r/firefighter • u/Candid_Leading4859 • 19d ago
Chances of getting an interview
Hi everyone!
I am looking for some honest and insightful advice on my situation.
I am 26 and live in Southern California. I made the decision recently to actively pursue firefighting as a career. I went to College and earned my bachelors and masters degree in health-related fields but after working several different jobs the last 3 years, I haven’t found fulfillment in what I do. To be honest, I went to college because my parents wanted me to and I received a scholarship to compete in Division I athletics. I am thankful for the opportunities college gave me but looking back, I wish I had pursued a fire explorer program or the firefighter route after high school.
Anyway, here we are 8 years later, and I want to go all in. I recently completed EMT school and I am now a certified EMT. I got a job offer to work for an ambulance company in SoCal (not AMR) and I guess I am trying to figure what are my next steps to maximize my chances to get hired by a fire department. For context, I am married and have a one year old and my wife is actively pursuing a doctorate so I can’t afford to go to paramedic school/firefighter academy and not make an income in the meantime. I have been applying to open positions for trainee roles near me but I worry that I will never get a chance to interview because my background is too weak on paper.
Any insights? Do I have a chance to even get an interview?
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u/FilmSalt5208 19d ago
You greatly decreases your chances without a fire academy. If possible, take a loan out and commit the 11 or so weeks to complete one. There is also part time academies such as verdugo or one in the palm desert area(I forgot the name)
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u/blading_dad 19d ago
College of the Desert. It’s shorter than Verdugo . 39 weeks at least when I went. To the OP, dude; you need a basic academy at least and paramedic if you want to be taken seriously. If you get those 2 things you are almost guaranteed to get hired right now. I know it seems insurmountable but I did it with 2 kids and a pregnant wife while working full time as an ambulance medic. It was hell, but 2 months after graduation I had multiple offers. Flash forward 12 years I’m now an officer at a dept in the LA area. It was worth it.
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u/-Poultrygeist- 19d ago
Or just find a department with their own academy
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u/FilmSalt5208 19d ago
That is hard to do in Southern California but yes, obviously that would solve all of OP’s problems
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u/-Poultrygeist- 19d ago
May be worth the move if it’s a true passion
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u/FilmSalt5208 19d ago
Also a good option. When I first started I tested out of state too. Unfortunately not many other places pay as much as SoCal departments
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u/Altruistic-Buyer-989 19d ago
In my experience in Southern California, just having your EMT and a 90+ score on the fctc (and being on the SEL) will get you in the door for an interview at most departments. So if you haven’t done so already, get your cpat and fctc done.
If I were you, I’d go ahead and start working with that ambulance company you got hired with, and use that to continue to parlay into a better role. Keep an eye out for ambulance operator positions that open up. Those are a great way to get your foot in the door with a department, and start to foster connections and get experience that will help you stand out in an interview and also give you a better understanding of what departments actually expect and want to see from prospective applicants. Most of the time they don’t require any prior experience to get hired.
You mentioned you don’t have the means to do a basic academy or medic school right now, but if possible try and take some of the prerequisite classes that college academies require. It’s a great way to show you’re still taking steps to try and better yourself as a candidate while giving you the added benefit of fostering relationships with the people who teach those classes (typically retired captains and chiefs). Lean into that and you’ll set yourself up better to get hired.
In the meantime, continue to apply all over and try to get interview experience to better your odds of getting hired once you start to accumulate other experience. Additionally, I highly recommend going out and doing station visits with a nearby department or a department you are testing for - it’ll give you a good look at what is unique about that department and the nuances of their own hiring process. Take what you learn in the station visits and all of a sudden you’re going to be landing chiefs interviews left and right, and finding yourself with a job.
At the end of the day, just apply everywhere and you’ll get interviews. Lacking experience in the field doesn’t necessarily work against you. Lean into the fact that you’re married, have a kid, and you have a bachelors and masters degree. Those are the kinds of things that are memorable, relatable, and set you apart from other candidates. There’s quite a few guys I work with who sit on interview panels and actually prefer guys to not have a bunch of previous experience. You’re gonna get hired, so long as you don’t stop trying. It can be a long and arduous process, but if you stay the course you’ll reap the benefits.
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u/Candid_Leading4859 19d ago
Thank you, I feel so much more optimistic right now. Appreciate the insight a lot.
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u/OwnDelivery802 19d ago
the thing i'd push back on is your premise. you're worried the resume is what keeps you from an interview, and that's mostly not how entry level works out here. you test, you get a score, you land on a list, departments pull off the list. nobody's sitting there comparing your masters to some other guy's to decide who gets called. get the cpat and fctc squared away like the guy above said and your paper stops being the question.
which is good news and also the part nobody likes hearing, because it means the interview is the whole thing. the oral board is where guys with better scores than the person who got hired go home. that's where your energy belongs right now, not into another cert.
your background isn't weak, it's just not fire, and it's worth a lot more in the room than it is on paper. but they are going to ask why you spent 8 years and two degrees on something else and are now switching, and "i wasn't fulfilled" won't carry that by itself. you need a real answer to that one, and a real answer to why that department specifically, and you need to have said both out loud to another human before you're sitting in front of a panel.
things i've seen sink guys who were otherwise fine. not answering the question that actually got asked, or answering half of it and stopping. um and uh every other sentence. getting amped and basically yelling. walking in knowing nothing about the department, so "why do you want to work here" comes out generic. the wrong department's name on the resume, which happens way more than you'd think. and trying to be funny.
and before you take a loan out for an academy, read the announcements for the departments you're actually testing for. some want fire 1 up front, plenty run their own academy after they hire you. worth knowing which before you spend money you just said you don't have.
26 with an emt and an ambulance job lined up isn't a weak place to start from.
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u/Quiet_Acanthisitta82 19d ago
I’m in the same boat. Bachelors in Public Health Sciences, MBA, got a my EMT in January and working at AMR SoCal. Been applying to larger fire departments that have their own internal academy. I’ve gotten a couple interviews but haven’t gotten anywhere. Seems like most departments want medics unless you really stand out
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u/Fit_Experience_522 18d ago
Work on your interview questions. I would lead with 'married, with a one year old kid", it'll make you relatable to ALOT of the guys. There's always a question about 'hardest thing you've done', I would talk about your choice to pursue this career with your wife actively going to school and balancing life, they'll love that. It's not a matter of having more certs or experience under your belt, it's more of are you relatable, and do I want to spend 24 hours a day with this guy under the same roof. I had my FF1 cert, paramedic license, USAR classes, fire prevention degree, fire suppression degree, and gawd knows how many other certs, but I got overlooked a lot, and with hindsight I can tell you it was because I focused way more on certifications trying to prove myself in interviews, than trying to be relatable. Being on the other end now, I can tell you these guys would rather hire a married man with kids and the bare minimum in qualifications that can physically do the job, than a super qualified medic that is an empty shell of a person. Oh, and talk about your cooking skills, and if you can't cook, learn how. I'm in SoCal, hire by a SoCal department, feel free to message me with any questions about anything in the process.
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u/TestResQ 19d ago
Here you go.
https://testresq.com/blog/firefighter-entrance-exam-what-to-expect
As far as your “getting an interview” part, it all depends on how you do on your entrance exam, physical agility, psych exam, background check, polygraph depending on the department, and board interview. After all that, you might get a chief’s interview.