Applying for a job as a firefighter is quite different than applying for a job in a private company. It isn’t a matter of simply applying for that department any time of the year. The application process is highly regulated by State law and consists primarily of a written exam and an oral interview used to create an Eligibility Register.
In general, individual fire departments administer an entry level firefighter exam every two years. During the testing process, they have an application period where anyone interested must apply within the time frame listed on the application. Once time is up, all applicants will go through a series of testing steps which can encompass written exams, physical ability exams, psychological exams, etc. These steps may take several months to complete. After all testing is completed, everyone that successfully passed all steps will end up on an eligibility list. The eligibility list combines all scores throughout the process and ranks the candidates in order of scoring. The list will typically be good for two years and any firefighter openings that occur during that period of time will be hired from the list. If this process sounds confusing, reach out to your local fire department for more information on their hiring and testing process.
To find open application and tests for firefighter positions, you can search online using the below links: