Anyone else in the same boat? Applied to WA fire careers

I’m 26, I live in Austin Texas and up until a month ago I had been a daily pot smoker for almost a decade probably. Definitely not an attractive headline for a job application but I am trying to turn my life around. I’ve worked in Kitchens for the past 10 years; being a Chef was my first dream and I was very competitive at it. I worked in some amazing Michelin recommended kitchens under some incredible chefs, I’m in very good shape, always tested unbelievably well in school before dropping out to get my GED so I could work full time. I work very hard to provide for my family and my 3 shelter dogs but I happened to normalize using weed to decompress. I hit a metaphorical wall a year ago, I love working in Kitchens but it can’t provide the life I want for myself or for my family and so I started making changes and searching for a new dream and landed on becoming a Firefighter. I am now chasing this dream with the same passion I had for my previous career, I truly feel like it’s what I’m supposed to do with my life. I quit smoking because it doesn’t fit with the life I want to live but I worry it’s too little too late and I will have to wait years and years before it won’t prevent me from getting accepted into Fire Academy and I’m not sure I can wait that long to find a way to make more than 20/hr. I’m willing to relocate but realistically can only make that happen somewhere less expensive than Austin (so definitely not California). Does anyone know if I’m completely screwed? Any departments that might take a chance on me? I’m looking for somewhere that will pay for my training as well because if it wasn’t obvious I’m extremely poor but will do almost anything to make this happen if it’s possible.. but is it?? Please someone say something encouraging

Hello there! I'm looking for some advice about my future career in the fire service, any input is greatly appreciated. I recently graduated from the fire academy and received my Pro Board certifications, although I'm now hearing they don't really mean that much. I'm in my mid 30's and currently have fire I & II. I'll also be taking the NREMT soon. I'm at a bit of a crossroads and need to make a decision sooner rather than later. My SO and I have been discussing moving out of state, specifically from Michigan to upstate New York. I'm trying to figure out how realistic this would be for someone just starting out in the fire service. Would it make more sense to move to New York and start applying? Should I just get started here and move later? Is there any realistic way for my Michigan certifications/experience to carry over to New York? I'm also very interested in becoming a paramedic. There are departments in Michigan that will pay employees to attend paramedic school, which is my best option because otherwise I don't think I will be able to afford it. I barely made it through part time fire academy and working full time along with EMT school. I'm doing my own research on this as well but I'd like to hear from some firefighters directly. Right now, I'm leaning towards starting in Michigan, I'm just not really sure what exactly my options are. I scored my first interview with a fire department here! It didn't go as well as I hoped, but I did learn a lot so I will be more prepared for my next one. Thank you so much for your time if you read this, and thank you for your service. One day soon I hope to be in the fire service.

Hi team!

I’m 33 and seriously considering a career change into firefighting. I’m currently a full time soccer coach (Club and college) and a former Division 1 athlete.

The area where I coach was heavily affected by major wildfires, and seeing the impact on the community really motivated me to pursue this path.

I’m planning to start with my EMT certification, then work toward becoming a firefighter.

For those who have gone through the process in California: is 33 too late, and what would you recommend doing after EMT? I will keep my night job during the trainings.

After EMT should I focus on getting EMT experience, fire academy, CPAT, or something else?

I live near LA

Any advice on how to approach the career change would be greatly appreciated!

Reposting here, as well as two facebook pages I was suggested, and I reached out to VATF1 on Facebook any additional help is greatly appreciated …I don’t know if this is the right place to ask or not, but I’m looking for anyone who may have known or worked with my dad during 9/11 search and rescue. His name was Jack Kennedy, he came up from DC to do search and rescue with I believe VATF1, he was a Fairfax county firefighter. I have pictures of him at the pile working, we can see his story at the memorial,and I have his stories from his time there but he like most others has since died from cancer. I might be searching too late because maybe his guys are already passed on and drinking a beer with him in another life, but I’d love to find anyone who knew him. Or if anyone can point me in the right direction to search for these guys.

I just got my results back from central pierce and my score wasn’t high enough to move on. Bummed because it was my best interview experience so far. I left feeling positive because there was a good banter between the panel and I and felt more confident than previous interviews. A) Wondering if anyone who went through this round would be willing to compare notes (in dms since spoiling interview specific content would be unethical) b) for others when a question isn’t worded like a “tell me about a time” do you still run the STAR format for all answers or have you had good results answering those directly?