Firefighting Job – 9 Professional Career Paths
Firefighting Job – 9 Career Paths
One of the great things about a firefighting job is that once you get the job, there is an absolute raft of opportunities within the different fire services as far as career paths and roles you can fulfil.
Don’t get me wrong, you still need to do your time coming up through the firefighting ranks to be eligible for a lot of these jobs. Even in the early stage of your career, there are many roles and opportunities you can fill.
Whether you have thought about it a great deal or you are just contemplating your approach to become a firefighter, it is something you should keep in mind.
I have listed 9 (just a few) of the career paths / roles you could pursue once you are in a professional firefighting job .
Specialist Rescue
This includes rope rescue, road accident rescue, swift water rescue & urban search and rescue.
Fire Investigation
This seems to be a fairly popular role amongst some of the very keen firefighters I know. It is also a very important role within the fire service. I had a chat with one of our guys who is now in the fire investigation unit full time and loving it.
Management Opportunities
As you go through your career you may find your niche within management, it is an area for continuous improvement and allows you to be exposed to a very different side of the fire service and its operation. This can be both on station and off. Management opportunities can depend on your rank
Peer Support
This is a role where you help people deal with difficult situations that they have been exposed to that have caused them a great deal of stress and help them deal with it and begin to enjoy work more. A very important role but only suits some of us.
Project Opportunities
There are quite often opportunities to be seconded away from regular station duties for a period of time sometimes years were you can work on projects that are to be implemented into the fire service. these are great opportunities to work on specifics that really interest you or where you have a great deal of expertise.
Liaison Jobs
Often a fire service will have a person dedicated to liase with other agencies such as police ambulance etc to ensure smooth delivery of service, although generally for those experienced in their firefighting job as long as you had a clear understanding of the services protocols and direction as well as having great communication skills it is an option available to you if you wish to apply.
Air Operations
There are a large number of jobs and roles for people to fill in the air wing amongst the fire services, these are normally hotly contested but a determined and passionate person will prevail in my experience. This is becoming a larger part of operations due to the effectiveness also.
Driver Education and Instruction
Training new firefighter recruits, creating policy and investigating incidents within the service you are working for. There are many ways in which you may be able to contribute as a driving instructor within your job as a firefighter. This is dependant on the service you are working for and the driving department needs & arrangements. In many states operational firefighters will fill these roles on a needs basis while in some they have a more robust department with full time roles.
Community Education
In community education firefighters work with communities across Australia to promote fire safety.
This helps to prevent emergencies from happening in the first place. There are opportunities to work as part of the team in delivering the programs as well as developing new programs and enhancing existing education tools.
Firefighter provides a suite of tailored educational programs that are available across the country.
Hopefully I have given you some insight into the career paths and opportunities that will be available to you as a firefighter within the fire service. this is by no means a comprehensive list I just wanted to share with you some ideas so you can look at getting a firefighting job as a long term opportunity that can serve many of your interests and aspirations over the length of your career as a firefighter.
Please feel free to leave comment or contact me if you have any questions. I will add to this firefighting jobs career paths as new opportunities appear
Cheers,
Brent C
Here are some FAQ’s related to firefighter jobs you may find helpful
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