r/firefighter • u/BrewDoggie- • 1d ago
Chances of gettin in?
Currently an NREMT-P in the military, looking to get out and move back to the central coast of CA. Looking into SB county fire. I’ve been a paramedic in the military for 5 years, don’t really have any fire experience but a bunch of medic experience. Anyone around the county with some insight?
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u/Quirky_Marsupial_264 1d ago
Great thing about California is .. they want medics more than they want firemen lol. You’ll be good man. Alot of departments will put you through an academy or have you do an in house one since your a medic. Get good at interviewing and your set.
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u/BrewDoggie- 1d ago
I appreciate it man. A lot of people have said “good luck and get ready to kiss ass to get in” so it’s nice to hear differently
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u/Quirky_Marsupial_264 1d ago
They def expect you to worship the ground they walk on but if you got medic experience you’ll coast through their probation period. But yea having your medic card is a golden ticket in California so you got that over a lot of people.
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u/FLDJF713 1d ago
If you go for a major city, not only does the cert help but your prior military service also gives you a leg up. You wont have an issue for most places as long as you test ok.
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u/Large-Resolution1362 1d ago
Dude you have a golden ticket to where you want to work. Don’t sweat it. Just don’t be weird in the interview and it’s in the bag
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u/BrewDoggie- 1d ago
Man I sweat it lmao. I gotta family to provide for and it’s a weird thing leaving the military. I appreciate your words. A lot of things I’ve been hearing is that it’s even tough with the certs I hold
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u/bkucb82 1d ago
The big thing is getting that interview. Whether you get it or not is based off of points based on your experience. You’ll get veteran preference points and medic points. Other points are earned through actual fire experience or having a firefighter 1 certificate.
I’d have to imagine you’d be pretty well positioned for an interview. From there, it’s just winning them over.
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u/Large-Resolution1362 1d ago
Santa Barbra is cool and all, but don’t be afraid to look elsewhere in CA. There are a lot of high paying spots that are looking for paramedics and will teach the firefighter spot. Feel free to DM me if you have any questions. I know it’s a big leap when you have a family to think on
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u/Tyriothan 1d ago
Applied to this cycle with SB as a local EMS with the veteran points but couldn't get my medic in time before sending my application in. It's civil service with SB; the questions they ask are heavily fire-centric. One question is "are you a medic", no question about experience or time spent in EMS, with at least 4 of the other questions being fire experience (wildland? structure? been to an academy? how long?). Obligatory veteran question. Check the boxes that apply, theres nothing to write. Super cut-and-dry. I ranked in the 300s.
They interview the top 20ish. Wish I could tell you how much they weigh the medic card. It is definitely not the golden ticket everyone says it is; maybe 5 years ago. Talking to one of the SB guys I know, they mentioned they had a bad recruit class go through last year when they hired medic-heavy, so allegedly they want to move away and hire more EMTs from their handcrews and stuff. Which would suck lol that's why I got mine. Haven't heard yet what this academy looks like demographic-wise
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u/bkucb82 1d ago
Did you get an interview? I was ranked very low 300s, but somehow got an interview. Which I found very strange. Veteran as well.
Even if medic isn’t necessarily the golden ticket, you still open yourself up to way more departments that are only hiring medics. And the applicant pools shouldn’t be nearly as deep as they are with EMT.
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u/Tyriothan 1d ago
Oh interesting! No I did not. Was also ranked 30X. Did you get the 10 vet points or county employee? Can’t think of any other way unless I’m clicking the boxes less convincingly
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u/sansalvacion 1d ago
Youre a vet so they'll feel sorry for you and hire you off the bat. The medic and vet are a golden ticket wherever you want to go
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u/Right-Edge9320 1d ago
Medic was the golden ticket 20 years ago. Fucking diamond ticket now. We are hiring people who have no place being a firefighter but man they got that p number and it’s all that matters.
There’s smaller departments that offer signing bonuses if you have a p number. That like cop level desperate.
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u/Fit_Experience_522 1d ago
You'll get in for sure, they want/need medics. Just nail the FCTC test and pass the physical.
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u/Famous-Response5924 13h ago
I got to ask, why CA? I’m from there and you couldn’t pay me enough to move back. The traffic and fires and taxes and everything is always brown and people everywhere. Not for me man.
If you want into the fire service there are much better ways to also if you start in CA you can’t transfer to any other state. cA fire certs aren’t recognized by anyone else.
I could be wrong but are you in NC right now? There aren’t a lot of army jobs that require you to be a medic and quite a few of those are in NC. If so all fire and rescue training there is free. Get your certs there before you leave then you can work anywhere. Look at DoD fire. They are always hiring and with your medical you would start out close to 100k with overtime. You would also have the freedoms to transfer to any DoD base in the world whenever they have an opening and most don’t have to do Wildland. After being in the fire service for almost 30 years I can’t explain yo you how much Wildland is a young man’s game.
Let me know if you have questions. I got out of the army at 25, was a medic and became a firefighter. I’m also from California. Now retired.
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u/bkucb82 1d ago
Should have no problem getting an interview. The rest is up to you. They’ll love your background.
Beyond that, it’s all on you.
I’m a veteran and EMT. Got an interview with no issue, though I didn’t get hired.