Moving to Florida

[bradzzo]

How does it work in Florida? Do you put yourself through all "academy" classes on your own then get hired? I am moving to the Tallahassee area from Atlanta in about a year and am looking for work before I get there.

Is there nothing I can do in order to get hired before moving to FL?

I know where I am they put you through all necessary training once hired. Not sure how things are done further south.

Thanks in advance

Bradzzo

[ctrlaltdelete]

I can tell you that getting hire in Florida is extremely hard, the minimum you need is FF I&II & EMT from Florida, I don't know of to many places that will pay for fire standards, maybe Orlando, Miami or other larger cites. Keep in mind that going to fire standards right off, you will be considered an out of state resident until you reside here for one year, I would get your Florida's drivers license right off and car tags, you will pay out of state tuition, which is a lot more. For tuition purposes they used my car tags and license along with bills to determine how long I've been here.

Getting a job here before you move is going to be next to impossible, there are hundreds and hundreds of FF applying for one or more positions. I don't think they will even consider you with out Florida fire I&II/EMT.

Hope this helps

[AKflightmedic]

The man speaks the truth...

Plan on a different job until you get FL FF I and II along with EMT Basic. Then start applying, testing, interviewing and be prepared to become more realistic about what constitutes a "dream department" along with a desire to relocate wherever you need.

[rpferry]

How does it work in Florida? Do you put yourself through all "academy" classes on your own then get hired? I am moving to the Tallahassee area from Atlanta in about a year and am looking for work before I get there.

Is there nothing I can do in order to get hired before moving to FL?

I know where I am they put you through all necessary training once hired. Not sure how things are done further south.

Thanks in advance

Bradzzo

Hey man,
Like the other guys stated, it's hard right now and it's going to be that way for the next little while. There are a few palces that hire non-certified firefighters though. I'm not sure about the state residence requirements thought. Check out Miami-Dade, City of Miami, and Orange County. The departments down south usually only hire certified medics but I know there have been classes with EMT-Bs. PM me if you have any other questions. Also, have you checked Atlanta FD for hiring?
-rob

[ctrlaltdelete]

Just an idea if you know the area you will be living in, I would look into volunteering, some departments will help with bunker gear for fire standards. Helps save $$$$$

[owenscott]

Lot of applicants for few jobs. All have emt-b or better and all have FF1 & 2. Tested this past year 10 Full Time spots with another 8 or 9 on a list if ppl retire, narrowed down to 350 applicants to take the written. That is for one of the lowest paid county depts, that, i heard (well i saw it also but not making any countywide statements as I only saw it run one fire call up close), run one FF per truck.

Tough not impossible but tough.

Out of my standards class i'd say only about 5 out of 30 are hired 1 year later, (one part time because thats all he wanted and one in Iraq as FF) 2 others i know for sure hired full time. That gives me maybe one other that's been hired that i don't know about. Academies are pumping more out all the time.

Tough ....

[Deluge059]

Hey man,
Like the other guys stated, it's hard right now and it's going to be that way for the next little while. There are a few palces that hire non-certified firefighters though. I'm not sure about the state residence requirements thought. Check out Miami-Dade, City of Miami, and Orange County. The departments down south usually only hire certified medics but I know there have been classes with EMT-Bs. PM me if you have any other questions. Also, have you checked Atlanta FD for hiring?
-rob

Miami-Dade still does, but they gave a test 2 years ago and still havent even moved on from that point. City of Miami did accept non-certified applicants, but then proceeded to throw them out.

Even though every department in America is having budget issues, Florida also has a million applicants for one job. Florida also has firefighter and paramedic production lines, that is every day there are probably 30 new certified medics and FFs. Therefore, when you show up to test, you're sitting next to 100 FF/PMs. Dania Beach recently had an application process and required FF/PM only and they got over 300 apps for 3 spots.

North Florida is practically South Georgia, I would suggest not coming to Fl. unless youre 80.

[Dell205]

If you are planning to come here and starting from scratch on getting your Florida certifications, do your fire I and II last. Get your EMT-B, and then paramedic first.

By the time you get all three, hiring will be or should be better years down the road. Yes, there are very few hirings now because of the economy, but some departments like mine will have a lot of retirements coming and they will need to be replaced. Coming here, you gotta be patient.

In the meantime, the others are right that you should volunteer after your fire I and II and for your EMS, work for a private ambulance company or hospital while looking for a fire job. I know it is a tall order, but you must be competitive with the thousands of applicants around looking for fire jobs. The days of hiring right after the fire academy are over for a long time. It took me 15 months to get picked up and I am not a FF/Paramedic. I was extremely lucky. Hope this helps.

Good Luck!

[Aces11]

Florida Hiring, some input?

Hey guys, I have some questions about all the certs/qualifications needed to get hired in Florida and what the testing process is really like right now and what's expected in the next few years. I'm currently a firefighter EMT for the City of Phoenix, 3 years exp., and was looking into moving to Florida in the next few years and have been trying to find out as much as I can, and have done quite a bit of research. I would love to work for a department near any coast basically.

1.) I see that you have to have a Florida drivers license, can you only obtain one if you actually live in the state? Any way around that? Is it absolutely a must to live in the state for a year to meet all the requirements before you start testing?
2.) Are departments hiring more medics or emt's?
3.) I'm sure it's very competitive there, it definitely sounds like it, just how tough would it be to get on somewhere? Average starting salary for a emt looks around $35-$40K, is that pretty accurate?

Any input would be great, I would really really appreciate it. Let me know

[JMac73]

Hey guys, I have some questions about all the certs/qualifications needed to get hired in Florida and what the testing process is really like right now and what's expected in the next few years. I'm currently a firefighter EMT for the City of Phoenix, 3 years exp., and was looking into moving to Florida in the next few years and have been trying to find out as much as I can, and have done quite a bit of research. I would love to work for a department near any coast basically.

1.) I see that you have to have a Florida drivers license, can you only obtain one if you actually live in the state? Any way around that? Is it absolutely a must to live in the state for a year to meet all the requirements before you start testing?
2.) Are departments hiring more medics or emt's?
3.) I'm sure it's very competitive there, it definitely sounds like it, just how tough would it be to get on somewhere? Average starting salary for a emt looks around $35-$40K, is that pretty accurate?

Any input would be great, I would really really appreciate it. Let me know

Pretty sure you have to live here to get a DL

They want medics but for some reason or another we seem not to be able to find any so we hire mostly EMT's with medics mixed in.

It can be competitive but we have hired like 2 or 3 classes this year so it's not impossible. Good luck hit some of the dept websites and see what you can find out.

[SWFLFFPM]

You can get a FL DL that is valid only for Florida. In order to get one valid for all states you must give up your home DL.

This is designed for folks that live a border state but work in FL, and their job requires a FL DL.

I'm pretty sure most places will let you get a FL license when you get hired. It doesn't make much sense to force people to get a DL just to apply.

There is no requirement to wait a year unless some department specifically has such a residency requirement. None do, AFAIK.

[Aces11]

Any other input would be great regarding my previous post.
Also, say you do get lucky enough to be hired on in florida as a emt, do they require you to get your paramedic down the line? Thanks again guys!!!

[SWFLFFPM]

Any other input would be great regarding my previous post.
Also, say you do get lucky enough to be hired on in florida as a emt, do they require you to get your paramedic down the line? Thanks again guys!!!

That would depend on the employer.

[beachfire]

Any other input would be great regarding my previous post.
Also, say you do get lucky enough to be hired on in florida as a emt, do they require you to get your paramedic down the line? Thanks again guys!!!

Miami Beach requires that you get. You do all of it on shift.