So,
You Want To Get Promoted In The Fire Service: Getting promoted in the fire service is not an easy task. It takes a great deal of perseverance, patience, persistence, dedication and good old fashioned hard work to get promoted. Nothing in life comes easy; especially when you have one of the best careers a person could ever dream to have. How long will it take to get promoted in the fire service? That question cannot easily be answered because it really comes down to “what you give is what you get.” Not every person who starts out to get promoted gets promoted. For that matter, not every person who goes to medical school becomes a doctor, and not every person who goes to law school becomes a lawyer. I cannot guarantee that you will ever reach your dream of getting promoted, but what I can guarantee is that if you never give up, your odds of succeeding will greatly increase. On the average it takes candidates three times to get promoted. Some do it in less time, some do it in more time, and some never get the chance to do it at all. I have known people to take 10 to 15 years to get promoted. On the other hand, I have known people to give up after their first promotional exam. What’s the moral of the story? If you give up, you give up your dream. If you continue pursuing your dream and continue doing whatever it takes to achieve that dream, continuously working on improving your weaknesses, keeping up your strengths, and preparing yourself to be the best promotional candidate that you can be, then you stand the chance of actually achieving that dream! BEGINNING THE PROCESS:Once you have determined that it is your dream to get promoted in the fire service, then it is time to put your money where your mouth is and start preparing yourself on a full-time basis. It is a full-time job just getting the job! Here are some basic steps to assist you in getting promoted.: EDUCATION: Education is extremely important in every profession, and the fire service is no different. More and more departments are requiring formal education for someone that wants to hold a company officer or chief officer position. Some departments require two-year degrees for company officer positions, and four-year degrees for chief officer positions, with a master’s degree being highly desirable. If you do not have at least a two-year degree in any subject, I encourage you to obtain one. If you want to become at least a company officer, I encourage you to shoot for your four-year degree. If you have any inkling that you may want to become a chief officer at some point in your career, get the four-year degree and then look for a master’s degree program. Even if your department does not currently require the education, it doesn’t mean that requirements won’t change in the future. Requirements are always going to change, and you need to be proactive and plan for the future expectation change to occur. Being in front of the curve will only benefit you. For example, the department I work for recently upgraded the requirements for battalion chief. I took the last test and am preparing for the next test. Luckily, I met those qualifications not only the first time I took the test, but also this next time. There are some people that took the last test that do not meet the current qualifications and are now scrambling to find the required training classes or formal education to meet the new requirements. These new requirements are not anything out of the ordinary and are already being required by other departments across the United States. Don’t be the one that is always scrambling to keep up with the other candidates. Plan ahead and be prepared for any changes that may occur in the future. CERTIFICATIONS / LICENSES: It is not uncommon to have fire departments require certain certifications to qualify for a promotional examination. In California, it is common to require company officers or chief officers to have completed the following classes:
All of the above Wildland Certification Courses are anywhere from 8 hours to 40 hours in length. Even though most of them are wildland focused, some are starting to be developed or at least instructed in an “All-Risk format” since we do more than fight wildland fires. For more information about the above Wildland Certification Courses, visit the National Wildfire Coordinating Group website at www.nwcg.gov. This website allows you to download Position Task Books for all of the positions within the Wildland Certification System. Also available on the website is a wealth of free downloadable training classes on PowerPoint, as well as the chance to order publications for a very reasonable (a.k.a. cheap) price to train your personnel. If you are interested in what it takes to become “certified and qualified in virtually every position within the Incident Command System, take the time to download and read the document titled “310-1 Wildland Fire Qualification System Guide” downloadable at www.nwcg.gov/pms/docs/docs.htm. If you plan to work for a wildland agency, if your department provides mutual aid within your state or out of state, if your department has the responsibility of performing wildland firefighting within your own jurisdiction, or you just want to learn more about the incident command system and better prepare yourself for company officer or chief officer positions, I encourage you to take some of the above classes if they are offered in your area, or at least find out more about them and what they entail. Please don’t get locked into the idea that those classes are just for wildland firefighting. They are really ICS classes that can be used at any incident you respond to, to help you better manage the incident or better perform the duties you are tasked to perform. In today’s world of “Certifications and Qualifications,” more and more departments are requiring people to have a certain level of competency prior to promoting to a position such as company officer or chief officer. Even if the above classes are not presently required, it does not mean that they won’t in the future. In the past, all someone had to do was to take a class and get certified and they were considered to be trained in that subject. Well, time and experience has told us that is not the case. Besides taking a certification class, we now need to verify their ability to perform in the position they aspire to (operations section chief, safety officer, incident commander, staging area manager, strike team leader, etc.) by having them go out as a trainee under the watchful eye of a person who has already been certified and qualified in the position you aspire to. While functioning as a trainee, you have certain competencies checked off within your Position Task Book (downloadable off of the NWCG website above, which is initiated by your fire chief after you have proven to them that you have completed all of the required prerequisite training and certification classes, allowing you to function as a trainee). Once the Position Task Book has been completely signed off (usually after at least one live incident, typically two or three), the fire chief will then sign it off as being completed and you will follow your local procedures for being officially “certified and qualified” in the position you aspire to. EXPERIENCE: Without a doubt, it is critical to have some various levels of experience to assist you in making the transition from firefighter to a promoted rank. Experience alone is not going to make you a successful officer. I firmly believe it needs to be balanced with education and training. Here are some suggestions to make the most of your experience with your department:
MINDSET: Starts thinking NOW like you are already in the position you are aspiring to. Do not just prepare for the promotional examination – PREPARE FOR THE POSITION! You will be more successful in the long run if you have this mindset. Too many folks just prepare for the examination and not for the position; they score high on the exam, get promoted, and now have a bad feeling in their stomach because they are not ready for the position. Don’t let that happen to you. ATTITUDE / DEMEANOR / APPEARANCE: A positive attitude is a must for anybody, but especially for a promotional candidate. The department does not want negative people in their promoted ranks. If your department has a rule that says you have to always wear your uniform shirt over your t-shirt, then wear your uniform shirt. When you get promoted you’re going to be expected to enforce the rules and regulations with everyone, not selectively if you don’t agree with them. Remember, the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. Keep those boots shined; wash and press your uniforms on a regular basis; don’t wear religious clothes (ones that are holy); Wear your appropriate uniform; Follow the rules and regulations. STAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE FIRE SERVICE: Too many fire service personnel do not get out of their comfort zone, their own department. Wake up, smell the coffee, and start thinking big picture. It is important that all of us not only pay attention to what is occurring within our department, but outside of our department as well. Too me, being progressive means taking a look at every department around you (locally, regionally, nationally, etc.), reading all of the fire service and related trade publications, networking with your peers across the nation, attending seminars and conferences, keeping your education up-to-date, and taking every moment to see what is going on in your industry nationwide and learning from the good and not-so-good that is occurring. To better prepare yourself to get promoted in the fire service, it is important to learn as much as you can about the career of a firefighter as well as continuously find ways to better prepare yourself to get promoted. One way to do this is by being on email mailing lists that are offered free of charge by many different resources. I am assuming that you have heard the phrase "knowledge is power. "I firmly believe this is true; especially in regards to preparing yourself to become a firefighter and even after you have obtained that firefighter position of your dreams. Many oral interview panels ask questions that test your knowledge of the fire service. Keeping on top of current events in the fire and EMS world is critical. Obtaining your 2-year degree in Fire Technology only provides you with enough knowledge to make you a safe beginner. It is up to you to stay on top of the fire service, especially with current trends and techniques. To become a master of your craft and become comfortable with the thought that to be successful in whatever you do, you must continue educating yourself. As soon as you stop educating yourself and thinking that you know it all, that is when accidents can occur and we put others and ourselves at risk. One way to stay on top of the fire service is by subscribing to Fire and EMS related publications.While it is very worthwhile to start building a library of material that can assist you throughout your career, it can get quite expensive (but can be used as a tax write off - consult with your tax specialist to be sure). Some of the best fire-service-related publications that you should consider subscribing to or visiting their website for the latest fire service news, trends and practices include (in no particular order):
An alternative to subscribing to Fire and EMS related publications is to subscribe to the various FREE email newsletters that are available from some of those publications. Many of them provide daily or weekly updates on fire and EMS related topics that can provide you with more knowledge that can hopefully make you a better-prepared promotional candidate. Some of the best fire service e-mail mailing lists to help you stay up-to-date with the latest fire service news include:
What are you waiting for? This is a no-brainer! I am a firm believer in the fact that you should subscribe to at least one fire or EMS related publication to keep yourself up-to-date. This is not meant to replace your subscribing to publications; it is meant to supplement the information that is given in those publications. PROMOTIONAL EXAMS: As soon as you qualify for your department’s promotional exam, I encourage you to apply for the position and participate in the process (even if you think you are not ready). Participating in the process does a lot of things for you:
Some candidates have found it helpful to take promotional exams that other fire departments are offering. These departments have open exams due to the lack of enough qualified or interested candidates internally. Before you do this, try to determine the cultural climate within your own department. It may be considered unacceptable as you may be looked at as being disloyal. The key here is to be up front with co-workers (if they ask you) and let them know you are only taking the test for practice and self-improvement, not to take the job if offered. If you don’t want to take a promotional position with another department you are testing with be careful about what you say and how you present yourself. You don’t want to burn any bridges (yes, the fire service is a very small world) because you never know when you will see those folks again. How do I find out which fire departments are accepting applications for promotional positions? Obviously if you want to stay within your own department, it should be pretty easy to find out about upcoming promotional exams. Stay in regular contact with your Department Administration (especially the training officer, who will probably be involved with the process) and your governing body’s (city, county, state, etc.) personnel/human resources department who will typically administer the exam.Some fire departments have their own personnel department that handles internal examinations. Make sure you stay in regular contact with those people and stay on their good side. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: Every department has different minimum qualifications in order to be accepted into the promotional process.Know what your department minimum (and highly desirable) qualifications are and take a look at what other departments require. Why do this if you don’t plan to leave your department?Because it will keep you abreast of current promotional practices and if one or more departments have different qualifications it may open your eyes as to what might be coming to your department in the near future. THE PROMOTIONAL EXAMINATION PROCESS:It is up to you to score highly in all phases of the promotional process, which can include but are not limited to the following events:
Go to my website section on “Fire Service Promotional Process Components” for more specific information about the above phases of the promotional process (including resources to assist you with each of the phases): www.chabotfire.com/Promo.htm GENERAL PROMOTIONAL TIPS AND SUGGESTIONS:
You might be wondering why I included the above information regarding grooming and personal attributes. While it is a true a fire department is not legally allowed to discriminate based on appearance (among other things), realize that perception is reality. That means that you can be the best paramedic in the world, but if you have tattoos and body piercings all over your body, you’re potentially going to be perceived negatively. I’m not saying that’s right or wrong; I’m just saying it is human nature and reality. Avoid the whole situation entirely and just be conservative in your approach. Remember that it is important to stick out in the promotional process; and that means in a positive way, not a negative way! Stick out in a positive way such as having a unique background of education, training and experience, or other qualifications to bring to the table. Remember that nothing worth having in life is going to come to you easily. It is up to you to remain positive, remain focused, and remain motivated to continue doing what it takes to get promoted in the fire service. There are going to be many frustrating and disappointing moments while participating in the fire service promotional process. The key point is that you recognize your weaknesses, be open to constructive criticism, and continue to pursue that dream of getting promoted. Once you give up, you give up and let someone else take your spot riding shotgun on the fire engine (or driving the command vehicle) you dreamed of! Hope this helps. Good luck in your pursuit of getting promoted in the fire service. Feel free to contact me if I can be of any assistance to you in the promotional or hiring process. © Copyright Firenuggets.com 2007 • Click here for Terms and Conditions of Use
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