Firefighter Career

Job Description: Control and extinguish fires or respond to emergency situations where life, property, or the environment is at risk. Duties may include fire prevention, emergency medical service, hazardous material response, search and rescue, and disaster assistance.


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Firefighter Career

What skills are required for Firefighters?

Importance Skills
Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Operations Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
Operation and Control - Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
Persuasion - Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
Equipment Maintenance - Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
Learning Strategies - Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Quality Control Analysis - Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
Equipment Selection - Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
Systems Analysis - Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
Systems Evaluation - Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
Mathematics - Using mathematics to solve problems.
Troubleshooting - Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
Negotiation - Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.

What knowledge is needed to be a Firefighter?

Importance Knowledge
Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.

Work Styles

Importance Styles
Stress Tolerance - Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.
Dependability - Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Self-Control - Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
Integrity - Job requires being honest and ethical.
Attention to Detail - Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
Concern for Others - Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.
Cooperation - Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
Leadership - Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction.
Adaptability/Flexibility - Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.
Initiative - Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
Persistence - Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.
Social Orientation - Job requires preferring to work with others rather than alone, and being personally connected with others on the job.
Achievement/Effort - Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
Analytical Thinking - Job requires analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems.
Innovation - Job requires creativity and alternative thinking to develop new ideas for and answers to work-related problems.
Independence - Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.