Recruitment


Lafayette Fire Department Recruitment Process

 
The Lafayette Fire Department will be accepting applications from September 16th until October 16th.     

Pre-Employment

In order to be considered for appointment to the Lafayette Fire Department the applicant must meet the following pre-employment requirements (this list is not all-inclusive):

  • Effective July 1, 2021 per Indiana House Bill 1033, applicants shall (1) have adequate means of transportation into the jurisdiction served by the member's department; and (2) maintain telephone service to communicate with the department.
  • Applicants must be at least twenty-one (21) years of age at the time of appointment.
  • Applicants must be a high school graduate as evidenced by a diploma issued by a high school accredited by the department or agency of a State authorized to accredit high schools. An equivalency diploma (G.E.D.) issued by such an accredited high school is acceptable.
  • Must hold a valid Driver’s license.
  • A dishonorable discharge from the military will disqualify the applicant.
  • Applicants receiving compensation or pension benefits from the military service are not disqualified from applying.
  • The applicant must also possess the following vision standards: Corrected vision-binocular vision no worse than 20/40; Uncorrected vision-binocular vision no worse than 20/100 (with the exception for long term successful users of soft contact lenses). The applicant must also have the ability to distinguish the colors of red, green and amber; and must have no pathology of the eyes. (Minimum standards as set forth by the Indiana Public Retirement Fund-PERF).
  • Applicants must not have been convicted of a felony.
  • Applicants must be able to successfully complete both the written aptitude examination and the extensive physical agility test with passing scores.
  • Applicant must be able to pass a thorough background investigation.
  • Applicant must submit to two (2) oral interviews.
  • Applicant must successfully pass a polygraph test.
  • Applicant must not have been convicted of illegal delivery of drugs for monetary or material gain.
  • Applicant must not have illegally used any type of drugs for two (2) years prior to applying.
  • Eligibility ends on the applicants fortieth (40) birthday.
  • Indiana law (I.C. 36-8-4.75) provides for a waiver of the maximum hiring age restrictions that apply to the appointment and hiring of police and firefighters for an individual who is a 20 year veteran of the armed forces and who is not more than forty (40) years and six (6) months of age.  This law provides that an individual who is appointed as a police officer or a firefighter as the result of the waiver is eligible to become a member of the 1977 Police and Firefighter’s Pension and Disability fund (1977 Fund).  
  • As per I.C. 36-8-3.5-12, Sec 12 (a) (1), Applicants must be a US citizen.

Application / Appointment Process

All Lafayette Fire Department Applications must be returned to the Lafayette Fire Department.  Print the Hiring Application Packet (25 pages).  You can find the document here:

This document opens best in the latest version of Adobe Acrobat (use browsers Explorer, Chrome or Firefox).  You should also have Adobe Acrobat set as the default reader. 

If you have any trouble accessing the document, please call our office at 765-807-1600 and it can be emailed. The following is a description of the application/appointment process and the order in which the events will occur;

 1) Complete & Submit Application
Incomplete or incorrectly completed applications will be disqualified. Any application not completed following directions will also be disqualified. All applications are considered final once they are turned in to the Lafayette Fire Department. Applications will not be returned in order to make changes once it has been turned in. (Any changes in applicant contact information will be accepted by contacting the Lafayette Fire Department).

Applications must be received by the Lafayette Fire Department by the advertised application deadline. No late applications will be accepted. There is a $40 application fee.  Payment must be included in the application in the form of a check/money order (Checks should be made payable to the City of Lafayette).  This fee is for a preliminary background check and is non-refundable.

2) Complete Written Test
 The Lafayette Fire Department offers full testing services for the position of firefighter.  Information regarding written testing will be provided when applications are being accepted and can be found on page 5 of the Application Information package.

 3) Complete Candidate Physical Ability Test
Applicants shall obtain the Candidate Physical Ability Test (CPAT) Certification by 12/31. Failure to meet that deadline or failure to pass the CPAT and receive certification will result in removal from the hiring list. CPAT certification from any authorized site is accepted.  For more information on CPAT Certification, please see page 6 of Application Information Package.
 
4) Interview - Lafayette Fire Department Hiring Committee
Applicants whose applications are accepted will interview with the Lafayette Fire Department's Hiring Committee.  The committee will score each applicant.  The Top 30 candidates will move forward in the Hiring Process.  Those applicants that are not in the Top 30 will be notified by mail that they will not be moving forward in the process.

5) Interview - Lafayette Fire Merit Commission
The Lafayette Fire Merit Commission will interview the 30 applicants that were selected through the Lafayette Fire Department's Hiring Committee.  The Commission will score the applicant based on the interview and may use the application for reference.

6)  Scoring of Applications
The Lafayette Fire Department's Hiring Committee will score each application after the Merit Commission Interview of applicants.

7) Compilation of Hiring List
When all of the previous steps have been completed, the scores of the 30 applicants will be calculated and the hiring list will be created in the order of the total scores.  Each candidate will be notified of their place on the hiring list.  The hiring list once approved will not expire for 1 year or until the list is exhausted, whichever should occur first.

Appointment Process
1) Offer of Employment
The Fire Chief will contact the applicants in order of the approved hiring list to make an offer of employment. Any such offer that is declined will result in the applicant's removal from the approved hiring list.

2) Polygraph and Background Check
Once acceptance has been agreed upon, the Lafayette Fire Department will begin a thorough background investigation on that applicant, as well as, schedule a polygraph examination.  Failing the polygraph (deception or other determination of failure) will result in automatic disqualification and the applicant will no longer be considered for employment.

Any information obtained during the polygraph process and the background investigation report will be forwarded to the Fire Merit Commission to review.  The Fire Merit Commission will review the information from those processes and make a determination on whether the applicant will continue in the hiring process or whether the offer of employment will be rescinded based on that information.

Any information gathered during the polygraph process and/or background information will remain confidential to the review board and will not be released to any outside parties or individuals.

3) Physical and Psychiatric Examinations
Upon completion of the applicants polygraph and background investigation, the department will schedule a physical and psychiatric examination as required by the Indiana Public Retirement System's (PERF) 1977 Police and Firefighter's Fund.  The results of these tests are then forwarded to the state's PERF review board for approval.  The PERF review board could ask for retests in areas at its discretion.  The review board will make a determination of pass, pass with exceptions or fail.

4) Hire Date established
Once the applicant has passed all the required testing, the applicant will be given a date that they will begin employment.  When establishing that date, consideration will be given to allow the future employee time to give notification to any current employers.