Fire & Rescue recruitment campaign boosted by 'fantastic' Skills Hub project

"Their skills, passion and drive was second to none and we quickly asked if they could make some further films for us..."

A recruitment campaign for Warwickshire Fire & Rescue Service has reached its target audience with extra polish thanks to support from Warwickshire Skills Hub that was "second to none."

The Fire & Rescue Service contacted the Skills Hub as they were launching a new campaign for firefighters and had heard about the highly successful Future Careers filming project.

Under the project, which is free, businesses have two videos made to showcase their current and future employment and career pathways. In the case of WFRS, the Skills Hub team leapt into action to meet a very short deadline.

Niki Takhar, Employability & Skills Project Officer at the Skills Hub, explains:

"The Fire & Rescue Service were working on a tight schedule so we spoke on the Friday and filmed on the Wednesday!

"We produced two films which they are using as part of their campaign. One is aimed at schools for young people to consider the service and the opportunities they have to offer, and the other is specifically for general recruitment.

"The films were turned around in a week and a half from our first conversation, so that they could make use of it very quickly and in the first weekend we launched it we had over 500 views.

"It is always brilliant to see how much value businesses get from our Future Skills filming, but more than ever with the Fire & Rescue Service because we all know what amazing work they do to keep us all safe."

Rob Hartrick, station manager for WFRS, said: "Warwickshire Skills Hub did a fantastic job in getting our recruitment messages out into our communities. Recruitment is so important to us and we really need to get our messages out to as many young people as possible. The Skills Hub helped us to do this in a really accomplished way.

"Their skills, passion and drive was second to none and we quickly asked if they could make some further films for us to showcase the exercises that potential recruits undertake as part of the recruitment process and training. We look forward to working with them again in the future."

The schools film has been shared with secondary schools to use as part of their careers activities and the recruitment film has been shared on the county council's social media and via the Fire & Rescue Service's recruitment platforms.

The links can be viewed here:

Schools film – https://youtu.be/5lDC-iLDPjI

Recruitment film – https://youtu.be/EscSVbcIqaA

* The Warwickshire Skills team are still on the lookout for more businesses, especially in the retail, IT and finance sectors, to get involved. If you are interested or would like to find out more, please contact nikitatakhar@warwickshire.gov.uk