Kent Fire and Rescue Service
Customer Insight Research Phase 1 2022 - Results and Learnings

Kent Fire and Rescue Service job applications

The majority of respondents in both the online and paper questionnaire had not previously applied for a job with KFRS; at 81% and 95% respectively. In the online questionnaire, a minority had applied for a job with KFRS, with some being offered a job (4%) and others not (3%). An even smaller minority (5%) of paper respondents had applied for a job with KFRS. A proportion of respondents in both the online and paper survey did not provide an answer to this question at 10% and 1% respectively.

Respondents to the paper survey who had not previously applied for a job with KFRS were probed where appropriate, whether they had ever considered applying and whether they experienced any barriers to applying for a role at KFRS. Most respondents had never considered applying and where received, reasons for this related to the respondent having family commitments, and concerns that they were too old. Other concerns related to their fitness, fears around heights and enclosed spaces, medical reasons such as asthma or feeling as though they could not do the job or were not brave enough. These reasons seemed to be related to frontline operational roles, and therefore it was followed up with respondents as to whether they were aware of other roles in the fire service other than frontline firefighting, of which most were not. Therefore, it may be beneficial to consider the promotion of other roles in the service to ensure people are aware of other career opportunities on offer.

Of those respondents that reported that they had applied for a job at KFRS across both online and paper surveys (N=48), most had applied for a firefighter position (44%). Others had applied to corporate roles such as IT, HR and administration (10%). An equal proportion of respondents had applied to either a role in control or to work as a volunteer (6%). A proportion of respondents did not specify the role they had applied for (23%). Other roles included management and home safety positions.

Some respondents could either not remember (19%), or did not specify how they heard about the job vacancy they applied for (21%). The most common platform where job vacancies were found was through the KFRS website (23%); most of which were firefighter vacancies. Lower number of job vacancies were found through word of mouth (13%), third party job sites (6%) and KFRS social media (8%). Other channels through which applicants found out about job vacancies included through events, agencies and the Chief Fire Officers Association.

Perceptions of KFRS workforce

Respondents were asked to rate their agreement or disagreement to a set of three statements in relation to KFRS being inclusive and diverse as an employer and workforce. The statements can be seen in Figure 21 below. The majority of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that KFRS employees represent the local community. Fewer respondents agreed that KFRS is an inclusive employer and has a diverse workforce. However, a sizeable proportion of respondents selected ‘Neither agree nor disagree’ or ‘I don’t know’ as responses to the statements. A very small minority disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statements.

Across online and paper surveys, the majority of respondents reported that they and their relatives did not work for KFRS (87%). Only a minority of respondents (9%) reported that either they or their family worked for KFRS.