Case Study D, The Firefighter Job Description

Being a Firefighter isn’t Easy

Few people will qualify to be a Firefighter. There are academic requirements, psychological requirements, physical fitness requirements and organization / collaboration requirements that must be met.

Here is an example set of requirements.

Education, Experience, and License Requirements:

  • High school diploma or equivalent.
  • Valid driver’s license.
  • At least 18 years of age at time of the written examination.
  • Citizen or legal resident of the United States.
  • Certified National Registry EMT-Basic and meet the requirements specified by King County within the first year of employment. (An extension may be provided based on the availability of the classes.

The Education, Experience License Requirements are extensive, but we won’t review them here since the applicant’s resume merely has to mention that they are achieved. Basically they are a check mark feature - you either have them or you don’t and you can’t make yourself look better at them than the next applicant.

Expect Physical Exertion

The Physical demands and ability is up to the applicant to meet and demonstrate and is beyond the scope of the this case study. We’d recommend that nobody applies to be a firefighter who doesn’t expect to be in shape and stay in shape.

Work Environment / Physical Demands:

The following represent the physical demands that must be met to successfully perform the essential functions of this job:

  • Routine work activity requires moderate strength, endurance, and aerobic capacity.
  • Emergency response operations require significant physical capacity.
  • Heavy manual labor while wearing firefighter personal protective equipment, or personal protective equipment, designed to address the specific hazards associated with special team work (i.e. hazardous materials encapsulating suits, wet suits, and dry suits etc.).
  • Work outdoors in all types of weather.
  • Manual dexterity and visual acuity required.
  • Crawling, bending, stooping, kneeling, and performing repetitive lifting for an extended periods of time.
  • Working from considerable heights.
  • Work in hot, smoky environments with little or no visibility.
  • Lift heavy objects in awkward and confined spaces, using proper lifting and rigging techniques.
  • Frequent communication with RFA employees and the public.
  • Driving and field work required.

Skills to Emphasize in the Resume

These are the skills that we must dig deep into the applicant’s work and life experience to demonstrate how well we “fit” the fireman’s minimum requirements.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities Requirements:

  • Oral communication and presentation skills.
  • Written communication skills, ensuring correct grammar, spelling, punctuation and vocabulary.
  • Technical writing skills.
  • Interpersonal skills using tact, patience, and courtesy.
  • Effective, professional, and positive interactions with difficult individuals.
  • Understand and follow direction given.
  • Meet schedules and deadlines.
  • Moderately complex mathematical skills including utilizing hydraulic pressures and angles.
  • Recordkeeping and data entry skills.
  • Report preparation and distribution skills.
  • Research and analytical skills.
  • Problem-solving skills.
  • Decision-making and conflict-resolution skills.
  • Detail-oriented and organization skills.

Ability To:

  • Act calmly and effectively in emergency situations.
  • Work independently.
  • Memorize streets and addresses of target hazards, hydrant locations, and response routes.
  • Read and write English as specified in RCW 41.
  • Mentally and physically perform the described duties and/or tasks.

Communication, Writing, Collaboration and Interpersonal skills, Creative Problem Solving skills and ability to thrive in stressful situations are just a few of the skills expected of Firefighters.

Digging into Experiences

Talking to the applicant unearthed significant experiences where communications, interpersonal skills and problem solving were a part of daily life in the US Army Infantry Service. Here are some of the experiences that we will add.

  • Trained and counseled young soldiers to become an effective and disciplined unit
  • Taught tank unit tactics in simulated tank battles using opposition force tactics
  • Engaged with Special Forces and NATO troops in mock combat
  • Taught Stryker driving and tactics to create an effective team
  • Wrote up daily reports on unit readiness and training notes
  • Emergency Medical Technician certified.
Next: Case Study D, recommendations