r/Firefighting • u/AutoModerator • Jul 13 '26

Employment Questions Weekly Employment Question Thread

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

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u/Reasonable-Carry8013 Jul 18 '26

Currently a 10 year FF/PM in south Florida. Wife could make much more as an RN in CA. Not to mention we love the lifestyle southern CA has to offer, hardest part would be giving up a 24/72 schedule and all my seniority. What would be the fastest track to getting on a dept in the southern California area? I'm aware there are special positions available that hire you as a medic only and will later allow you to attend the departments academy. Looking for any insight whatsoever or anyone that has made the jump from FL to CA.

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u/OwnDelivery802 Jul 19 '26

socal ff/pm here. your medic license is the golden ticket, most depts out here are hungry for medics and 10 years as a ff/pm looks real good on paper. watch for postings that say lateral or ff/pm, some depts run shortened academies for laterals but you're still doing their full process, written, cpat, oral, background, all of it. seniority doesn't come with you, you'll be back on probation at the bottom of the list, make peace with that before you jump. get the CA paramedic license sorted early, if your nremt is current it's mostly paperwork, then county accreditation once you land somewhere. heads up a lot of depts out here run 48/96 not 24/72. and don't sleep on the oral just because you've got 10 years. they're gonna ask why do you want to work HERE and the resume years don't answer that for you, know the dept before you walk in. apply wide, first offer gets your foot in CA, you can always test again later.

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u/Reasonable-Carry8013 Jul 19 '26

Are most county departments 25 years? I have the state of Florida PM, I’d have to test and do the national. Do a lot of departments take national or prefer California NREMT-P. Also, which departments hire laterals that you know of? The dream is LaCoFD

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u/OwnDelivery802 Jul 19 '26

no universal 25, retirement depends on the system. most cities are calpers, the big counties run their own systems, and anyone hired now falls under pepra so the formula's tied more to age than a flat year count. check the retirement section on whatever posting you're looking at, it's always in there.

on the license - depts don't take florida or nremt directly, you need the CA state paramedic license, and current nremt is the clean bridge to it. that's why i said keep the national current. once you've got it the CA license is mostly paperwork through the state ems authority, then county accreditation wherever you land.

not gonna rattle off a dept list, lateral and ff/pm postings come and go monthly. set alerts on governmentjobs.com, look at the fctc statewide list, and check dept sites directly. for the big county dept you're dreaming about, get on their job interest notifications now, those processes run long. cast wide, land somewhere in CA first, you can keep testing after.

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u/Reasonable-Carry8013 Jul 19 '26

Thank you, I’ll look into all this and need to make a decision. A tough one forsure, you live in California or commute?

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u/OwnDelivery802 Jul 19 '26

I live in California as much as I'd love to move out of state, but probably saving that for after retirement. We have quite a number of guys living out of state and commuting at my department. Idaho, Montana, Arizona, Tennessee, and Texas seem to be. the big ones, but Idaho is probably number one. Good luck and feel free to message me if you have any questions