All right I just had a young man visit me at the fire hall. Never met him before in my life, and he had just found out about my service and my involvement with firefighter recruits. This guy worked at one of the local car dealerships as a mechanic. His question was “What courses should I be taking to improve my chances of being hired”. My first question is always do you have your NFPA 1001 or your Pre-Service Firefighter Certification? His reply was that he had already obtained his NFPA 1001 as well as all the other general list of qualifications such as D Z Licence, CPR – First Aid etc.
Well I was already doing some calculations in my head – he had all of his minimum qualifications, he has 7 years life experience working in the real world as a mechanic. Which means he is all ready convinced me that he is good working with his hands, employable, reliable, understands a good days work, and able to learn new things because as we all know the car industry changes all the time when it comes to technology, and their way of doing things.
So my second question to him was what are your hobbies, what do you like to do? He answered back and said, “I love cars”. I said “That’s Perfect!
He looked at me like I had two heads. I than suggested that he maybe start to combine his love of cars and his knowledge of cars and focus on vehicle extrication. Why not become the go-to-guy when it comes to cutting edge technology in vehicles such as Hybrid cars, safety systems such as air bags, seat belt pre-tensioners, ROPS (Roll over protection devices), terminology used to indicate these systems and alternate fuel sources, such as electric and hydrogen cars, etc.
His eyes were lighting up, and I could tell this was something he was very interested in. He told me that he had already given the fire department a mini crash course/demonstration regarding the Hybrid cars.
To make a long story short, this recruit has since taken every available course offered by his car dealership regarding all new car technology (Didn’t cost him a cent), as well enrolled in several vehicle extrication courses. To me he just enabled himself in both his current job and as a recruit not too mention gave himself what I like to call the X Factor on his resume.
Fire departments find a lot of value in having someone on the fire department who is educated, and accomplished in one specific aspect of firefighting, rather than having someone who is incompetent and inadequate in several areas. I will have to elaborate on this at another time, in another blog.
I’m sure this has shed some light on how you can start too achieve some depth in your resume, improve your current life and work status as well as how to think out side the box.
 Sometimes the path you’re taking isn’t necessarily the path you’ll end up on. Have you been thinking about a career change and considering the fire service as an option? This seems to be a very common scenario lately especially with an unstable economy and jobs evaporating from under our feet. Does now appear to be the time to jump ship and dive into the career path you’ve always wanted to take – FIREFIGHTING?
All right so you’ve decided to leave you existing job, or have already lost your job. It doesn’t matter now how you got here. The fact is you’re here now and how can you make this career change happen. It is normal to feel like your starting over and everything you’ve been working so hard for in the past is ancient history now such as your role or position and seniority. You may also be looking at a pay cut, at least for the first couple of years upon getting hired by a fire department, and that’s even if you’re lucky enough to get hired right away. This is a very stressful situation especially if you have lost your job already and are forced into a career change. This time could be very trialing on the pocket book and not to mention your family if you have one.
There’s a saying I like to use that states “Those that have nothing to lose, lose nothing” so if you’re already at rock bottom as far as a job or career is concerned then you have nothing to lose and you need to believe in yourself and just go for it.
Before I get to far into this topic I should say that firefighting isn’t for everyone, and if at this point you’ve just been curious about this profession then I believe you are still on the right track because just reading this book will paint a very clear picture as to what your up against and what type of commitment you will have to make as well as what you can expect. So at the very least read this book from cover to cover and then sit down and decide if this is something you want.
If you have already made up your mind that this is what you want then lets get started. I myself did a career change, after 5 years in the refrigeration trade I had decided that I wanted to become a firefighter. It was like one minute I had my whole life planned out, and the next minute I was heading down a path completely unfamiliar to me. Never the less I just put my head down, did everything absolutely possible and I didn’t look up until I was recruited. I believe whole-heartedly that you have to pursue this career with all you’ve got. There can be no doubt and there can be no halfway. You must be completely 100% committed. Now the good news is that you’re not starting from scratch. Your past experience is going to payoff for you in one way or another, this is very important. Take me for example; I had my refrigeration licence as well as my gas fitting ticket. Here I thought I was starting over but that wasn’t the case. It turns out that these trades were extremely valuable to the fire service. I knew they would benefit me personally if I got hired, but I hadn’t really considered what the fire department would gain. Sometimes understanding how the world goes round allows you to take advantage. Those recruits who have worked before and/or have had been responsible for other employees understand what an employer is looking for in an employee. It’s easier to get a job when you know what the employer is looking for and how to be employable.
Realistically, The question is does someone seasoned in the workforce, with a family to feed, reputable reputation, clean medical and criminal record, with a whole lot of life experience to draw from a better hire than a young, inexperienced recruit with little/ no job history or references and a reputation that is yet to be determined? Maybe, maybe not? This comes down to a matter of opinion. However, this is probably the reason why fire departments have been recruiting this type of recruit. This use to be a young mans game, when departments relied on strength and stamina to beat down fires. But, these days fire departments can have their cake and eat it too when it comes to hiring a more mature recruit. These candidates with both brains and braun seem to be leading the race in the recruitment pool these days.
Over & Out
This is one of those questions that will get kicked around a lot. You’ll always hear people talking about how old so-and-so is and how he didn’t get hired because of his age. Well, how does one know that if they weren’t sitting on the interview panel? Fire departments are unpredictable and sometimes it’s hard to figure out what their reasoning was for not hiring you. Some people might say that fire departments only hire young candidates, or that they at least have a better chance of being hired. Another rumor is that fire departments like to hire older candidates, so the cities don’t have to pay out pensions for thirty years or they have more life skills and would be more loyal to the fire department and not leave after two years. There are all kinds of potential reasons as to what age of firefighters a department will hire. It really depends on the structure of the fire department and their long-term goals. If you are still concerned or are not sure if the fire department you wish to be hired at hires older firefighters or younger firefighters, you can research the ages of the firefighters that have been hired over the past five years and see what the average age is. You may find your answer surprising, don’t listen to others you really have to believe in yourself and know that any fire department would be lucky to have you working for them. I have heard of recruitments where, out of four firefighters hired, one of the firefighters was only eighteen years of age and another was forty-four. So, you see, age may work to your advantage and it’s hard to say if age was even a factor at all. It just depends on the hiring department. If you’re someone who is valuable and possess skills that a fire department is looking for, I don’t think age will be a factor.
If you’re a young individual and you’re worried about your age then there are things you can do to demonstrate maturity. You can take an interest in fire prevention to demonstrate that you understand being a firefighter is more than just fighting fires or you can take on an active roll in your community to show that you like to get involved and you have developed invaluable interpersonal skills. Sometimes you have to think outside the box and make your concerns your strengths. Don’t be telling yourself that you won’t get hired because you’re to young or old, let the fire department determine that for themselves. All you need to worry about is offering that fire department your full potential and being proud of who you are and your accomplishments.
Tip of the Month
It’s important to obtain the minimum education required. Otherwise there is no point in even thinking about getting hired on a fire department. It is also a good idea to have something else to fall back on, like a trade or a degree in case you are not immediately hired by a fire department. You may also find the urge to pursue another career after ten years of firefighting. It is always a good idea to think ahead and have something else to fall back on.
 Becomingafirefighter.com is proud to say that we have graduated to the Blogging era. If you can’t beat them, join them. Blogging is the new age way of passing along information in real time. So it only makes sense to have this feature on my site. I look forward to relaying my thoughts to your every day questions and allow you to answer back to me in my forum.
 My intensions are to talk about current firefighter recruit situations and events. Day in and day out I am asked questions by my members regarding different stages of the recruit process. When things happen that I feel a cross section of you will learn from, I will pass the question or concern along to you with the answer I made.
Becomingafirefighter.com has been around for as long as I’ve been a firefighter. It’s hard to believe it’s been 6 ½ years. In this time I have authored two books regarding how to become a firefighter. The first one was self-published titled “Becoming a firefighter – The Ultimate Recruit Guide for Canadian Firefighters” my second book, the one that is available now is titled “The Complete Guide to Becoming a Firefighter”. This book is published by Fitzhenry & Whiteside Publishers.
I would like to consider myself as a problem solver or strategist for firefighter recruits – a consultant if would rather. I feel it is a valuable role I play in this almost impenetrable career to get into. Without my help I would like to think some of the firefighters that have been recruited over the last few years may not be where the are if it weren’t for my service. I’m not saying that they wouldn’t have done it on there own, but I am suggesting that it would have taken longer without my help – However some would have given up short of they’re goal. My book can be viewed as a resource for some, a guide to others and a motivator for the rest. No matter who you are or what stage your in, I can guarantee you there is something for all to get out of this great resource/book.
The forum is here as promised! Look out 2010.
I am looking forward to helping firefighter recruits get the answers they’re looking for. I have received countless emails over the last few years regarding recruitment questions, and I have given answers too all. My issue has always been that I know other recruits are asking themselves the same questions, so now when answers are given to today’s recruitment questions everyone is in the loop.
This site is the real deal; I say this with all sincerity that It is very important to me to make sure you have a resource to help make your firefighting dreams come true.
I welcome my past members who have become successful and landed a firefighting career to help me educate out new and existing members. The fire service is constantly changing and with this new forum we will be able to adapt to the changes together.
I can’t wait to get started, I challenge you to make 2010 your year. If you are just starting to pursue this amazing career I challenge you to get educated and learn as much as you can about the fire service and choose a plan of attack. If you have been pursuing a career for a while, than I challenge you to change gears, get focused and make it happen.
I want you to BRING IT! I don’t want any excuses; lets get serious together and come up with a plan to get you HIRED in 2010!
I look forward to being involved in your recruitment process. I am here to help YOU!
Over & Out
1) Research, research, research some more! - Understand exactly what’s involved, so you don’t have any surprises later. Like any new career choice you must be up-to-date with the process of how to effectively pursue it. It is vital that you research to the best of your ability everything you can such as what you’re up against as far as competition, odds, minimum qualifications, etc. as well as how fire departments operate, roles and responsibilities, involvements in the community and organizations, etc. I even went as far as visiting fire halls in my area and talked to current firefighters, I found this is a very effective way of determining what you have to do.
2) Determine the type of firefighter you want to be - It’s important to decide what type of firefighter you want to be before you have too much time invested. For example, structural, wildland, industrial, off-shore, etc.
3) Can I Achieve the Basic Minimum Qualifications? – If you can achieve the basic minimum qualifications, you’re off to the races. Early on in your research you will discover every fire department has a list in place stating the minimum qualification interested applicants must possess. Failure to meet these qualifications will stop you continuing in the recruitment process.
4) Can you commit 100% – Only the strong hearted make it in the end. Perseverance is sometimes all you need. Its one thing to say you want to be a firefighter and another to actually do it. Remember, fire departments only want the best and until you are the best you have lots of work to do. What I tell new recruits is to view the process of becoming a firefighter as a career in itself. That being said, understand there is a financial commitment involved as well, it’s up to you to figure out how much that commitment is. To put things in better perspective the financial commitment is no where near the emotional commitment required.
5) Time – If you’re serious about becoming a firefighter don’t be surprised if all of your spare time is consumed by the commitment. You will find it is like having a second full time job, where you have to work every weekend, nights, holidays, etc. I haven’t even mentioned the fact that you need to obtain post secondary fire education in some form or another, as well as certification in emergency medical or pre-hospital care example: paramedic certification or EMT certification. This is usually why it takes a couple of years or more pursuing this career to even get to the point where you can start considering applying to fire departments. Also, keep in mind fire departments like to draft from neighboring volunteer fire departments meaning you will have to be fortunate enough to serve there before considered for full time employment.
6) Testing - Fire departments use a series of tests to help ensure the quality of the recruits considered for employment. Since fire departments individually govern the stages of recruitment, understand testing can vary from fire department to fire department. Chances are you will have to complete a medical assessment, written aptitude test, and a physical aptitude test. These tend to be the staples in applicant testing, but be ready for anything because the fire service is constantly evolving and so is the applicant selection process.
7) Motivation – Motivation is key and the sooner you can muster up definitive answers for the question “Why you want to be a firefighter?” the better off you’ll be. The whole process of trying to become a firefighter can take a number of years in reality; sometimes candidates’ lose momentum and find themselves spinning their tires so to speak. It’s always the recruits that have a clear understanding of why they wanted to be a firefighter in the first place that make it.
8) Make friends – If you don’t know anyone in the fire service get out there and meet some firefighters. If you already know firefighters then make the effort to talk to them and find out as much information as you can about the fire service. Also, try to speak with the most recent hired firefighters and find out what qualifications they have?, what they did to get hired?, any advice they may have, and so on.
9) Locate related resources – There are books on the market such as The Complete Guide to Becoming a Firefighter that prepare you for what you can expect. Once you learn the process to becoming a firefighter then you can construct a plan to achieve it. Get informed as soon as possible, the more books you have the better. If you buy a book and learn one thing in it, you are better off. So don’t limit yourself from reaching your full potential. The internet is also a great place to get informed. You must capitalize on these resources because chances are those you are competing against will.
10) Do you believe in yourself – This is the most important ingredient of all. Your success will ride on the fact you can see yourself making the finish line.
I thought I would write a quick blog, giving recruits a heads up about volunteering for the holidays. Christmas is just around the corner and Fire Departments are running at full steam as far as community involvement in concerned. So get off your butts and get into the fire halls near you and ask if you can get involved. It doesn't matter how big or small your contribution is. You should just be glad you got foot in the door and that you spread a little holiday cheer.
Things Fire Departments are doing:
* Parades
* Boot Drives
* Delivering food to food banks (Just a note, take your pick up truck and go around door to door in your neighborhood, and collect food for your communities food bank, and drop it off. Than update your resume volunteering section
Happy Holidays!
Over & Out
1. Never lie.
Aside from the moral implications, if you are considered for employment and your fabrications are found out, you would have smeared your reputation as a potential firefighter and more importantly as a person.
2. Never use the word "résumé" on your résumé.
The Fire Department is smart enough to figure out that they are reading a resume.
3. Never include salary information.
If this is a concern you can use other methods to determine your potential pay scale. You should contact the city’s human resources because firefighters are city employees so as a taxpayer you privileged to know the salary of the fire department.
4. Don’t attach job references & testimonials.
Usually at the end of the resume it will say, "references available upon request". This is sufficient. You may include your reference and any testimonials you have in your application package.
5. Never include personal statistics & photographs.
Facts about your marital status, age, height, weight, photographs etc, are not important and are only invitations for discrimination.
6. Don’t include personality profiles.
The Fire Department will gain an understanding of your personality from the interview.
7. Don’t copy someone else’s resume. Be original and creative.
Start your résumé from scratch. Use the sample résumé in this book as a template however be creative and original with the content. Writing your own resume will give you a chance to express who you truly are. It is also important that you are familiar with the content on the resume, it would not be wise to struggle answering any questions they have about the content on your resume in an interview.
I thought I would discuss what being recruited means, however from the prospective of the fire department. I have taken this approach with many of my members who have asked about the interview process. It seems to help them get their heads around interview anxiety, as well as be able to settle down in the interview and answer the questions in a professional manner.
Fire departments have a huge decision to make when it comes to hiring a new recruit. I have talked about this in my book “The Complete Guide to Becoming a Firefighter”. Fire departments aren’t just hiring for the short term, literally they are hiring for the long term. Unlike every big investment you will make in your life such as buying a home for example, you can get out of it; you could sell the home, move… whatever. The point is some of the biggest decisions we make typically we can get out of it one way or another. When a fire department hires a new recruit they are making a 25 to 30 year commitment, no questions asked.
Instead of looking at your interview from your prospective, we all know what that entails… getting hired could mean you can start your life, maybe settle down, have kids, buy a house, and the list goes on. Sometimes the easiest way to get what you want is to give others what they want. So I’m going to let you in on an earth-shattering secret.
The whole purpose of an interview and interview process no matter how in-depth it is or not is to find out and confirm that you are who you say you are and you believe in what you say you believe in. Fire departments realistically have a very short period of time and realistically limited resources to determine that you are deserving of the job and I’m not talking about qualifications because if you weren’t qualified you wouldn’t have got the interview in the first place. I’m talking about character… do you process the characteristics that the fire service is built upon such as honor, integrity, adaptability, discipline, great people skills, determination, and so on. If you don’t have these personality traits then the fire service will go down the tubes.
Next time when you’re preparing for your interview and you’re thinking about the potential questions you could be asked. Just keep in mind all they’re trying to do is ask you a series of questions that help them determine you are who you say you are, will you fit it in, and not in any way shape or form threaten the reputation that the fire service has fought so hard to obtain.
Things seem a lot simpler and clearer when you do the role reversal. If you’re not having any luck with interviews, it could be possible that you’re just not giving the fire department much to go on. It’s not to say that you don’t process all those traits listed above, however it could be said that you didn’t portray those traits in your interview.
Hope this has helped for your next interview.
Over & Out!
 About 4 months ago I stumbled across a workout that allowed me to get in the best shape of my life, while working out at home. Limited weights, rubber bands, yoga mat, and pull-up bar is all you’ll need to make it happen for you.
I feel this is a great workout for both firefighters and firefighter recruits to get in amazing shape and surpass the minimum fitness requirements set out by any fire department. Who is up for the challenge?
(P90X can be purchased online at beachbody.com or at department stores such as Wal-Mart for approx. $120.00)
Over the years I have come across countless firefighter recruits who are screaming for help in the fitness department. These recruits either can’t pass the firefighter fitness exam or they are on the soft side and would like to lose a bit of weight. Beside the whole get a gym membership and a personal trainer there was not much more I tell them. Until now!
I have personally done the series of exercises that makes up the P90X workout and I can tell you that it was sure an eye opener for me. First of all I new I had been slacking in the fitness department for couple of years while I took time out to write my book and everything and I also noticed my waste line getting bigger and bigger. I had wanted to get back shape for while now but I never really had the motivation nor did I know what I was going to do when I got in the gym. In the past I have done most of your typical throw as much weight on the bars as you can and try to move the weight routines, and quite frankly I was not looking forward to doing that again. For a while now I had been hearing about core training but I wanted core training as well strength and stamina.
Months had past and I had still not done anything about it until I was at the fire hall one day and over heard some of the guys talking about P90X workout. My ears perked up because I had just watched the entire infomercial at home and I was rather curious about it and funny enough, literally the next day I found myself tracking down my very own copy of the P90X workout.
That was 4 months ago. I have already completed the 90-day workout once and I have to say these DVD’s are no joke. Talk about a complete body workout, as well as a complete body makeover. I’m not kidding I feel like I am a teenager again as far as how I feel and how I’m put together. More importantly I had a pretty intense house fire about two months back and I couldn’t believe the difference in my performance both physically and mentally. My cardio impressed me the most. I felt like the energizer bunny running up and down and around this house on fire. I have also, dropped two paint sizes while maintaining my weight. If that’s’ not impressive I don’t know what is.
I strongly recommend P90X to anyone who feels they are up to the challenge and I promise when your next firefighter physical fitness exam comes up you won’t be worried at all.
Over & out
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