AI Can Write Your Recruitment Post. It Can’t Tell Your Story.

Last month, I wrote about the role artificial intelligence should play in recruitment and retention. Since then, several chiefs have asked whether they should be using AI to create recruitment content.

My answer is always yes.

I use AI almost every day, and I believe every volunteer fire department, EMS agency, police department, sheriff’s office, and public safety organization should be learning how to use it. AI saves time, organizes ideas, and helps create a solid first draft. Used correctly, it’s one of the best additions to our recruitment toolbox in years.

But after those conversations, I realized AI wasn’t really what they were asking about.

What they really wanted to know was how to use AI without sounding like everyone else.

One of the things I enjoy most about my job is reviewing public safety recruitment campaigns, department websites, and social media pages from organizations across the country. I get to see some incredibly creative ideas, but I also see many departments saying exactly the same thing. Spend enough time reviewing recruitment pages, and you’ll start experiencing a little déjà vu. “Serve your community.” “Make a difference.” “Join our family.” They’re all good messages, but after the tenth website, you start wondering if everyone attended the same marketing meeting.

AI didn’t create that problem. It simply made it easier to scale it.

Departments across the country are using many of the same AI tools, asking similar questions, and starting with remarkably similar first drafts. That’s exactly what AI is designed to do. The mistake isn’t using AI. The mistake is treating that first draft like it’s ready to publish.

That’s why I look at AI as a first draft, not the final draft. Like any first draft, it still needs editing, context, and your department’s voice before it’s ready to represent your organization. Before anything gets published, it should reflect your department culture, your people, and your stories. If I can remove your department’s logo from a recruitment post and replace it with another department’s logo without changing a word, you’ve missed one of your greatest recruitment opportunities.

The departments that consistently recruit well don’t always have the biggest budgets or the newest stations. They simply know who they are and aren’t afraid to show it. They introduce their members, celebrate their traditions, and share stories no other department can tell. Whether you’re focused on volunteer firefighter recruitment, EMS recruitment, police recruitment, or recruiting civilian support personnel, people aren’t looking for another organization telling them to “make a difference.” They’re looking for a place where they can picture themselves belonging.

Think about the people who joined your department over the last few years. Chances are they didn’t sign up because of a perfectly written Facebook post. Someone invited them to an open house, answered their questions, introduced them around the station, or simply made them feel welcome. Recruitment has always been about relationships, and technology should strengthen those relationships, not replace them.

Before you publish anything AI helps create, read it one more time and ask yourself a few questions. Does this sound like our department? Would one of our members actually say this? Does it tell one of our stories? If someone removed our logo, would people still know it was us? If the answer is no, keep editing until it sounds and feels like your department.

Go back and add the things AI doesn’t know. Tell the story about the rookie who just finished probation, the lieutenant who’s been serving for twenty-five years, or the traditions that make your department feel like home. Those are the details people remember because they’re authentic. Another department can’t copy them, and AI can’t create them unless you give it those details.

I believe AI will make good recruiters even better. Before long, every department will have access to the same AI tools. Your competitive advantage won’t be the technology itself. It’ll be your ability to use that technology without losing what makes your department authentic.

AI can help you write about your department, but only your department can write like your department.

By Walter A. Campbell
Recruitment & Retention Strategist