New Chicago FD Test Coming Soon....

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New exam in works for Chicago firefighters

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

By Fran Spielman

Special to the Daily Southtown

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Chicago City Hall is finalizing plans to hold the city's first firefighters entrance exam in more than a decade to replace a disputed eligibility list that has raised the average age of recruits to nearly 38, an influential alderman says.

Top mayoral aides believe the graying of rookie firefighters is at least partly to blame for the $13.2 million in overtime racked up by the Chicago Fire Department through Sept. 30, up from $11.6 million during the same period a year ago.

Even before the new exam is scheduled, Fire Commissioner Cortez Trotter has managed to cut his department's monthly overtime bill in half — from $1.9 million in April to $853,277 in September.

Aides credit the elimination of one of the city's seven fire districts and increased scrutiny of firefighters on medical leave. Overtime is expected to be further reduced when city hall starts a new round of promotions to battalion chief after posting results from a recent exam. Some battalion chiefs had already received more than $24,000 in overtime through Aug. 31 of this year.

Ald. Isaac Carothers (29th), chairman of the city council's police and fire committee, said the new firefighters entrance exam is expected to be held next year, possibly sometime in March.

"We're getting to the point where people are just too old. When you try to hire them, you can't even find them. ... We need to give opportunities to some of these young people who want to be firefighters in Chicago. They can't have opportunities if we don't have an exam," Carothers said.

Some community leaders have urged the city to scrap the written exam entirely to avoid a repeat of the decade of litigation after the 1995 firefighters entrance exam.

But Carothers said, "I have confidence that the new commissioner will put together an exam that will be fair and, hopefully, get the desired result of having more diversity in the fire department. The commissioner has done a great job of diversifying management. But we need to diversify the rank-and-file."

Drafted by an African-American with an eye toward diversifying a Chicago Fire Department with a documented history of discrimination, the 1995 firefighters exam drew more than 26,000 applicants. When the results for minorities were disappointing, the city established a cut-off score of 89 and started randomly hiring from the top 1,800 "well-qualified" candidates.

In a landmark ruling that could cost Chicago taxpayers $80 million, a federal judge ruled earlier this year that the city's handling of the exam discriminated against African-Americans because it had the effect of perpetuating the predominantly white status quo since 78 percent of those "well-qualified" candidates were white. Not until the fall of 2002 did the city start hiring randomly from among the 20,200 candidates deemed "qualified" with scores of 65 and above.

Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford acknowledged the inherent problems caused by a hiring list 10 years old.

Not only are recruits getting older — the average age is now 37.9 years — but if they're too old when they're hired, they're also more likely to "wash out" of the fire academy before completing training, wasting taxpayers money. And if they're too old when they start, the city won't get 20 years work out of them before they hit the mandatory retirement age of 63.

"To start out being a firefighter, 38 is old. We need to get some younger people in here," Langford said.

Chicago Sun-Times

[CAM502 6]

No civil services laws in Chicago huh??

[foreman1923 22]

so if there is no residence requirement how do we get an application.

[Guest]

There must be a residency requirement, no?

[Guest]

10-26-2005

Below is the press release from the Mayor and Fire Chiefs news conference today.

Fire Department Announces Plans for New Entrance Exam

DALEY, TROTTER ASK YOUNG PEOPLE TO "ANSWER THE CALL"

Mayor Richard M. Daley and Fire Commissioner Cortez Trotter today announced a new Fire Department entrance exam planned for spring of 2006 and urged young men and women to "Answer the Call" by considering a career as a firefighter-emergency medical technician (EMT).

"We want to make sure we have the best-qualified set of candidates, and also the most diverse set of candidates," the Mayor said at a news conference at the Quinn Fire Academy, 558 W. DeKoven St., where he was also joined by Ald. Isaac Carothers (29th), Chair of the City Council Police and Fire Committee.

"It's a great job for a young man or woman who's bright and courageous and wants to help other people," Daley said. "There are jobs that are easier and that pay more money, but there aren't many jobs where you can save people's lives."

The last firefighter eligibility list was posted in 1995, the last year an exam was administered. While many names remain on the list, the average age of candidates from the list who enter the academy is almost 38.

"It is the goal of this Fire Department to never let a decade go by between tests," said Trotter. "It is our desire from this test forward to have an entrance exam for Chicago Firefighter/EMT every three years." Anyone who took the 1995 exam and is still interested in joining the Department would have to take the new test next spring.

Trotter outlined a marketing plan that will involve outreach to educational, civic and faith -based organizations in every neighborhood of Chicago and throughout the Midwest.Â

"We will go wherever we can to locate the best and the brightest young people of varied backgrounds who need to hear our message and see what a great department we have to offer." he said .

The outreach will include advertising on billboards, bus shelters, radio and television, as well as a traveling recruitment team.

Starting salary for a Firefighter-EMT is over $40,000 per year with a raise after six months. The job offers competitive benefits, continuing education, reimbursement for college tuition and the opportunity for career advancement.

Trotter challenged young people to "Answer the Call" by picking up exam materials at Chicago Public Libraries or on the Internet after the exam date is announced.

Candidates must be 19 years old at the time of the exam and have a high school diploma or G.E.D. Applicants need not live in Chicago, but they must reside in the city at the time of employment.

[JohnnyOV 2]

is there a link to apply for the test?