grassroots effort. People meet with our teams, and then that turns into applications,” Gramlick said.

There’s also a need with the city’s 13th fire station opening in the northwest part of Sioux Falls. That takes more than a dozen firefighters to staff.

“It’s nice to see these things click together,” Gramlick said.

He credits a culture of teamwork and said that showed with the merging of Metro Communications. “That gave us an opportunity to start from scratch with this organization that had such a proud history of service, and we were confident we could help them,” Gramlick said.

Metro became part of the city last year. “This helps us and the county and, most importantly, the customers in our area,” Gramlick said.

Working to integrate the teams was just another example of strong teamwork and building connections, he said. “It all coalesced into this amazing opportunity. No single component is solely responsible – instead, we all contributed.”

Next steps

The process to become a firefighter has many steps, from interviews to physical exams and more. As people move through the process, the next cadet class will be chosen. That class begins next year.

“We want to pick people well and make sure they feel welcome and want to have a long career with us,” Gramlick said.

Blakeslee said Ignite Academy helped show people how they could be part of this team.

“If people can’t see themselves as a firefighter, they don’t see it as a career choice. Ignite Academy and Kyle helped people see they could have a place doing this work,” Gramlick said. “I couldn’t be more pleased, and I’m excited to see what our future holds.”

Blakeslee wants people to love their work like she does.

“I wake up every day happy to come to work,” she said.

For his part, so does Gramlick.

“We have to tell people our story and help them understand why service is a choice they can make,” he said. “I’ve loved every day I’ve been at work. The best gift I can give someone is for them to have that experience.”