Today someone I'd never heard of emailed me asking how their boyfriend could join the fire brigade. Although I do have a vague inkling as to why, it still seems rather random!
On the "40 applicants per job" figure -- trying to chase possible press releases the best I've been able to come up with with resources easily to hand is "For every vacancy there are on average 38 applicants, though there are large local variations." from the Express on 21/10/2002. The Scotsman repeats the figure twice in the same week, and then it crops up in the Mail on Sunday on 17/11/2002 where it is compared to the West Yorkshire figure of 72. Then there's the Economist article you quote rounding it up. But never any mention of where these figures are coming from.
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ewx
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Date: 2003-07-14 06:25 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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