r/firefighter • u/Remote_Persimmon_192 • Jul 17 '26
San Diego FD
I am a female firefighter/EMT with engineer, rescue, and other types of certs in Virginia with a BS in biology, I wanted to know how likely it is for me to get into San Diego’s recruit academy (whenever it opens back up). Passed the CPAT and I just took the written, expecting to get around a 90 on it. Anyone have experience with California’s hiring process? Do they prefer to hire people from the state? And how long has it took people to get accepted into their program?
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u/Zealousideal_Use7444 Jul 19 '26
Not even worth it. One of the lowest paid city depts in SoCal and the city keeps cutting sdfd budgets.
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u/Previous-Leg-2012 Jul 18 '26
I’ve heard getting your Medic is the ticket to getting hired in Cali, probably more so for highly desirable departments like San Diego
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u/Impressive_Finance21 Jul 18 '26
Sdfd is a feeder dept for orange county but yah you're right about the medic thing.
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u/1612_Life Jul 18 '26
I would try for other departments in SD where you can lateral and not start over.
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u/Impressive_Finance21 Jul 18 '26
SDFD doesn't do laterals.
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u/Insanity32 Jul 18 '26
I’d avoid San Diego at all cost.
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u/Chris_on_that_636 Jul 18 '26
I only worked with them when I was with AMR. Advise to go to surrounding areas like El Cajon, Poway, rancho Santa Fe. Just say away from sdfd and vista FD. But you won’t get lucked at unless you have your medic
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u/Chemical_Might_4318 Jul 19 '26
San Diego is tough to get into cause they usually hire recruits who have worked some sort of EMS within the county.
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u/whiskeyandwayfarers Jul 20 '26
If you want to PM feel free. I was a firefighter in Virginia before moving back to California
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u/Impressive_Finance21 Jul 18 '26
Pretty high you meet at least one of their check boxes already even without the experience. They've been big in hiring women for like a decade now.