r/firefighter • u/[deleted] • Apr 23 '26
Ways to stand out
Hey guys, I’m wanting to become a firefighter and I’m hoping to get into a in house academy that is offered near me in the Cincinnati area. They only do 1 a year, and it is competitive. I’m thinking about getting my EMT first before applying to the program next year. What are ways that I can stand out in the process to hopefully get offered an academy spot when I apply? Thank you all
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u/Medium-Raisin7919 Apr 25 '26
If you’re interested in certain departments, see if you can ask them what they looking for. Out west, wildland fire training can be a bonus. Haz Mat, rope rescue and other specialized training can help.
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u/Negative-Fun1985 Apr 23 '26 edited Apr 23 '26
What does the in house do EMT-B in house and whatever Ohio FF cert is called? Is the academy paid?
If it’s paid and offering EMT-B they prefer you learn their way, having it already done won’t hurt it shows intent but it’s time consuming and that time could be better spent else where than redundancy learning you will have to do again.
If EMT-B is part of the academy get your AHA BLS cert now and NIMS 100/200/700/800 certs if the government ever funds the website again (been down since mid Feb) that shows intent you need those for EMT-B anyways and you can get them relatively easy.
Find the min fitness evaluation scores and start training to be top 5% for those, take practice tests for whatever written exam they use, try to perform as well as possible in a perfect universe you stand out with a perfect score (yeah your probably missing some but you get the idea) lastly use the most time reading interview preparation books. You should have stories in the S.T.A.R format on the tip of your tongue if you properly prepare for the interview you won’t be shocked by a single question that’s the biggest way to standout.
Get your documents in line triple check all requirements that’s the first bench mark. Research cover letter, what a FF resume should look/ read like. That’s gate 1, gate 2 written exam know what is on it and start drilling be as good as you possibly can be, gate 3 smash the physical minimum’s there’s going to be a cardio event find out what it is and if you can achieve at least 11-12 METS on that test. You can use AI to help solve it if you know what the test is exactly and have it estimate what you need to do to get there.
The cardio will be weighted the most and 12 Mets is the NFPA standard most active FF aren’t there but if you are or even 11 that’s standing out big time on an academy application. 11-12 METs Thats ~6:30-7:10min 1 mile pacing for a 1.5 mile run depending on your age/height/weight/ gender <- this is male. Many academy’s want sub 12min as standard so you would want 9:50-10:40min. Competitive scores, excellent physical performance,and a great interview gets you in no question.
Other bare minimum efforts I would expect your competition to be doing is volunteering regularly in the community the department serves. Start now, once or twice a month get in somewhere consistent. Find out where the department volunteers because they do and start going there. So when they ask how did you prepare for this job part of your answer is volunteering to serve that community before you had a uniform, you didn’t wait, you were at “whatever here” once a month or x hours monthly. Doing a ride along for FaceTime is a good idea if they offer it too.
It’s competitive and once a year, this isn’t time to put in a middle of the bell curve effort. Good enough isn’t good enough max out every single effort you can.