How?

[Mefesto]

It's been a dream of mine for awhile to become a firefighter. To be honest, ever since I was a little kid. Although I strayed away from my dream during high schoolto get into the IT business, here at the age of 25, I again have the desire to follow my childhood dream. The only problem is that I do not have any sort of college degree or certs and on top of that, I am only 5'5" tall.

To give a little bit more of a background story, I got married last year, we bought a house about 6 months ago and we can not afford to get me into some college classes or cert classes at this point in time. The local fire dept here just started hiring again with 4 testing dates begining sept 3 and ending sept 10. Then they will start regular testing on the first wed. of every month. They have been on a new hire freeze for about 2 years. I am willing to bet there are decent number of jobs for entry level at this point in time because of the hiring freeze.

I am not sure if I should take a shot at the first round of tests or wait a month to take the test because feel I am not ready for the tests at this point in time and I have never been good at interviews. My fear is that if I try for the tests this round I will more then likely fail and would have to wait 6 months to take the written or even if I pass that I will have to wait an entire year to take the Oral if I do not place high enough on the list which I know I can not do at this point in time.

Basicly My questions are How do I become a firefighter? What are the first steps I should take on making my dream come true? Should I wait or should I just try for it? Any other information or advice you would like to pass on would be great. Thanks for taking time to read this post.


M

[kghemtp]

The state of New Hampshire as I'm sure many others hold a physical agility test (now so many are going with the CPAT) along with a written aptitude for firefighting. I suppose the best I could recommend would be to take the test, spend lots of time with the folks at the firehouse, and do what you can to learn even before getting into classes. If you can get the department to spring for another guy in class, then you'd be all set. Remember you'll also have to look into EMS training, at least the EMT-Basic level. A little at a time to see if this profession is for you. Best of luck to you, and always feel free to write your thoughts or questions. You can email me and any of a number of people here who would offer any perspective they have. Take care!

[CaptBob]

Is it just a myth?

Kevin is giving sound advice here in just start testing by getting ready for the first portion of the process. Most departments run their testing process with the written, physical agility, oral board, and medcial(some departments run the agility after the oral as part of the medical).

Check out the other postings on in this job forum and to gain more knowledge the career articles section on testng on this firehouse.com web site: http://cms.firehouse.com/content/sec...sp?sectionId=8

This might help:

Is it just a myth?

Question: I wanted to know why this one candidate was in the hiring process? He had no academy, no college degree, no EMT, and no experience. I thought to myself, how could this guy be in the same group as me?

Reply: That's the myth. Candidates believe they have to accumulate a bunch of credentials to be hired. That this alone will get them the job. The truth is it's not what you have or don't have but how you present those credentials. The rubber meets the road in the oral board.

Don't get me wrong, credentials are great, but we've had numerous candidates, like the one you described above with few or no fire related credentials that get hired. They realized they couldn't compete with candidates with overwhelming credentials. So, they improved their chances by concentrating on the most important part of the process. THE ORAL BOARD! They converted their personal life experiences into proven oral board skills needed to get that badge! Like you, this baffles the other candidates. They can't or won't believe it can be done. Right now we have several of these candidates with seemingly no credentials, in the hiring process in major cities across the United States and Canada, including LA City, Henderson, Denver, Dade County and Stockton.

Question from a candidate: Are you trying to tell me that a city would hire a candidate with no fire education or experience? No way!

Response from a candidate who did it:

There is a real simple answer to your question...most, if not all big city departments require almost none, if any, experience or certifications. Says so right on the job announcement. Unless they are required by the department to test, certs and experience mean squat.

The people who get the jobs are those who can show during the oral board process that they possess the personality, willingness to learn, ability to adapt, and how all of their past life and work experiences have made them well suited for the career. These are the people who blow right by the other wannabes.

You have to be pretty blind and ignorant not to understand why the bigger departments run their own academies...so they can teach the recruits "their way". None of these departments care one bit how it was done at whatever academy you have been to before.

You can learn how to handle the situational questions and how to demonstrate to the panel members that you can and want to do the job.
Even with no fire experience and just a lowly EMT cert, I had 4 conditional job offers over a two-week period. My secret?.....Preparing for the oral board!

Fire "Captain Bob"
www.eatstress.com

[kghemtp]

I'll even back up CaptBob by saying the "fresh" recruit with great people skills and little or no training doesn't have to be broken of old habits from another department. The job is as much about working with others as it is knowledge of fire. When you demonstrate the first, a department will put some faith in your ability to train in their ways. Lack of fire or ems experience does not necessarily mean you lack life experience. Make your experiences so far in life work for you in reaching your dreams here. Good luck!

[Mefesto]

Well, I took my written exam on sept 10, 2003. I feel I did very well on the exam but of course it does not matter so long as I pass with a 75% or higher score because it is just a pass/fail test. I should know how I did on the exam for sure in about 2 weeks. The dept I am applying for has the oral before the PAT so any help on the oral or both for that matter would be great.

Thank you guys for the support, it gave mr confidence going into the writtem exam. I talked to the testing coordinator while I was there and they plan on hiring 40 people although the academy will begin until next year sometime. So I hope I can convince the oral board I am at least one of those top 40 people that is right for the job. The oral should be in sometime in oct. or nov. according to the coordinator, so that gives me time to study for the interview and get ready for the PAT.


Thanks


M

[CaptBob]

Oral Boards

M Since you're getting prepared for your oral board, check out
The Problem is Poor Oral Board Skills! from a previous posting by clicking here:

http://cms.firehouse.com/forums2/sho...threadid=51959

Also check out the other postings on in this job forum and to gain more knowledge check out the oral board section on testing on this firehouse.com web site: http://cms.firehouse.com/content/con.../bio.jsp?id=18

Fire "Captain Bob"
www.eatstress.com

[OSUfirepro]

What was your score?

[johnmrobinson]

Only a 75% to pass? Wow .. you will never get a call here in RI unless you get like a 98 or 99, I think.

[Mefesto]

Well I passed the test with a 94%. Just got the letter in the mail today. I will be going to a interview late oct. or nov. and then I will be taking the PAT.

I took it upon myself to look at a few other websites reguarding the oral and I decided to go the way of captbob. Your website holds tons of information on the oral. As of a week ago I ordered you entry level package.

Hope it helps me earn the badge.

[Thehangedfrog]

Originally posted by Mefesto
Well I passed the test with a 94%. Just got the letter in the mail today. I will be going to a interview late oct. or nov. and then I will be taking the PAT.

I took it upon myself to look at a few other websites reguarding the oral and I decided to go the way of captbob. Your website holds tons of information on the oral. As of a week ago I ordered you entry level package.

Hope it helps me earn the badge.

Just remember, expecially if this is your first application/testing
Alot of people dont make it thru the first time. Not that they wont be great firefighters, but FF testing is a whole different ball game from High school... Alot of people dont know what to expect and psych themselves out. If you make it on this time, great, if not figure out what you did not do perfect and work on it.. Did they have alot of Firefighting questions on the written or was it a generic civil service test? Any questions you were unsure of, write down and try to find the answer to.(not during the test mind you), During the physical Agility portion, what tired you out the most, work on that, do you need to work on Cardio, Carrying a drag-dummy, swimming? after the test, (within an hour after you have rested a little), take an inner look at yourself, see what you need to work on and then work on it. The Oral Interview, Remember each question they ask you, write them down afterwards, you will most likely see some of them again. figure out the best way to answer them, have friends or family ask the questions of you and answer them, try answering yourself in a mirror. (dont do the same questions each time, and not in the same order). Check throughout the newhire forums, see what other questions have been asked, add them (if they are reasonable) to your list and figure the answer for them.

All that will help in case it does not work out. I missed my first 6 or 7 jobs because of silly sh!7, because of 1. out of shape, 2. car broke down, (get there early and wait within walking distance)(I would get there 1 to 2 hours early, stop at a McD's or BK, get a glass of diet coke (remebering #1) and review my notes, answer, questions, etc. this will also give you time to calm down and relax, show up to the waiting area 10-15 min early (unless they prohibit that), just in case the clocks dont match, and again, a time to calm down), 3. Bad day, missed written test, 4. Written test with ALOT of subjective questions (I think geared for their volunteers), 5. dont know what happened, just did not get hired, 5-6, my own combo department, (they did not hire any vollies, 7 vols applied, 3 out of area FF, and 2 out of areas got jobs. Figured out, we were doing it for free, why should they pay us. (the Vollies disbanded shortly after that)

Hope that info helps..
Gerard

[Mefesto]

Thanks for the post thehangedfrog, that is alot of useful info that I will take note of. To be honest, I do not really think I will make it this time but I figured I would try and give ti my best shot. Starting early next year I will be taking a class at the local college to get me ready for an emt-b cert. After the class is over I already have a reserved spot in the next paramedic cert class. Our local ems service in the city I live in is not run by the FD it is a seperate service. I am going to hope I can get a job with them until I am able to get a job with the local FD. Well, "if" I can get a job with the local FD that is.

The other reason I am going to get the cert is because a few other FD's around my area require that you have a paramedic cert before they will even hire you. The way I see it is, if worse comes to worse, I will have a good job that I would like doing as far as the ems service goes. I just can't wait to get out of the IT/MIS industry.