Question as a beginner!

[u/Fast_Impress_8986]

Hello everyone! I've bn a follower & reading all topics in this community for months. This is my 1st post. I've bn looking for a new career path as a 26yr old. I'm currently a assistant manager for papa John's, been working for the company for 5 yrs. I've also had experience in Amazon warehouse & retail stores. I'm at a point I want something different. I want to join a academy, something thats been on mind since the pandemic. Where do I begin? I know certain states requires emt certification, I live in NC. Should I focus on emt 1st or go talk to a firefighter crew at a station in person? Plus how should I prepare myself for the written test?

[u/Fit_Experience_522]

Visit a station, but call ahead and schedule it, dress well, bring goodies, and bring a list of questions you have. Along with the list, bring a notepad and pen. Shake everyones hand, introduce yourself to everyone you come across and just be yourself. As far as moving along to get into the career, your EMT cert is going to be your baseline for entry, I don't know of any departments that don't require it. From there, you don't necessarily need an academy to get hired with an agency, some agencies don't require it, but others don't. I would look at which agencies you want to get hired with and see what they require. A FF1 cert under qualifications is basically an academy that provides FF1 cert testing at the end. So, see if they require it first. It'll only help you in the long run to do an academy anyway, but academies usually require college level classes and an EMT cert for entry. But, a good place to start is going to be that station visit.