Do you have a current coat and class a or b ? With endorsements ?
Class C with FF endorsement hoping to be the new FAE swamper and be a HFEO in 2 years. Sweet pipeline.
*Hoping for a autonomous transport so we donāt have to worry about a license at all.
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Yes I do I have my FF endorsement. I am currently a firefighter now and have my FF1&2. I also have prior fed and reserve time.
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I almost never post in these types of threads but I am going make an exception here. I donāt know any of you personally so this is not directed at any individual person. Having all of the necessary or even desired certs is not a solid guarantee that you will land a spot in your next step. Work on your brand as well. Your reputation can negatively or positively impact your outcome when it comes to hiring decisions. Be the best at who you are right now. If you are currently in a line position find somebody to mentor you, to give you honest and candid areas in which are you excelling as well as areas that you can improve.
As an example only, if you are someone who is viewed as a top firefighter in your current role, being a leader in your peers, going the extra mile is going to put you ahead of somebody who is viewed as just doing the tasks at hand, needs to always be prompted to do things, or clearly sees the current assignment as a stepping stone to the next position.
Be that person who is sought after and can be relied upon.
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Iām going to guess that your resume isnāt up to the CAL FIRE standard. When I got an FAE spot my resume was 5 pages long. A CAL FIRE resume isnāt your traditional resume.
Break everything up into different sections. Iāve never been a part of any resume review nor have I talked to anyone that has said they have done them, this is just simply advice from what I have done myself to move up through the ranks.
Section 1, CAL FIRE work history. Break it up into every season as a FF1, and every assignment (piece of equipment, not OT or Fire Line assigned)
Section 2, non CAL FIRE work history but FD related
Section 3, non FD related work history
Section 4, Education. Every degree, college credit, high school diploma, any formal education achievements goes here.
Section 5, certifications. List EVERY certification in your possession, even expired ones. I break it up into NWCG, CFSTES, FSTEP, EMS, Miscellaneous, Driving license endorsements
Section 6, special projects or achievements. ICS qualifications and assignments go here such as FEMA deployments and stuff like that. Not your typical fireline assignment, but career noteworthy assignments like Covid-19, floods, Hawaii, etc.
Be extremely descriptive when talking about work history and assignments. Just checking boxes for certs puts you at the same ranking as 1000 other people with the same certs. Your resume is your selling point, so the more you have on it the better.
This is just advice and again I know nothing about the resume review process other than what I have done to obtain jobs and promote. In all reality getting a FF2 spot with the state is the hardest position to acquire. You need to be highly overqualified above the minimum to receive one of those offers. I was an FAE before accepting a FF2 position and did turn in multiple FAE assignments and offers to get a permanent FF2 offer because the experience cannot be replaced or substituted. I advise all my subordinates how to do the same if the opportunity arises and they are listening to that advice, so thatās kind of what you are up against to get a FF2 offer is young 20 something dudes taking classes and courses and accepting an FAE offer to get FFA and COA (which you can only get through a FAE job with CAL FIRE) then applying to a FF2 spot and outranking outside agency folks in the resume review process.
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This is the best advice on how to get hired I have seen on this site.
This is exactly how the CAL Fire resume should be formatted.
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Ditto @2ndLine1stWord and Iāll add the single biggest variable an applicant can control.
BECOME AN NREMT-PARAMEDIC.
While being a Medic is not the route I took, it is the route I recommend. 80-85% of what Firefighters do is medical aids/medical based. Since the ACA passed in 2010 it has become the primary driver to increased staffing in the fire service.
Getting your paramedic license all but GUARANTEES you a job offer as a FF-PM or a FAE-PM.
Good luck!
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I tell people to include any formal training received at work: even if it did not come with some sort of certification, just a completion notice or something like that.
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