Firefighter roles
Selection for firefighter roles operates on a regional basis across the East Midlands. Information about future recruitment campaigns can be found on our recruitment website. Information on this site is kept up-to-date, so prospective applicants should access it regularly. On this site you will be able to register your details. Once you have registered, you will be able to apply for jobs, save them in your jobs basket and sign up for job alerts.
Firefighter selection can take up to six months to complete and comprises; application, testing and interview stages. Read the firefighter recruitment information document to find out more about this process and what you need, if you're to be considered.
New firefighters enter the Service as Firefighter Trainees. They spend their first 13 weeks at our Service Development Centre at Ollerton, undertaking initial training. This is a demanding course combining both job-related skills and knowledge-based training, and all elements of the course are tested. Trainees must pass all aspects of the course to move into the Firefighter Development phase.
Firefighters ‘in development’ will join an operational Watch at one of our wholetime fire stations. Progression to ‘competent firefighter’ can take up to three years and, during this time, firefighters continue to receive training and be assessed on their progress. Assessment is carried out at the station and at the Service Development Centre, and progress is monitored through a structured process of providing evidence against core role competencies. This stage of development requires a high level of personal commitment.
An important part of a modern firefighter role is community-based. This may involve undertaking home safety checks, working with young people to promote safety awareness or attending local community events.
Once competent in role, firefighters continue to receive training to ensure that they maintain their competence and develop new skills and knowledge.
Firefighters may spend the whole of their career as part of a station-based operational team. Alternatively, they may choose to apply for more specialist roles, for instance within Fire Protection, Community Safety, Learning and Development or the Specialist Rescue Team.
Promotion to supervisory roles (Crew or Watch Manager) or middle manager roles (Station and Group Manager) is available to those who have successfully completed an Assessment and Development Centre and are selected via a promotion process. For those with the aptitude and commitment, there is opportunity to progress to managerial positions which offer professional development.
