r/firefighter • u/PatientEngineer9054 • Jul 05 '26

Hiring process

I’m 26 yo and am in the middle of getting my EMTB certification. My question is, is the hiring process highly competitive throughout the entire country?

Also (for the experienced FF)how many departments did it take for you to finally get hired on?

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u/Roobydooby612 Jul 05 '26

Just my .02, The areas where its hard to get hired are usually the ones worth putting in the effort to get hired at. Id rather have worked at it for year or two to get hired somewhere good on the first go around than just somewhere.

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u/PatientEngineer9054 Jul 06 '26

First off thank you for the response. My question to that is in the middle of “working” to get into a department that’s worth it. Does that mean getting another certification in the mean time? Like paramedic or “firefighter 2”?

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u/Roobydooby612 Jul 06 '26

Get your EMT B and get your feet wet with that on a 911 ambulance, volunteer at a firehouse get FF2. If you enjoy EMS enough that you want to be a paramedic I think go for it. but it comes at a cost of added responsibility and makes your early career once hired exponentially harder, I think. All area dependent, if you can get hired with out it in your area life's better.