On Call Emergency Services "recruiting"

[stuckin2up2down]

They seem to be "recruiting" alot around where I am, lots of signs and flyers about how they want firefighters.

Then you look in to it, and they will pay you £2000 a year, to be on call for 80 hours a week where they expect you to only ever be 5 mins from the station.

Anyone else noticed this? It's not quite volunteering and also not quite a job.

[200p]

LOL. Maybe that would suit a socialite with a big trust fund, who doesn't have a proper full time job.

[workingpoor]

Do they train you?

Or is it for retired firefighters?

[dgul]

Remember that if you turn up in time and you're on the fire-engine then you get paid for your time.

Also, they'll do other stuff like education, maintenance and training, which they'll also be paid for. The rate isn't that great, but it should all be 'extra' income above the normal pay - again, it suits some people who can drop their normal job at an instant.

Not my cup of tea, but it can be a worthwhile extra for some people (worthwhile in terms of pay, and worthwhile in terms of providing something to society)

[canbuywontbuy]

The "only ever 5 minutes from the station" bit is a huge cost in terms of freedom, surely? You literally can't leave a location that's 5 minutes or less from the fire station, 80 hours a week. I'd venture that for almost everybody, that means those 80 hours are NOT spent in their house (who lives literally under 5 minutes travel from a firestation?), but what....hanging around outside the fire station? Maybe there's a coffee shop just a minute or two away from it they can hang out in? Normal firemen simply hang around in the firestation itself - this sounds worse than that. They don't even give you the shelter and tea urn.

Edited March 1, 2016 by canbuywontbuy

[stuckin2up2down]

Apparently most choose the hours that they are asleep for their on call hours. This wouldn't work for me and in a real emergency I wouldn't want someone thats just woken up.

Does seem mightily unfair to have almost volunteers doing the same job as people that could in the past retire after 25 years service with a pension pot worth 500k.

The on call people earn typically 300-400 a month. So about the same as JSA.

[Snugglybear]

The "only ever 5 minutes from the station" bit is a huge cost in terms of freedom, surely? You literally can't leave a location that's 5 minutes or less from the fire station, 80 hours a week. I'd venture that for almost everybody, that means those 80 hours are NOT spent in their house (who lives literally under 5 minutes travel from a firestation?), but what....hanging around outside the fire station? Maybe there's a coffee shop just a minute or two away from it they can hang out in? Normal firemen simply hang around in the firestation itself - this sounds worse than that. They don't even give you the shelter and tea urn.

And if you have a family - partner, kids, ageing parents - somebody else is going to have to take responsibility for every one of those hours, because you won't be able to get any shopping in or drop off the sprogs at football or fetch them from school or pop out for a prescription for your old mum. Guess how long it will be before said somebody else gets fed up.