Finding Fire Exams

Finding Fire Jobs

How do you find out when an exam is being given?  Most cities give an exam every two years, with some bigger cities testing annually.  Many municipalities post this information on their fire department, Civil Service, or Human Resources webpages.  Almost all departments have a link where you can input your email address to be notified of the next application period.  You are typically notified at least 2-3 weeks before the application process begins.  If you are looking to be hired for a specific municipality, you should definitely get your name on this interest list. 

While you may be skeptical to give your email address, those municipalities won’t release your information to anyone, just as we don’t.

You can also do an internet search for firefighter jobs.  Our website, FirePrep.com, has a link to the top 150 departments in the country on our How to Become a Firefighter page that includes the address, phone number and webpage that you can use to contact departments you are interested in. 

If you’re serious about becoming a firefighter, don’t lock yourself into a certain area.  Put in as many applications in your surrounding area as possible.  Many of the smaller cities only hire a couple of firefighters per test; mid-size cities may hire 10-15; where large cities may hire from 15-200 per test.

If you are taking Firefighter I, EMT or paramedic class, many times municipalities will post exams on a bulletin board or send an email to an instructor when exams are being held.

If you’re doing ride-alongs or training hours for your EMT or Paramedic, ask the firefighters when their city will next give an exam or if they know of any cities hiring.

Maybe some of your classmates have recently been hired – send them a text and ask them when the eligibility list expires or when the next exam will be held.  Ask them how many firefighters are expected to be hired.

Your focus should be on getting hired as a firefighter, no matter what the size of the department.  It dramatically increases your chances of being hired by another department if you are already currently employed as a firefighter.  If you haven’t been hired by your dream department, you can always concentrate on getting hired by that department at a later date. 

If you don’t have the time, and many of us don’t these days, there are some paid services – FireJobs.com is one we recommend.  You pay from $7-$9/month but this fee is well worth it, so you don’t miss out on an exam because you didn’t know it was given.

We have a free Hiring Guide Notebook that can help you through the hiring process at our website, FirePrep.com.  Again, this is free of charge!

If you haven’t already signed up, we do have a free email newsletter sthat we send out twice monthly.  Over the year, you will receive hundreds of exam notices from across the country as well as career articles by the nation’s top entry-level authors covering the written, oral, psychological, physical agility and much more.  That’s all you will receive from us - you won’t be bombarded with numerous emails to purchase something from us.  That’s not how we operate and never will.

We have a privacy statement that we stand behind.  We will not distribute your address to anyone.  Period.  This website is run with extreme integrity by chief officers and firefighters who respect your privacy. 

Good luck in your pursuit of the greatest job on the face of the earth!  Remember – luck goes to the prepared!