What would increase my chances of acceptance? I'm thinking of getting EMT and maybe Paramedic certified after I'm done with school before applying, if that will help. And will nearsightedness (correctable) be a disqualifier?

Female/Gay...You would be a shoe in.


FF jobs anywhere are tough to get into...I would advise to keep testing, and testing, and testing, and testing...

FF/PM seems to be the way most departments want to go now, More bang for the buck, and the pay diff between the two is not all that much.

It would help if you were black,gay,female and you had a limp.

Quoted: It would help if you were black,gay,female and you had a limp.

Sorry...

My mistake...

You may want to mosey over to  L.A. County Fire Forums and look around over there.

Found this.

Another good forum is Firecareers. They are actually a pay service to help folks becoming firefighters, but the forums are free and a good resource.

Being a Medic wouldn't hurt your chances, but if you REALLY want to be a firefighter, I would be looking at doing more firefighting stuff.

Six months of EMT school (community college), at least one year on a rig before you can apply for P-school, then another year of school before you are a Medic. THEN you would be applying for a FF slot with how much firefighting experience? If your goal is becoming a Medic, then that would be good training.

Now if you just want to be a bucket fairy (J/K!), then you really should be concentrating more on the firefighting aspects. Are there any community colleges in your area that have an academy? IIRC, Mt. SAC, Rio Hondo, and Arroyo had academies. Are you physically fit? Have you taken a CPAT? Have you been practicing oral interviews? House visits? Have you considered applying for the Dispatch position coming up? How about volunteer opportunities? CERT training? How about L.A. City and other agencies?

Sorry for the rambling, there a lot of forums out there with good info, you just have to do some leg work. Check out the ones I posted, read the archives, and best of luck!

Rastro, thanks a lot for the links. I Googled for a bit but didn't find much info. I'll be checking those out!

 Everyone wants to be a firefighter. I'm a Navy recruiter and see it all in this job. Firefighters seem to be the ones who push it on us recruiters so much to become firefighters at career fairs we are presenters at. Especially the former military guys.


Everyone walks through my doors. Mt. Sac, Rio Hondo, Cal Poly, Cal State Fullerton, USC, Loyola Maramount, etc.. etc.. etc.. etc.. etc.. etc.. etc..etc....  ex and current LEO's looking to be specwar.. guys living with mom and dad forever under the guise of "i'm trying to get hired as a  firefighter"

the 5 year 2 year degree plan ...

oh I do apologize this has nothing to do with you... Keep truckin, try state or federal ...the pay will be less but a lot of people have "paid their dues" and then finally get hired by LA County or another good paying outfit.  You can at least get 10 points (I've heard up to 15) from MILITARY SERVICE on the exam!  Veterans in many cases receive hiring preference.

I'm no expert... check out that forum listed above and good luck.