Is being a firefighter from congressional staff just too loopy?
July 18, 2011 12:31 PM Subscribe
Congressional home state staffer looking to make a... radical career jump. To a city firefighter.
Most people that leave the hill or their government offices that are in their mid-20s go to law school or go work for a consulting firm. I have been working here since out of college, (four years!) worked my way up a bit and am at mid-level now. My boss is up for reelection next year and could go a million ways- I would just rather take my future into my own hands and do something really fun while I'm still young.
This brings me to being a firefighter. I am F, mid-twenties, decent shape, tall (5'11) and think I have what it takes. The opening round for my city is January 2012 so I have some time to get in shape, etc. Am I crazy for thinking of doing this? The appeals are- no desk job, getting out and doing direct public service which I love, and doing something off the beaten path. I love government and would maybe like to do some management some day.
I applied for an exec master's program to do during the day (MPA) but I'm cooling to that as I get excited about this. What are your thoughts- has anyone made a crazy jump like this? Anyone that says "Don't do it!!" I'd love to hear from all sides. Anon because of my current workplace. Thank you.
Most people that leave the hill or their government offices that are in their mid-20s go to law school or go work for a consulting firm. I have been working here since out of college, (four years!) worked my way up a bit and am at mid-level now. My boss is up for reelection next year and could go a million ways- I would just rather take my future into my own hands and do something really fun while I'm still young.
This brings me to being a firefighter. I am F, mid-twenties, decent shape, tall (5'11) and think I have what it takes. The opening round for my city is January 2012 so I have some time to get in shape, etc. Am I crazy for thinking of doing this? The appeals are- no desk job, getting out and doing direct public service which I love, and doing something off the beaten path. I love government and would maybe like to do some management some day.
I applied for an exec master's program to do during the day (MPA) but I'm cooling to that as I get excited about this. What are your thoughts- has anyone made a crazy jump like this? Anyone that says "Don't do it!!" I'd love to hear from all sides. Anon because of my current workplace. Thank you.
What's the worst that can happen? You hate it and move on to something else? That doesn't sound like much of a downside to me. I will offer one word of caution though. One professional firefighter whose wife I know only actually goes out on about 1 call a week. I get the impression that it's a lot of maintenance in the firehouse, training, etc. punctuated by bursts of excitement when there is a call. This is probably highly dependent on where you are though.
posted by COD at 12:40 PM on July 18, 2011
posted by COD at 12:40 PM on July 18, 2011
I have had friends leave the hill for all different sorts of jobs. It doesn't sound that crazy to me, especially if you're really passionate about it and you know what you're getting into. I'd say the same thing I would to anyone looking into a career change though - go talk to some people who do that job where you want to do it and get a sense of the day to day for them, and make sure that your salary would realistically cover what you need.
Besides, even if you hate it and go back to something more directly related to what you're doing now, I don't think this hurts your marketability and it may even enhance it.
posted by mrs. taters at 12:42 PM on July 18, 2011
Besides, even if you hate it and go back to something more directly related to what you're doing now, I don't think this hurts your marketability and it may even enhance it.
posted by mrs. taters at 12:42 PM on July 18, 2011
Being a firefighter is frequently boring, interspersed with periods of high activity and stress. You will see people at possibly the worst time of their lives. Sometimes you save lives and no one bothers to say thanks.
On the other hand there aren't very many jobs where you can truly make an immediate and important difference in someone's life. When things go bad, there's usually no one else in the community that can be called upon other than the fire department. You're the good guys. Why not try it and see?
In NY state at least, firefighters must take a civil service exam, pass it along with a physical agility test and then take extensive training. Given your background I doubt this will prove to be an issue for you. Once you're done there's a probationary period where you'll be evaluated for fit with whatever department hires you. That often involves odd hours and moving around from fire house to fire house.
Although you don't mention it, are you squicked out by blood? Many fire departments require their firefighters to be EMTs even if they don't have ambulances. Departments that do both fire and EMS tend to run 50-60% or more EMS calls so you can expect to do more of that than firefighting. The fire service is evolving from strictly fire suppression to a more generalized emergency response service that includes not only EMS but hazardous materials response, vehicle extrication and specialized rescue techniques. As I said, there's often no one else in the community willing and able to handle these emergencies. Go for it!
posted by tommasz at 12:57 PM on July 18, 2011
On the other hand there aren't very many jobs where you can truly make an immediate and important difference in someone's life. When things go bad, there's usually no one else in the community that can be called upon other than the fire department. You're the good guys. Why not try it and see?
In NY state at least, firefighters must take a civil service exam, pass it along with a physical agility test and then take extensive training. Given your background I doubt this will prove to be an issue for you. Once you're done there's a probationary period where you'll be evaluated for fit with whatever department hires you. That often involves odd hours and moving around from fire house to fire house.
Although you don't mention it, are you squicked out by blood? Many fire departments require their firefighters to be EMTs even if they don't have ambulances. Departments that do both fire and EMS tend to run 50-60% or more EMS calls so you can expect to do more of that than firefighting. The fire service is evolving from strictly fire suppression to a more generalized emergency response service that includes not only EMS but hazardous materials response, vehicle extrication and specialized rescue techniques. As I said, there's often no one else in the community willing and able to handle these emergencies. Go for it!
posted by tommasz at 12:57 PM on July 18, 2011
My bro-in-law closed his successful mechanic business to become a firefighter. (he has since started working on cars again, since just about every firefighter I know has a side job for something to do on the downtime.) My former barber sold his barbershop (to my now-barber) after getting through firefighter school.
posted by notsnot at 1:01 PM on July 18, 2011
posted by notsnot at 1:01 PM on July 18, 2011
Female firefighters must be able to do the same things the males do. A friend of ours recently failed to make the cut because she simply could not handle the ladders despite fitness training.
posted by Cranberry at 1:34 PM on July 18, 2011
posted by Cranberry at 1:34 PM on July 18, 2011
Research the department's fitness standard carefully. Expect that you will need a very extensive upper-body strength program -- weight-training and supportive nutrition -- which resembles the programs of women bodybuilders more than any kind of fitness program you may have previously undertaken. Many departments have a mentoring and training programs precisely intended to help women achieve the standard.
posted by MattD at 3:01 PM on July 18, 2011
posted by MattD at 3:01 PM on July 18, 2011
Is this an application process for the academy and then a job or just the academy? I've had friends over the last twenty years decide they wanted to be cops or paramedics and found it difficult to get a placement once they were trained. Firefighter may be different, or be different where you are, but I'd be certain that this is a career path you're setting out on and not just a training program.
That aside, no, I don't think it's insane at all. I walked away from a desk job at 30 to go be a bartender for a while and it was one of the best choices I ever made. It had a cost to it, of course, in career path and earnings, but I enjoyed the time and am glad I did it. I eventually went back to a desk job, no harm no foul. Could I have been farther along a career path if I was of such a mind? Sure, but if you were that driven in that way you probably wouldn't be considering this.
It's never a bad time to make sure the thing you do for 40+ hours a week is something you want to be doing.
posted by phearlez at 3:50 PM on July 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
That aside, no, I don't think it's insane at all. I walked away from a desk job at 30 to go be a bartender for a while and it was one of the best choices I ever made. It had a cost to it, of course, in career path and earnings, but I enjoyed the time and am glad I did it. I eventually went back to a desk job, no harm no foul. Could I have been farther along a career path if I was of such a mind? Sure, but if you were that driven in that way you probably wouldn't be considering this.
It's never a bad time to make sure the thing you do for 40+ hours a week is something you want to be doing.
posted by phearlez at 3:50 PM on July 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
Be aware that this is a period in time where these kinds of jobs (which can be had without a college diploma, by young men who are reasonably fit and enjoy being the hero/not sitting at a desk/etc.) are very much in demand.
To put it another way, I am for various reasons familiar with the firefighter testing process in my city, which was held this last month. There were hundreds and hundreds of young people testing (I personally saw over 100 testing on just one day of many) for a class with less than three dozen spots. My understanding, from talking with people who ran the uniformed testing operation, is that it was even worse than it looked to my uneducated eye. Even assuming you actually get in, there's no guarantee of finishing the course - or of keeping your job afterward (in civil service, it's almost invariably a last-in, first-out deal when it comes to layoffs.)
I fully support the idea of changing your direction in life. But this direction has some obvious drawbacks.
posted by SMPA at 5:10 PM on July 18, 2011
To put it another way, I am for various reasons familiar with the firefighter testing process in my city, which was held this last month. There were hundreds and hundreds of young people testing (I personally saw over 100 testing on just one day of many) for a class with less than three dozen spots. My understanding, from talking with people who ran the uniformed testing operation, is that it was even worse than it looked to my uneducated eye. Even assuming you actually get in, there's no guarantee of finishing the course - or of keeping your job afterward (in civil service, it's almost invariably a last-in, first-out deal when it comes to layoffs.)
I fully support the idea of changing your direction in life. But this direction has some obvious drawbacks.
posted by SMPA at 5:10 PM on July 18, 2011
There is nothing wrong with your ambition, but I think you may be underestimating how challenging the process is and will be.
I don't want to discourage you: firefighting is an intensely rewarding career, and it's certainly possible to land the jobs. However. However.
Every paid firefighting job is contested. Every job. That means you will be competing for the job against highly motivated, highly qualified candidates, and if you want to get it, you are going to have to be more motivated, more qualified, and, finally, luckier than everyone else. You will be competing against people who quite possibly will have made landing this job the focus of their entire lives for years. You will be competing against people for whom landing the job is something akin to a religion.
Are you ready to ramp your own intensity up to match that? Because you're going to have to. Whether or not you feel that way, you're going to have to be better than the other folks. Better than all of them.
It is entirely possible for it to take between 3 and 5 years to get hired. There are many, many people who have done so, between getting the right experience and simply failing at one stage or another of the process.
Now, some good news.
For most paid departments, the hiring sequence goes like this, at minimum:
Every single one of those steps is an elimination round. It's safe to assume that each step eliminates approximately half of the applicants for the position. In a major city, you can anticipate that there will be a thousand applicants for each open position, and that is not a typo. But! Of these steps, you have control over the first three, and about 50% of the influence in the last two.
The absolute first step is determining what the basic qualifications are to apply for the job. If you don't have them, don't even bother applying, because you're going to be eliminated. If you have them, great: you've passed the very first step.
Study for the written examinations. They're known quantities: do the test prep, put the money in. Google for guidance.
For the physical agility, if you're not doing Crossfit, start. Now. Become maniacal about it. Everyone else is. And study up on the CPAT, which is the format most departments use. You will need to be in the best shape of your life to succeed: find a way to drill on the CPAT and do it until you're blue in the face. Train. Train. Train. Train more. Crossfit and CPAT: there's no shortcut.
If you have any medical conditions, get your doctor to certify you. Some diseases will eliminate you outright, but many won't. Find out what the vision requirements are, and make sure you meet them: many departments won't allow you to apply within six months of LASIK, for example. Don't let a medical eliminate you.
Practice for the oral boards, with coaching. Practice again and again, with coaching. Film yourself. Refine, refine refine. Same thing with the chief's interviews. Google for resources: there are people who do nothing but coaching for this kind of stuff.
Now, my own personal advice:
posted by scrump at 5:45 PM on July 18, 2011 [2 favorites]
I don't want to discourage you: firefighting is an intensely rewarding career, and it's certainly possible to land the jobs. However. However.
Every paid firefighting job is contested. Every job. That means you will be competing for the job against highly motivated, highly qualified candidates, and if you want to get it, you are going to have to be more motivated, more qualified, and, finally, luckier than everyone else. You will be competing against people who quite possibly will have made landing this job the focus of their entire lives for years. You will be competing against people for whom landing the job is something akin to a religion.
Are you ready to ramp your own intensity up to match that? Because you're going to have to. Whether or not you feel that way, you're going to have to be better than the other folks. Better than all of them.
It is entirely possible for it to take between 3 and 5 years to get hired. There are many, many people who have done so, between getting the right experience and simply failing at one stage or another of the process.
Now, some good news.
For most paid departments, the hiring sequence goes like this, at minimum:
- Application
- Written test
- Physical agility test
- Medical screening
- Board interview
- Chief's interview
- Contingent offer
Every single one of those steps is an elimination round. It's safe to assume that each step eliminates approximately half of the applicants for the position. In a major city, you can anticipate that there will be a thousand applicants for each open position, and that is not a typo. But! Of these steps, you have control over the first three, and about 50% of the influence in the last two.
The absolute first step is determining what the basic qualifications are to apply for the job. If you don't have them, don't even bother applying, because you're going to be eliminated. If you have them, great: you've passed the very first step.
Study for the written examinations. They're known quantities: do the test prep, put the money in. Google for guidance.
For the physical agility, if you're not doing Crossfit, start. Now. Become maniacal about it. Everyone else is. And study up on the CPAT, which is the format most departments use. You will need to be in the best shape of your life to succeed: find a way to drill on the CPAT and do it until you're blue in the face. Train. Train. Train. Train more. Crossfit and CPAT: there's no shortcut.
If you have any medical conditions, get your doctor to certify you. Some diseases will eliminate you outright, but many won't. Find out what the vision requirements are, and make sure you meet them: many departments won't allow you to apply within six months of LASIK, for example. Don't let a medical eliminate you.
Practice for the oral boards, with coaching. Practice again and again, with coaching. Film yourself. Refine, refine refine. Same thing with the chief's interviews. Google for resources: there are people who do nothing but coaching for this kind of stuff.
Now, my own personal advice:
- Become a volunteer firefighter. If you're in DC, move out into the residential areas around the city, and sign on with a volunteer company: there are hundreds. They will train you and help you get certifications like Firefighter I. You will also learn whether or not this is for you, and whether you're ready for it to be your life.
- Become an EMT and preferably a paramedic, and then work as an EMT or paramedic. Paper certifications are a dime a dozen, but an EMT or paramedic with street experience has advantages over other applicants.
- Get to know the department you're applying for inside and out: visit every station, memorize the streets, know the department history and how it currently operates. Demonstrate that you know and care about the city and the people who live in it.
- Learn everything you can about what life is like for firefighters in the department you're applying to, because it can be quite different than what you expect.
posted by scrump at 5:45 PM on July 18, 2011 [2 favorites]
Female firefighter here. DO IT! Absolutely do it. Joining the fire service is the best thing I've ever done. I started as an EMT and junior firefighter when I was 16. I volunteered through three years of college (biology/Chinese, presumably pre-med), made various officer positions in fire, EMS, and technical rescue, taught at fire school, became a paramedic, and the five departments I've been in have given me a lot of career options and connections now that I'm taking a few years off college for financial reasons. I'm currently hoping to become a paid city FF/medic myself (done the paid suburban FF/EMT thing, but it's slow). Memail me, maybe we're going for the same city, given the application period.
Scrump explained above exactly how gruelling the application process is. It is likely that you are not going to make the cut simply because there are huge numbers of extremely qualified candidates. But that is absolutely not a reason to give up. The job is that rewarding. Find out every way you can earn points toward your application, and make sure you max them out in any way possible.
Firefighting is difficult but doable--at 5'3" and 140, I am absolutely capable of passing the CPAT with a hell of a decent score, and absolutely capable of doing my job. I got that way after hours in the gym--and I started out in pretty good shape, because I used to be a competitive gymnast. Scrump also wasn't lying about Crossfit. I know you said you're in "decent shape", but do that shit. Do a lot of that shit. Get yourself a weight vest! Gear and an SCBA and a high rise pack and a set of irons weighs a ton on your back. It takes some getting used to in order to move efficiently. Train on the CPAT as often as you can. Also, shift work sucks.
Socially, if you get the job, you are likely going to feel very much in the minority. Most departments I have been a member of have a very blue-collar feel, with varying levels of respect for women, both on paper and in practice. In some departments, there may not be a locker room or bunk room for you at the station when you start. With some people, you are going to have a hell of a time proving yourself. It's doable as long as you don't let people get to you. (Or let them get to you privately, if anger means an extra boost of strength when you're dragging your 300 pound partner's geared-up ass down the hallway during training.) Randoms on the street will assume you are just an EMT, or ask "haha, how can you carry me out of a building", or say things about affirmative action and GI Jane. Randoms on the street will also treat you with the respect they treat other firefighters, which can be a huge ego boost or a little bit frustrating, depending on their experiences.
Last but certainly not least--if there's any way you can volunteer near you, do that too. (I wrote a reasonably decent post on the varying characteristics of some volunteer departments, etc if you're curious.) It may help you on points or it may not matter, but it gives you a small taste of what you're in for. You may not like certain parts of EMS, fire, or rescue. You may love all of it. You may have a burning staircase fall on you or find dead guys and get freaked out for a while. You may do CPR on a kid and get a save. All these things are not something you can gauge your reaction to by reading about them--you have to do them. Finding out you're terrified of working structure fires two months out of the academy after giving up your life to work as a firefighter may not end well.
But back to my first point. Totally do it! And Memail me if you have any questions or just want to chat, I'd love to say more but don't want to ramble on.
posted by skyl1n3 at 7:15 PM on July 18, 2011 [2 favorites]
Scrump explained above exactly how gruelling the application process is. It is likely that you are not going to make the cut simply because there are huge numbers of extremely qualified candidates. But that is absolutely not a reason to give up. The job is that rewarding. Find out every way you can earn points toward your application, and make sure you max them out in any way possible.
Firefighting is difficult but doable--at 5'3" and 140, I am absolutely capable of passing the CPAT with a hell of a decent score, and absolutely capable of doing my job. I got that way after hours in the gym--and I started out in pretty good shape, because I used to be a competitive gymnast. Scrump also wasn't lying about Crossfit. I know you said you're in "decent shape", but do that shit. Do a lot of that shit. Get yourself a weight vest! Gear and an SCBA and a high rise pack and a set of irons weighs a ton on your back. It takes some getting used to in order to move efficiently. Train on the CPAT as often as you can. Also, shift work sucks.
Socially, if you get the job, you are likely going to feel very much in the minority. Most departments I have been a member of have a very blue-collar feel, with varying levels of respect for women, both on paper and in practice. In some departments, there may not be a locker room or bunk room for you at the station when you start. With some people, you are going to have a hell of a time proving yourself. It's doable as long as you don't let people get to you. (Or let them get to you privately, if anger means an extra boost of strength when you're dragging your 300 pound partner's geared-up ass down the hallway during training.) Randoms on the street will assume you are just an EMT, or ask "haha, how can you carry me out of a building", or say things about affirmative action and GI Jane. Randoms on the street will also treat you with the respect they treat other firefighters, which can be a huge ego boost or a little bit frustrating, depending on their experiences.
Last but certainly not least--if there's any way you can volunteer near you, do that too. (I wrote a reasonably decent post on the varying characteristics of some volunteer departments, etc if you're curious.) It may help you on points or it may not matter, but it gives you a small taste of what you're in for. You may not like certain parts of EMS, fire, or rescue. You may love all of it. You may have a burning staircase fall on you or find dead guys and get freaked out for a while. You may do CPR on a kid and get a save. All these things are not something you can gauge your reaction to by reading about them--you have to do them. Finding out you're terrified of working structure fires two months out of the academy after giving up your life to work as a firefighter may not end well.
But back to my first point. Totally do it! And Memail me if you have any questions or just want to chat, I'd love to say more but don't want to ramble on.
posted by skyl1n3 at 7:15 PM on July 18, 2011 [2 favorites]
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posted by Ideefixe at 12:35 PM on July 18, 2011