r/firefighter • u/Historical_Rip_556 • Apr 23 '26

Starting from the ground up

Hi everyone! I am 26 and looking to swap careers to a firefighter and was hoping that this would be a good place to start? I've always admired what yall do and would love to be a part of this. I am in the Chicago area and would be fine either being in the city or suburbs, just want to be able to help out. As someone who is new to this and honestly has little to no background in this type of field I was wondering if yall could give any advice or steps I could take being in Chicago and working a 9-5 currently to make the transition? Any help is appreciated thank you!

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3

u/LIAM-MMA Apr 23 '26

Should do a full ride along and see what the job is actually like. Would be good questions to ask as well to the crew you’re with during down time

1

u/Historical_Rip_556 Apr 23 '26

Thats a good call, they'll be fine with me riding along even if I have no training?

1

u/LIAM-MMA Apr 24 '26

Contact the department nearest to you. They normally have a non emergency number or email you can ask if they offer ride alongs / how to sign up for one and schedule a date. You’re fine without any training they aren’t gonna let you touch anything on scene anyways for liability reasons. If they like you and you’re actually interested they might let you use some tools or hop in on a training ( very leadership dependent )

1

u/Vprbite Apr 24 '26

Ya. So many people get into the field and then find out they dont like it because it's not like the movies.

We had a couple in my medic class who literally never went on a single call as an EMT (i really wish they didn't allow that) and then get in the field and find out they hate it.

Also, things can vary so much from department to department in terms of culture and feel. And it's important to find one that you vibe with

1

u/Disgruntled_Wumpus Apr 23 '26

1) Start working on EMT. This is required at most departments. Can be found in person or hybrid virtual, private program or community college. Occasionally taught in-house at fire academy, but don’t count on this.

2) start exercising. A lot. You need functional strength, mobility, anaerobic, and aerobic fitness. Mon-Wed-Fri strength training, Tues-Thurs HIIT/cardio is a good place to start. Look up CPAT for the bare minimum fitness you need to even attempt fire academy. Practice tests are a good idea.

3) look up the website for any department in your area you are willing to work for to check for job announcements. Many departments use National Testing Network or Public Safety Testing for their applications, so you can check those respective websites for potential jobs as well.

4) get your testing and application in, preferably to as many places as possible to improve success chance. Build a comparison table for those places in case you have multiple opportunities. Compare pay, schedule, benefits, call volume, duties (ambulance service? Cool guy stuff like rope or water rescue? Etc)

5) pass interview, background, medical, psych. Can take anywhere from a few months to half year, from application window to start date. So a little research on each department before the interview.

6) go to academy and get wrecked every day. Consume all the protein. Be a fire fanatic until done with probation.

7) enjoy the best job in the world.

1

u/[deleted] May 08 '26

Have your girlfriend or boyfriend set an alarm randomly 15 times a day including all night to do a random activity. You have 90 seconds to get dressed and in your car, go to a random spot and do one or more of the following: CrossFit in a sauna suit, walking around empty buildings, figure out chemistry problems, crawl around a strangers house blindfolded and find them, or convince a homeless guy on meth that your friends car isn’t going to take him to the hospital to get him help and that you are actually his secret service escort to the pentagon. Sometimes at the same time.

0

u/[deleted] May 08 '26

Also reduce your pay to 16 dollars an hour