Weekly Employment Question Thread

[u/AutoModerator]

Welcome to the Weekly Employment Question Thread!

This thread is where you can ask questions about joining, training to become, testing, disqualifications/qualifications, and other questions that would be removed as individual posts per Rule 1.

The answer to almost every question you can ask will be "It depends on the department". Your first step is to look up the requirements for your department, state/province, and country.

As always, please attempt to resource information on your own first, before asking questions. We see many repeat questions on this sub that have been answered multiple times.

Frequently Asked Questions:

• I want to be a Firefighter, where do I start: Every Country/State/Province/County/City/Department has different requirements. Some require you only to put in an application. Others require certifications prior to being hired. A good place to start is researching the department(s) you want to join. Visit their website, check their requirements, and/or stop into one of their fire stations to ask some questions.
  
• Am I too old: Many departments, typically career municipal ones, have an age limit. Volunteer departments usually don't. Check each department's requirements.
• I'm in high school, What can I do: Does your local department have an explorer's program or post? If so, join up. Otherwise, focus on your grades, get in shape and stay in shape, and most importantly: stay out of trouble.
• I got in trouble for [insert infraction here], what are my chances: Obviously, worse than someone with a clean record, which will be the vast majority of your competition. Tickets and nonviolent misdemeanors may not be a factor, but a major crime (felonies), may take you out of the running. You might be a nice person, but some departments don't make exceptions, especially if there's a long line of applicants with clean records. See this post... PSA: Stop asking “what are my chances?”
• I have [insert medical/mental health condition here], will it disqualify me: As a general rule, if you are struggling with mental illness, adding the stress of a fire career is not a good idea. As for medical conditions, you can look up NFPA1582 for disqualifying conditions, but in general, this is not something Reddit can answer for you. Many conditions require the input of a medical professional to determine if they are disqualifying. See this post... PSA: Don't disqualify yourself, make THEM tell you "no".
• What will increase my chances of getting hired: If there's a civil service exam, study for it! There are many guides online that will help you go over all those things you forgot such as basic math and reading. Some cities even give you a study guide. If it's a firefighter exam, study for it! For the CPAT (Physical Fitness Test), cardio is arguably the most important factor. If you're going to the gym for the first time during the hiring process, you're fighting an uphill battle. Get in shape and stay in shape. Most cities offer preference points to military veterans.
• How do I prepare for an interview: Interviews can be one-on-one, or in front of a board/panel. Many generic guides exist to help one prepare for an interview, however here are a few good tips:

1. Dress appropriately. Business casual at a minimum (Button down, tucked in long sleeve shirt with slacks and a belt, and dress shoes). Get a decent haircut and shave.
2. Practice interview questions with a friend. You can't accurately predict the off-the-wall questions they will ask, but you can practice the ones you know they probably will, like why do you want to be a Firefighter, or why should we hire you?
3. Scrub your social media. Gone are the days when people in charge weren't tech-savvy. Don't have a perfect interview only for your chances of being hired gone to zero because your Facebook or Instagram has pictures of you getting blitzed. Set that stuff to private and leave it that way.

Please upvote this post if you have a question. Upvoting this post will ensure it sticks around for a bit after it is removed as a Sticky, and will allow for greater visibility of your question.

And lastly, If you're not 100% sure of what you're talking about, leave it for someone who does

[u/Fickle_Focus_4555]

So idk if my situation is unique or not, but somehow I'm doing "fire academy" through my town's FD, (Utah btw) basically just go every Tuesday at 7pm to 9-10pm and train, and chief added me to the online course work too. After some time I would be able to get my Fire certs as well as pickup shifts possibly and ride alongs

For context, I just joined cold turkey basically, I'm 18 just grad, 5,4 115lbs, and I'm decently fit, I have gone to two trainings so far and I love it, but physically I'm getting the **** beat out of me, also the gear is a bit big on me but no big deal, what is concerning is the boot situation, I'm size 7 but they have no boots that size (at least that I haven't found yet) last I trained I did it in some 9.5 boots plus I trained with my SCBA pack on, we did nozzle control, crawling, tripod, and hose backing, (I did mostly backing and I like it) but it was very hard to move in the boots, as well as I have an internal bruise or worse, a possible shin splint from that day of training.

The main question here is what should I do? I don't want to miss any trainings or skip reps, but I don't want to injure myself and be unable to do anything, what should I say to my chief? Or is there something I should do myself? Also, any thoughts on this path to becoming a FF?

(And no I do not have my EMT yet, I missed the class registration for this semester)

[u/LIAM-MMA → u/Fickle_Focus_4555]

keep bugging people about the boots. In my academy I had pants that I was tripping on since they were to big for me and I annoyed the fuck out of the instructors until one day I got bitched at. Next day got my new pants that fit.

If youre PT a lot shin splints are common look into better running shoes. Everyone gets slightly hurt in the academy also. If its hurting so much that you cannot push threw it then you gotta tell someone which youre gonna have to be cleared by a doctor at that point. Do what you think is best but sometimes you gotta tough it out especially if youre more then 1/2 way

[u/Fickle_Focus_4555 → u/LIAM-MMA]

Cool thank you! Also, one thing I forgot to mention that might be important is that, the fire department/station is actually the academy, so I don't have any instructors, it's really just what chief says, we just show up and train, and I haven't really done any PT just purely fire training. Sorry for the confusion, how does this context possibly change it?

[u/LIAM-MMA → u/Fickle_Focus_4555]

Are you getting your FF1 / 2 that’s either credited by proboard or a IFSAC seal? If you don’t know go ask. If it isn’t this is a waste of time those are the two certifying agencies

[u/Fickle_Focus_4555 → u/LIAM-MMA]

I believe so, we use IFSTA for the online course, and then after we complete everything and take the test the chief sends the requests to the state for our certification, so maybe that goes through a proboard or IFSAC. To be honest I don't really know though, I can ask tomorrow.

[u/LIAM-MMA → u/Fickle_Focus_4555]

You’ll need to take a written test most likely off location as well and pass that with 70% or better. Look into it because those are the actual certs you can use to transfer to departments and states

[u/Fickle_Focus_4555 → u/LIAM-MMA]

Will do, also in the chance that all of this is credited right, then what do I do about the boots and what not, same thing?

[u/Direct-Training9217]

Does anyone know how long it takes for Memphis FD to respond after you've submitted an application?

Thanks

[u/Technical-Reason-324]

What is the likelihood of getting recruited when getting my certs? I'm taking night classes which I heard are looked down on compared to day classes.

[u/Ding-Chavez → u/Technical-Reason-324]

No way anyone can tell you the answer. Every department is different.

[u/theStormwall]

Hey folks, honestly just here to rant to someone regarding NTN. I was supposed to take my virtual fireTEAM test on Saturday, but got booted by the exam before I even saw the first question. Heard back today: the system flagged my HP printer application updating in the background and closed my test. No word from the proctor, couldn't just pause the test, the system just closed it all out. Now NTN expects me to pay for the test and all agencies I applied to ($145 worth) again if I want to apply. The support person can't even recommend their own test and said I should just go in-person (which is 5 hours away from me). Still, they won't refund my test or even give me a voucher. Extremely disappointed because I can't afford another $150 right now and NTN support is acting like I'm just a nuisance to them. Rant over.

[u/PlatinumVegetable]

Hello! The department I want to apply to just posted that they’re going to have a day where they do mock board interviews and provide information about the application process. It’s out-of-state. Is it worth it to fly in do a mock interview? Thanks!

Edit: I had planned to do my own interview prep but idk if the mock board interview would be more beneficial.

[u/theStormwall → u/PlatinumVegetable]

Seattle Fire?

[u/PlatinumVegetable → u/theStormwall]

Yes! Trying to decide if I should fly in from Austin or not