Obviously, the first place to look for a firefighting job is in your local newspaper. And the best day to look in your local newspaper is Sunday as this is when most fire departments post their openings. If you do not live in a major city, you can go to your local library on Monday and check classifieds for firefighter openings in nearby large cities. For example, if you were to live in Trinidad Colorado, you should be checking the Sunday Denver Post or Colorado Springs newspaper for firefighting positions.
What can you do if your local library does not carry the Sunday newspapers for nearby major cities? You can try news stands or bookstores such as a Barnes and Noble or Borders for Sunday newspapers as these stores will often have them in their news stands.
There is also website, www.firehouse.com that has a jobs section. Firecareers.com is another website with nationwide ads for firefighting jobs. However, before you go to these web sites, you need to ask yourself whether or not you want to relocate and, if so, how far you would be willing to move. For example, as of this writing, Firehouse.com had openings posted for a firefighter/paramedic in Toledo, OH, for a firefighter/paramedic in Texas, a firefighter in Kansas, and for a firefighter in Boston. The good news is that if you are willing to relocate just about anywhere, your chances of landing a job increase dramatically.
Another good source for information about firefighting jobs is to take fire courses at your local community college or to take seminars that are sometimes offered through fire associations. You'll find that most of these courses are taught by people still working in a fire department. They may know of openings and testing opportunities. Plus, these classes give you the opportunity to network with other people looking for firefighter jobs. Just as important, these classes and seminars will increase your level of education and add beneficial information to your resume.
Fire magazines called trade publications have classified sections. One good example of this is Firehouse Magazine which occasionally lists entry-level firefighter positions. If you subscribe to one or more of these publications, you will not only find advertised positions, you will also learn more about firefighting.
Did you know that fire departments in most cities are usually not the organization that gives firefighter tests? In fact, these tests are usually given by city or county human resource (HR) or personnel offices. Every city and county has an office that handles the testing for all of the agencies within its jurisdiction, including the fire department. The way it works is the fire department tells the HR or Personnel office that it has openings for firefighters and that an exam needs to be scheduled the HR or Personnel office will then schedule and administer the testing.
In addition to contacting your local H.R. or personnel department, you should also contact each fire department in your area individually as some of them do not use a city or county personnel department for testing. Instead, they have a personal services manager who handles testing and recruitment.