Fireknight... question for you!

[FFWannabe]

Hi Fireknight! I see that you are a fire fighter in Ottawa. I am currently on the list from the 2003 recruitment and hoping everyday for a phone call. I have been working on my resume and trying to add as much to it as I go. I am studying for the Boat Operator's License Exam and a new friend at 21 is getting the name and number of another fire fighter who teaches the Chainsaw Operator's Course (the guys at 21 have been amazing).

My question to you is, are there any courses that you know of, offered in Ottawa to the general that are related or would help with relevent experience on my resume? I am going to enroll in the Fire Alarm Technician course at Algonquin for the January start and I am always looking for more courses and as many resources as possible to gain more knowledge and to make me look more appealing (on paper of course.. lol).

Thanks in advance for your help...

Sue :)

[Fireknight]

Hi, Have you had an interview yet? The interview process works on a point system,points are awarded for: trades/college/volunteering/fire experience (volunteer or career) and job related courses. Also what course you take depends on how much time you want to put toward getting on the floor. Short term courses, SCUBA, CPR instructors cert. and Algonquin college offers a high-angle rescue and confined space entry course, all these can be done on weekends and are job related.
Long term courses, Alarm Tech, Paramedic and skilled trades all have advantages and would help on the job but time is a factor.
Being that #21 is a Haz-Mat station they may have better insight into courses in that field that may help.

I hope this helps, if you get an interview or if you have any other questions, feel free to ask me.

P.S; If you are in the 2003 group is your list expired at the end of Dec?

[DoubleHelix]

Sorry this is sort of off topic but I was just wondering how many courses and what other stuff you had on your resume to get hired by Ottawa. I'm new to the game and just wondering what it takes. I've seen people with 50+ courses and then ive seen people with none.

Also what is this #21 thing?

Thanks

[Fireknight]

Originally posted by DoubleHelix
Sorry this is sort of off topic but I was just wondering how many courses and what other stuff you had on your resume to get hired by Ottawa. I'm new to the game and just wondering what it takes. I've seen people with 50+ courses and then ive seen people with none.

Also what is this #21 thing?

Thanks

Station number 21,
I was hired almost 10 yrs ago, the process has changed quite a bit since then, It was a ranking system that you were scored on through out the process, the better you scored the higher you ranked on the list, then they hired from the top of the list.

As for my background I was a tradesman and a military clearance diver and firefighter.

[FFWannabe]

Hi Fireknight.. thanks for the info. I didn't know that Algonquin has the high angle rescue and confined space entry courses! i will definitely look into those!
I have not had an interview yet. When I first handed in my resume, I didn't have any of the certificates or courses listed, I just added them as photocopies, so I didn't make it very far up the list.. I was likely very close to the bottom. I have reworked it and hoping the points have been entered so I will be a little higher up the list.
We are called the 2003 group because that is the year we applied, so we wrote the test in September '03. We didn't actually make it onto the list until 2004 as we did the CPAT in February of '04. We are on the list until the end of December '05! I was told that I wouldn't really hear much until Spring of '05 because there were others with more points who would go first. The '02 group is off the list this December, so that leaves just my group for the next 12 months, as there was no recruitment started in '04. I'm thinking if I don't hear anything by May, I am going to apply again and go through the testing process again so I don't lose a year on the list!
I work with a company who deals directly with Costco, so I am looking into taking their WHMIS course and also maybe taking some other safety related courses.. weekend courses are the easiest for me, that's for sure.

Thanks very much for your help, I really appreciate it. I wish I had met the guys in 21 years ago, I would have been able to get myself farther ahead with more courses. Slowly but surely I'll build that resume up... I'm sure I would knock 'em dead in an interview!

DoubleHelix, as FK said, it's all a ranking system know once you have passed your tests, the more relevent experience the better... also I was told to even add the water rescue and small water craft safety courses I taught in the late '80s and early '90s, as they would all be considered relevent! Are you in Ottawa?

Thanks again Fireknight! Much appreciated!

Sue :)

[DoubleHelix]

No im just north of Toronto. I am just finishing Pre-Service right now. Doing my work placement with Toronto Fire. I'm up and down though with motivation because I look at my resume and for a 20 year old it looks pretty solid with like 15 courses and a bunch of volunteer experience. But then I talk to the guys at the hall im at and they got hired at like 25+ and had nothing. It's really a hit and miss.

I've come to the conclusion that if you're younger its not going to be practicle thinking to get hired in Toronto or a big city like that.

If that chainsaw course is a go and you need people to get a course going id be very interested. I've been trying to do one around here but theyre not going to be holding them until next spring.

[FFWannabe]

hey DH, I will definitely let you know about the chainsaw course. As for people who have been on the job for a while, the hiring standards used to be a lot different. The testing apparently was a lot more physical and you didn't have to have all of the technical courses. Some of the guys who are helping me out have been on the job for ten or nearly ten years and they say their resumes wouldn't get them anywhere today, but they are great fire fighters. I think it's changed so much to meet the needs of the changing Human Resources requirements across the board in Canada for all jobs, you have to pass some form of psych test for a great number of jobs in many different fields. I am just really glad they stopped giving points for being a woman, it's never gotten me anywhere else... hahaha... why should it help me here? :p

Also, when doing your resume... list all the courses you took separately, not as one diploma. One of the guys here did that, he listed each and every certificate he earned at Algonquin and his resume was pages long.. they loved it! Never under estimate yourself either... it's like any other job in that respect, you have to sell yourself, add anything you have done, even if it doesn't seem significant. It's all worth it. Just keep in mind how much you want to be on the job. I keep that in my head all the time, when my alarm goes off at 5 AM and I don't want to go to the gym, when my legs are getting sore and tired with my stairs workouts, when I don't feel like studying for my next test, or when I would rather sit and watch tv and eat chips (hee hee)! Keep at it, don't let yourself get discouraged and in the meantime, if you think you won't be hired yet because of your age, get yourself a job as a trademan somewhere. I am looking into welding and construction courses so I can least get myself out from behind this desk!

Oops.. I do tend to babble... sorry about that! Stick with it kid and I'll let you know if I find a chainsaw operation course here! :)

Sue :)

[FFWannabe]

hey Dh, here's another website you can check out for courses. I have been looking at the Rig Rescue and Rappel and the Technical Confined Space Rescue courses. I haven't had much luck finding people to take them with me though, as it's a small school and you pretty much have to find your own group. I have had many people say they are interesed, but then back out, leaving me with no course! Sheesh!

http://www.equinoxadventures.com/rescue.htm

The school is supposed to be great and apparently you have less trouble getting courses to run closer to your area. The head office is in Toronto, so you might be able to rig something up with them (no pun intended). It's not a chainsaw course, but there's some pretty cool courses... I am also looking at the Ice Rescue and Swift Water Rescue too, they look great!

Good luck! Sue :)

[DoubleHelix]

Thanks that was a good motivator. Yeah ive heard of equinox before but always thought DART was better so ive done a couple of courses with them. I've taken a bunch of weekend ones at Humber and have my emergency first responder and stuff like that so next spring im gonna get the rope rescue ones because with DART they are big money.

Now im trying to get some unique ones like maybe a gas and electrical course just the basics because its that kind of stuff that is a great asset because not that many people know too much and about gas and electrical.

The thing about selling yourself is so key. Earlier this year I would have never been able to do it but now im getting confident especially with my work placement because not that many people who apply have done it and especially not with a big name place like toronto. I'm just hoping my captains can be good references for me which I think they can because the students before me were supposedly really bad.

Thanks again

[FFWannabe]

That's funny, I was just looking at a gas and oil course offered at Algonquin because I could take it on a part time basis! Funny.

I think learning to sell youself also comes with age and experience. I have not always been able to do it and now over time I have learned that sitting by silently or being shy weren't getting me anywhere. I had an interview with Ottawa Police a couple of years ago and it lasted over 4 hours... we were having such a great time. I went into the psych interview and bombed because I was so nervous. It was strange because I find I'm a great interview now (so much practice) but this woman threw me off and I was toast. At least now I've been through that now too... I think I needed to bomb at least one to be really ready for the one that matters most!

I am going to look into DART, is it just in the TO area? If it's more costly, I have a feeling that Equinox will be the way to go for me. Wilderness Tours offers courses as well, and they are roughly in the same area as Equinox... I think they have a bigger customer base as well, so it might be easier to get into the courses.

Let me know if you hear of any other courses, it's great to share ideas....

Sue :)

[DoubleHelix]

DART is the most well known for rescue courses in around this area I think. They are stationed in Kitchener or Waterloo. They do there courses in Elora, Milton and all kinds of places. The instructors are amazing. The thing that is good about DART is that they train all kinds of fire departments so theyre very well known to all departments and it looks better on a resume than most. I also think its good to get a variety of courses though from different providers. Right now I have too many from Humber but thats because thats where my Pre-Service course is. I have 2 from DART, 1 from Ontario Fire College and then a bunch from Red Cross. I'm looking at Ontario Fire Training located in Ottawa because they have some cool courses and also Toronto Fire's thermal camera course. Gotta go gym time :)

[fireemsmom]

I realize that us Prarie people are the minority, however does anyone know of courses like this that run in Alberta? I'm still pretty new at this so any info would be cool :cool: !

Thanks!

R

[FFWannabe]

hey R... not sure about you being the minority after seeing the "Where are you a fire fighter?" poll.. lol!

I would suggest you look at any local community college and see what they have to offer. Also, if you know some fire fighters out there, it wouldn't hurt to ask if you can go in and have a sit down with them... I did that and the ideas I got from their brainstorming was amazing. I couldn't write as fast as they were throwing stuff at me.. it was pretty funny actually!
I also do google searches daily, wording things differently, or I ask friends who are professors, electricians, police officers, warehouse workers, etc about courses they may have taken. There are tons of resources out there, just don't be afraid to start asking questions! :)

Hope that helps! Sue :)

[FFWannabe]

Thanks dh! That's lots of good info! I have family inTO, so I can always bunk there for a weekend and take a course! I love to drive, so that's not an issue!

Okay, maybe I should get some work done today, we're in a slow swing around here, so at least it gives me the opportunity to get more ideas! :)

Talk soon! Sue :)

[BillyBlazes]

Equinox:

I work for Toronto Fire and Equinox was used to teach us Ice Rescue and Swift Water Rescue.
The instuctors and the course content was great.
Toronto Fire's Special Operations has some courses available that should be good. We have some great training simulators at Special Operations.

[DoubleHelix]

whats this special operations you speak of?

I know that Toronto Fire offers some courses on their site but they don't offer it on many dates. The level 2 thermal camera one you need your own thermal imaging camera which sort of sucks because how many people have one of those lying around :)