1,200 Wait in line for shot at career with San Francisco Fire Department
Last week I was pounding the pavement in San Francisco, looking for jobs and networking with friends when I saw a line that went out the door and around two corners of a city block. My first thought was that this was an unemployment line and just out of habit I gravitated towards it. Then I looked closer and the building was the San Francisco Fire Department. Apparently the Fire Department had announced that they would be hiring 200 entry level firemen and over 1,200 people turned out for a shot at this stable career that also fetches pretty hefty salary, starting at over $68,000. I would have dropped everything and gotten in line myself, but unfortunately, I learned that this line was actually for submitting the application that you needed to pickup two days before. So instead I grabbed my camera to explore what kind of unemploymentality I could find in the line. Here’s what I got:
I do not currently live in the US, but I stay abreast of things via family and friends and a healthy dose of internet awareness on a daily basis. I came across this website on Sunday and I have to say, it’s just further clarification for what I’ve been trying to get across to the people I interact with on a daily basis here: the US is not a pretty place right now.
Prior to 2008 I owned a successful small business in Colorado as a third generation skilled craftsman following in the family trade. I generally made between 50 and 55k a year on the net side, which has always been more than enough to provide for my wife and I, and I generally only worked 6-7 months out of the year, and spent my off months traveling Europe and enjoying my hard-earned wages. Then in 2006 my wages dropped to 43k and I had to put in a full 12 month regime and I had a few months in the summer where I was leaving the house at 4 a.m. and getting home at 9 p.m. In 2007 I barely cleared 38k and almost all of my work was 4 hours away from my home and base of operations, and I worked all year long. Then at the end of the year right before Christmas I lost a fairly large contract to two things: the recession, and the illegal immigration crisis. Faced with the reality of my wife still being in school and no jobs lined up for the forseeable future and only 6k in the bank account, we looked at our options. We were lucky in the fact that her family’s business is doing fairly well and her mom offered to pay for the rest of her school + my wife owns an apartment here, so we left the US behind and moved abroad to Europe.
It’s stories like this that remind me why we left in the first place. The interview with the field repair guy from AT&T who has been without work for nearly 2 months is just another in a long line of atrocities that plague the American population. We live in Bulgaria presently, in the capital city of Sofia, and while a lot of people consider this the ass-end of Europe (only 2 years in the EU and a growing economy that still has the lowest wage brackets in the entire EU) I keep telling all of our friends and family members that people here have it absolutely great compared to everyone I know in the US. I have plenty of friends and family back in the States who tell me horror stories of having to make decisions about whether or not to buy groceries, put gas in the car so the husband can get to work, pay the electric bill and avoid a late fee, or take the youngest kid to the doctor’s office because he’s got the flu. Then when I see something like this, a job offer of 200 jobs, and over 1200 people show up…it blows my mind. Especially when you look at the video of the people in line trying to get a job. Being a fireman is a physically demanding occupation, and a lot of those people in the crowd (no offense intended) would probably never make the cut simply because of the sheer physical demands of the job. But the fact remains that they are there because their situations are so dire they are grasping at straws and taking every available opportunity in an attempt to stave off disaster.
My heart goes out to the unfortunates. I know how bad I felt when I lost that contract in 2007 and was faced with the reality of no job prospects, no education (I went into the trade rather than go to college), and an economy that was/is so horribly skewed that people can no longer afford skilled craftsmen because the cost of living had tripled, yet wages had remained the same, and the only way to survive is to pinch pennies and hire the only thing you can afford, which happens to be the illegal immigrant who is willing to work for pennies, or to outsource the job to a country like India or the Phillipines. I still remember the day I got the phone call and was told that my signed contract wasn’t worth the paper it was printed on, because the lowest bid that had came in was 70% lower than my own numbers. I literally vomited, cried, and became hysterical all in the same hour, then spent the next few days in a panic.
Ironically, I’m pursuing the career I always wanted to but never had the time to do back when I was running a company: write for a living. This website came to my attention due to the you two (the people behind it) being in “online media”. I’ve spent the last year since we moved (we left the States behind in January of 2008) building up a freelance career that includes whatever online media I can get my hands on, as well as short stories and a novel in the works. I’m only doing this part-time (I’m blessed in that my wife has a great job that pays the bills /fingers crossed, she changed her degree and is going with something that’s more relevant with the times, and her family’s business is worth over 12 million Euro at present and riding the wave of European economic growth) but I’d like to give a shout out to all the unemployed people out there who may feel like the water is rushing over your head and you can’t swim to save your life. Stick with it. Sometimes opportunity knocks when you least expect it.
I know that’s not always what you want to hear when your backbone is scraping against your belt-buckle, but I think it’s important for people to not sink into despair. Explore ALL your options, even if you don’t necessarily have a degree. I’m a self-educated individual with no college degree, I’m a high school drop-out, and I have found it entirely plausible to build a second career doing something that no one thought I could simply because I didn’t have the background in it. But if you have the perseverance and the determination to make it through, no matter what the costs, then you WILL find a light at the end of the tunnel. It’s not necessarily easy, and it takes a lot of footwork to make it happen, but it IS possible.
And for those of you who haven’t considered it yet: look to Europe if you can’t find what you need in the States, or even Canada. Most European economies are doing great by comparison. There are jobs by the thousands in the EU, and they all pay via the Euro, which is a hell of a lot more than the USD these days. Things across the pond are *far* better, and moving across the sea isn’t as expensive as you might think. Our entire move only cost a few thousand (of course, we sold all of our furniture and non-essentials before moving, to avoid shipping fees, which are outrageous. My sister still has several boxes of mine in her garage simply because the cheapest option of shipping is via the USPS and quite frankly my last few books and DVD collections aren’t worth the 300 USD per box they require for the cheapest shipping option)
This got quite longer than I expected so I’ll leave you with this: the video here should be an eye-opener for any person who thinks that the US isn’t in trouble. For those of you who thought 2006-2008 were bad, I honestly think the worst is yet to come. Unemployment rates are still rising, company layoffs are coming by the thousands, and the fake money the feds are throwing around in order to pay off all the uber-rich CEOs is doing nothing more than driving the average American even further into the ground. People at the top can’t see what it’s like down there at the bottom sometimes, and it’s important that we remind them it’s not all peaches and cream. Regardless of if you are a religious person, any person suffering through unemployment during the crisis right now should be in your hearts and minds, and if you are the type, in your prayers. And for those of you who are currently unemployed, don’t give up. You might not be able to get your dream job, but there ARE opportunities out there, and if you dig hard enough, you’ll find them.
If I don’t post here before then a Merry Christmas to everyone and I hope you find glad tidings in the form of employment in your stockings come Christmas Eve!
Thank you so much for sharing your story. It’s interesting that you suggest moving to Europe… As someone who has lived and worked in the UK, I have to say that while on the one hand the situation can be less grim (especially given the fact that everyone has access to free healthcare), it’s not realistic for most Americans to gain permission to work in Europe (especially within the EU). I did it – but it wasn’t easy, and I had to get sponsored. I only got sponsored because my company transferred me. Normally, a company has to prove that you are the ONLY person who can do the job and that they have done a thorough search of nationals first within that particular country and then within the EU. They also have to pay for the visa application. So unless you have something very unique to offer, you really have the odds stacked against you. Add to that the climbing unemployment rate in many European countries, and it doesn’t seem all that feasible. This is just my experience/opinion.
Thanks again for sharing, Merry Christmas to you too, Happy New Year and best of luck with your writing career!
It’s grim just about everywhere, these days, but by comparison, the EU is far better off than the US. And to be honest, while visa issues can be a complication, it also depends on the job and the degree you hold. I was lucky because I married a EU girl, which means my residency was merely a matter of paperwork and money, rather than relying on a company approving my resume and paying for the residency paperwork/relevant taxes, etc.
While I don’t look on a daily basis, I know in our particular area (eastern Europe), employment rates are ridiculously high in comparison to the US and UK (who arguably have the lowest rates and are both struggling with the worst in terms of recession/unemployment). You are correct in that it might be out of reach for the average Joe, but you never know. The national jobs website (www.jobsbg.com) has thousands of jobs listed every day looking for professionals with degrees, but due to the lack of qualified candidates, the jobs here go unfulfilled.
I think it’s different too depending on where you hail from. The UK is right behind the US in terms of unemployment, so I really wouldn’t consider the UK an “upgrade” from the US, and while Germany, France, Spain, Italy, and others are starting to feel the burn of the global economy, the employment rates are still quite high and if it’s relevant, people could find a better opportunity abroad than at home. Of course it’s not an easy decision to leave your family and friends behind, but depending on your (anyone reading) circumstances, it might be worth looking into. But as Tania said, depending on the person, it can be an easy transition or a difficult one.
If you happen to have friends or family overseas, it’s worth looking into. And even if you don’t, temp services such as Manpower have offices in nations all over the world that can put you in touch with employers who are looking for qualified individuals for all types of professional positions, and who just might be willing to foot the bill for your visa papework.
Goodluck to those applying. Youll definately need it. There are already tons of qualified ppl who do emergency work as paramedics or have a fire science education. Only reason EMT isnt required to turn app in is probably because the higher uppers got some relative with no experience to have a shot (remember Oakland fire). But even then, you have to have your EMT before background investigation. The Chief uses “Rule of List” to choose whoever she likes. So if youre not related to a fire officer or have no experience in EMS/Fire, your chances are close to nil. Like I said, good luck!
Oh and this video that shows ppl lining up for a fire job shows nothing new. Ppl have been lining up for fire jobs for years regardless of unemployment rates. Its a great paying job doing something worthwhile if the applicant has the skills to do it. Its the whole post 9/11 be a hero mentality thats attracting people to go for the job, not so much being unemployed.
yeah, I know it’s nothing new that people line up for firemen jobs like this. I thought i made that clear in the blurb i wrote before the video. what is new and why it’s relevant to this blog, because, this time, I met many people that were in the line because they had been laid off – Like Joseph, who drove all the way up from LA for a shot at the job – which like you said, is sort of a pipe dream if you don’t have an in.