Deputy Sheriff Cadet Recruitment Redesign

About the Program

Category: Personnel Management, Employment and Training (Best in Category)

Year: 2012

The County of San Diego Department of Human Resources, working on behalf of the Sheriff’s Department, is continuously recruiting for qualified Deputy Sheriff Cadets necessary to ensure the peace and safety of our San Diego County communities. Unfortunately, the standard recruitment process employed by most government agencies in the state of California has proven inefficient and costly, which is especially detrimental in the current economic climate. To remedy this problem, the Department of Human Resources has substantially redesigned its recruitment process for this crucial public safety occupation. The redesign adds numerous key qualifier questions to the application, relocates the background packet and on-line orientation video requirement within the process, and contains a newly produced video from the San Diego County Sheriff thoroughly addressing the background investigation requirements and procedures. Most significantly, these changes have yielded a 354% decrease in the amount of time between the candidates’ completion of the initial application and the final background verification. Overall, the new process provides for far more effective screening of applicants at the front end of the process, which has expedited the recruitment of quality candidates as well as increased the efficiency of limited staff resources.