Becoming a firefighter isn’t a walk in the park, thanks to the fierce competition among qualified candidates fighting for the few firefighter jobs out there. But this shouldn’t make you give up on your dream of becoming a professional firefighter. Neither should it make you proceed to other career choices. All you have to do is to prepare yourself adequately so as to increase your odds of being hired when searching for a firefighter job. Below are 4 important things you ought to do when searching for firefighter jobs.
- Meet all the basic requirements
In every type of work, there are some minimum requirements that a candidate should meet in order to be considered eligible to work. The same case goes to firefighter jobs. There are some basic requirements that you need to meet for you to become a professional firefighter. Below are some of the requirements that you need to meet if you are looking forward to working as a professional firefighter.
- Must be over 18 years of age
- Must have a clean criminal record
- Must undergo and pass a drug test
- Must have EMT (Emergency Medical Training) certification.
- Must have a minimum of a high school diploma
- Understand all the steps of the hiring process
There is no way you can expect to become a professional firefighter yet you aren’t conversant with all the steps involved in hiring one. The hiring process may vary from one geographical location to the other as well as from one fire department to the other. However, there is a basic process of hiring firefighters across the board. As such, make a point of familiarizing yourself with the process of hiring a firefighter. Find out about the requirements needed for you to become a professional firefighter in regard to your place of residence.
- Get experience first
No recruiting manager can ever make the costly mistake of hiring a firefighter who doesn’t have hands-on firefighting experience. So, if you have just taken firefighting classes but you have never actually worked in a fire department, then you shouldn’t bother applying for firefighter jobs in the first place. As such, strive to get some experience first. The best way of getting experience is volunteering your time in a fire department. Even though you may not be in their payroll, the experience that you will get from them will pay off later on because that is what will sell you when you are searching for firefighting jobs.
- Learn as much as possible about fire service
The more you learn about fire service in detail, the more you will understand what hiring managers look for when hiring firefighters. This will definitely set you apart from other candidates who most likely might not know much about fire service and firefighting as you do. As such, it is imperative you make a point of learning as much as you can concerning fire service. Subscribe to various fire service publications such as FireEngineering Magazine and Firehouse Magazine so that you can learn more about fire service.
Now that you are familiar with some of the most important things that you need to do when searching for firefighter jobs, you are definitely one step closer to becoming a professional firefighter.
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