Educate me: Firefighter Testing/Application Process

[OminousFinding]

Well, I started a volunteering adventure with the local FD earlier this year. I received my EMT-B cert in March, and have been attending weekly drill/training at the FD since then. I feel an enthusiastic need to do more with this...but I also want to get some more experience and really think before attempting a career move.

So, where do I start if I'm curious about a career as a Firefighter? The hiring process appears very competitive here in the Seattle, WA area. I've been told it would be a good idea to attend academy and have a Firefighter 1 before applying. Is it advisable to go through a testing agency? Any/all information will be helpful.

 

[Ridryder911]

Don't know about those specific areas, but nationally firefighting is a very competitive position. Usually one will see hundreds apply for a few positions.

There is some fire departments that would prefer some experience, and some that definitely that does not, it all depends upon the fire service. As well, I would not invest into Fire Level I (most institutions require you to be active with a fire company prior) as many departments has their own academy, or will send you to one for their specific SOP.
I would recommend to be in the greatest physical shape, have read the Basic EMT and Fire Fighting Essentials, frontwards and backwards. I know some Fire Services that eliminates the high & low scores & takes the middle. Sorry, no offense taken but this is where some get the reputation of hiring below the neck.

Contact local FD to see where and how their process is completed.

Good luck!

R/r 911

 

[triemal04]

Seattle Fire is very, very competative to get into. If that's what you're looking for, be prepared for the long haul.

Start exercising now and get into the best possible shape you can. And then go beyond it.

Start to practise your interviews (interviews are what will make/break you getting into the department...you can breeze through a physical, written, psych and background check and easily crash and burn during the interview).

Start building up your resume, though not neccasarily with fire related jobs. While a background as a volunteer may be looked at as a bonus by many places, it may also be looked at as a problem by many places; means you've got habits that will need to be broken. This is often more true for the larger departments; they'll spend a long, long time training you, so if you don't know much going in it's still ok. For smaller departments, more knowledge and experience will be better.

Study for the test. There are boatloads of study manuals for fire based tests out there, and if it's a standard civil service test you'll need to have good reading comprehension, ability to understand/follow/remember verbal instructions, math (including fractions and basic geometry), and some engineering/physics.

If you go to a testing agency that conducts tests for multiple departments, research them and the departments well; most will offer several tests a year with a certain fee for each department they give your results to. Most will also not tell you which departments are actually hiring or establishing a hiring list, so if you aren't careful you'll end up spending more than you need to.

And maybe check out a website that doesn't start with EMT...someplace like firehouse.com.

 

[OminousFinding]

Thanks for the info, guys. As I understand there is extreme competition surrounding the Seattle/Eastside FF and Medic job pool.

I'm curious to know, though, if going through a testing agency (i.e. publicsafetytesting.com) or the likes has any advantage -- other than making wallets lighter.

And yes, I post on multiple forums, but suspected there might be a FF or two around here h34r:

 

[BossyCow]

The only reason to go through an agency like Publicsafetytesting, is if the agency has contracted with that company to do the testing for them. I wouldn't shell out money to test anywhere that the district you are applying for hasn't directed you to.

The Eastside is the most competitive district in the Seattle area. I would suggest looking outside of that for your initial job and then doing a lateral transfer in later. I remember some years back, North Bend was hiring for a new station. They were going to hire 20 some FF. They handed out 250 applications starting at 8am. My hubby was there at 4:30am and there were aprox. 300 guys ahead of him in line. Never even got an application.

Persistance does pay off though. Get your name on the list. Test for every opening.

 

[OminousFinding]

Let's chat for a moment about testing for multiple agencies. Let's assume I'm geographically planted in the Seattle/King county area for the next 2 years, but that I do testing in every county/locale that I can. By chance, I'm offered a job somewhere like Yakima -- different county, about 1.5 hours from my current residence.

What are the typical residency requirements for most departments? Must I live there to take the job, or would I be able to pull consecutive days at that facility and then drive home/live somewhere else?

Ideally I'd move to where I was offered a job, but my s/o's career is also a large contribution to our income. We already have a house/mortgage and it wouldn't be wise for us to dump the house in the current market. So how do others deal with this kind of situation?

 

[firecoins]

FDNY application process:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/fdny/html/community/ff_app_process_080106.shtml

 

[BossyCow]

I live about 3 hours from Seattle and have three friends currently working for Seattle/King Co. Fire Departments living near me. They have different ways of dealing with the commuter issue. One, recently transferred to a 9 - 5 desk position has a motor home on a friend's property where he lives during the week, and he comes home on weekends. The other two opt to drive to their stations for their 9 - 12 shifts a month.

There were some legal battles over the residency requirement in our state some years back. It has been determined that a job cannot set limitations on your off work behavior. What we've noticed with our decision to live outside of the district in which my husband works, that he gets less overtime for call ins and general alarms. So there's a cost involved.

You would have to look at your family situation. Is the commute going to negatively impact your time with family? What about having to drive home after a busy all night shift? Early in his career, my husband worked in Wenatchee while we lived on the West side of the Cascades. He would work a 72 hour shift and then drive home. It was pretty hairy at times and even though we survived it, I'm not sure I would recommend it. At the time we were living this schedule, we had two babies (3yo and an infant).

Lots of factors to consider!

 

[Buzz]

I attended a fire academy just this past semester. 20 credit hours.. every day 8am-5pm for a half semester. While there, we would frequently be visited by chiefs from various departments attempting to recruit students. A couple of our guys got picked up only a few weeks in and left to go finish training with whatever departments they got hired to. I can't remember which ones right now, but they were both hired into a large out-of-state department down south.

The others seem to have a better idea of what it's like getting into the fire service in your area, but for where I live, the academy seems to be the way to go.