Stupid Testing and Hiring Procedures

[Jurassic]

ok, can someone please explain something to me? Mississauga interviewed the TOP candidates who scored over 82% right? 80-90 interviewed, and 25 are invited to a 2nd interview for 8-10 spots. History has shown that those interviewed rarely get a call again for a subsequent class. so, now there are 70-80 of the TOP candidates that are more than likely history. And these were TOP candidates, right? Absurd. Not very impressed with that process.

now, for the test we all love to hate the most, the OS. History says that those with fire experience (that is usually the most qualified) fail the test the most. Once again, this process has eliminated the best candidates.

i'm sure some of you know people that made it through the process that makes you think, what the hell? It seems like the best guys for the job don't get the job!

Please, lord, shed some light.

And please Ontario dept's, give your head a shake!

Thanks for listening to my vent.

[DoubleHelix]

I don't know man it all works out in the end. If your persistent it will happen.

Mississauga's one I don't think is too bad. Those 90 candidates had their chance to impress and werent successful. Let the guys who maybe aren't as good on a test but a better candidate.

It's obviously frustrating but it makes me want to just keep on getting my resume pumped up and just hoping for interviews. After interviewing with Midland yesterday i'd love another crack at it and hopefully its with Mississauga in the spring.

Who knows maybe London will call you tomorrow.

[scoop422]

How did the interview go? Did you feel good about it?

[RESQTEK]

One thing that is commonly overlooked by applicants is that one of the biggest parts of of the hiring puzzle is the personality of the individual. The guys and gals in the fire stations have to be able to live with you and no matter how much prior training a person has, if the person does not have the type of personality that can fit into fire station life, he or she will not be hired. This is likely why these interviewed individuals will not be considered. You can gain a lot of insight into ones personality in an interview and if you ask the right questions in the right manner you can even catch the jerks that are pretending to be nice guys.

It is easier to train a great person how to be a firefighter than to teach a great firefighter how to not be an a@#hole!:)

[FFWannabe]

Originally posted by RESQTEK
One thing that is commonly overlooked by applicants is that one of the biggest parts of of the hiring puzzle is the personality of the individual. The guys and gals in the fire stations have to be able to live with you and no matter how much prior training a person has, if the person does not have the type of personality that can fit into fire station life, he or she will not be hired. This is likely why these interviewed individuals will not be considered. You can gain a lot of insight into ones personality in an interview and if you ask the right questions in the right manner you can even catch the jerks that are pretending to be nice guys.

It is easier to train a great person how to be a firefighter than to teach a great firefighter how to not be an a@#hole!:)

I agree with this completely... respect the system and the system will respect you! Take a deep breath Jurassic, it will work out for you, man!

Sue :)

[Jurassic]

Doublehelix, you make a great point about 'sauga. Test marks don't mean everything. Or maybe i'm just being biased cuz i didn't do that great! ;-)

Resqtek, you are right on with what you say about the quality of the candidate. BUT, behavioural based interviews I don't think are that great. Sometimes I wish an interview could be just sitting down with the panel and having a regular discussion, almost like getting together over a few beers or something ahaha. Seriously, I wish they would just be more like, tell me about yourself, etc. etc. Instead, i have had tell me about a time...grrr...some of those in ALL honesty have never happened, which means you either have to make something up, or say sorry there has never been a time when someone didn't like me, or that i made an "upper level" policy change.

Sue, I will never respect the system in this province. The biggest mistake they made was making pre-service instead of the standard of 1001. This was ofcourse to let all the colleges make a nice buck. I will respect the system everywhere else because they all follow the industry standard. Take a look at Kamloops, now THAT'S the way hirings should be done! You don't ask paramedics to do aptitude tests or not have the proper schooling. It should be no different for fire. These aptitude tests should be fire knowledge tests and medical 1st responder to see WHAT YOU KNOW.

anyway, i'm one recruitment away from moving out of this system (province) anyway, so maybe that will make 1 less out here in this system anyway, not like it will make any difference.

[DoubleHelix]

That's true about about the Fire tests. I asked Wendy from Recruit one time and she said well youve already passed the tests for the ofm and stuff so they know you know it. Yeah but how many retain it year after year of being away from the career. Also it gives you a good reason to keep uptodate with the essentials.


The interview went very well. It was my first with a department but kind of like my second because to get into Humber college it was quite similar. It ended up being 45 minutes and they asked me 3 pages double sided worth of questions. There were 3 scenario questions and one that caught me off gaurd but really liked was "What was the last book you read and what was it about?". Anyways im not expecting too much from it but for being my first department ever applying to I think it was worth the 45 dollar CPS test.

[scoop422]

Don't look at it that way, I got hired by the first I applied to. If it works, awesome. If not, great experience.

[iamvff]

You know Jurrasic, I gotta say something and you probably won't like me when I am done (course, you probably didn't like me before)...

QUICK YOUR FU**ING PISSING AND MOANING ABOUT HOW EVERYONE DOES EVERYTHING WRONG AND THAT YOU DON'T GET A HIRED BECAUSE THEY ARE ALL INGNORANT FU**ING MORONS THAT DON'T KNOW WHAT THERE DOING...BLAH...BLAH...BLAH!!!

Now, thats probably the part I didn't think you would like, and yes, I was yelling! I used to think all my employers were idiots and that I could run things better then they could, so on and so on.......I opened my business in 92' and with in a year or two realized what was involved with that kind of responsibility. Things aren't as simple as they appear. I have since appologized to many of my former employers for being a pain in their ass!!

My point is that every post you put on this site is complaining about how wrong they all are.
-They only pick people with high marks and you didn't do well.....hey...I guess you should have done better and tried harder!! Try studying next time!
-They ask stupid questions at the interviews that I can't answer properly...hey...maybe they ask the questions to be able to pick out GUYS LIKE YOU!!! You know, they want guys that fit in as a team, and not piss and moan and expect to have everthing handed to them on a silver platter.

I read the post that other guys put on here to try to make suggestions and help you out and you don't seem to get it. From what I have read from you, I would not hire you either, I have met lots of guys like you who just bring down morral. Even though now your are thinking that I am the biggest a$$hole in the world, all I can say is...FREAKIN RELAX MAN....the world is not out to get you. As soon as you realize that maybe your wrong and that the system may not be that bad and try to join it instead of beat it, I would bet you'll stand an excellent chance of being hired!!!

OK..now you can rip me a new a$$hole, thank you for your time

Have a nice day!
Sincerely
iamvff:)

[Jurassic]

iamvff:

relax buddy. since you're from another province you probably don't know too much about the system here. Have you ever written an OS test? Well, 99% of everyone out there will agree with me. Same reason why London will NOT be using it in their next recruitment for their new station in 2006.

re: mississauga...i can assure you that those 70-80 candidates are absolutely furious with the process. Remember, THOSE are the guys that DID study and get >82%. So don't tell me about whining and trying harder.

I don't bitch about everything...only ontario processes for just cause. Do you subsribe to RFM and read your emails? If so then you'll realize just how many people are getting fucked in this province because of current hiring practices. A STANDARD NEEDS TO BE SET IN ONTARIO.

Next time, maybe you shouldn't be such an a#%$ole, and try answering the posts with a bit of intelligence and courtesy as so many other kind members of this forum have. This is an open forum, and as such sometimes seems to die in posts. I just like to keep the topics going. I don't have to, but I like to. Trust me, I say things that some people would like to say, but don't. And like I said, those in this province can relate.

Have a nice day. And try not to be such an a#%$ole if you don't know the facts. Plus, bitching is my g%$#amn right and you will listen to it, and you will like it!

[mbii]

Well, i just have to add my 2cents cause I read some pretty strong material above.

reqtek: That was probably the best advice I have ever heard, I think you nailed it right on the head. I hope alot of FF wannabees reads your stuff.....very good!!!!!!!!!!

iavff: boy, was that ever mildly put to jurrassic, however i must take your side on this one (even though you slammed me about volunteer or FF in a past post). You have also brought to the table a strong point and again wannabees should read what you have said. I am currently working in consulting and liking it but not loving it and that is why i went back to school (for firefighting), went through the process and now sitting on a waiting list. MY POINT...i never slammed my employers, i did something about it to change my life.

reqtek/iavff I give you guys 2 thumbs up, you guys sound like quality FF's i would like to work with in the future.

[mbii]

One more point, a classmate of mine told me that he had an instructor that trained FF candidates for quite some time and that the instructor can not get a full time position with any dept's, I couldnt believe this until he told me that the instructor preached he is the #1 candidate in the province and how he cant believe he is overlooked and how he was the best. Well, I said that is why he is not a career FF, he has the biggest ego in the province, and back to resqtek...here is a guy who knows it all, but the guys wouldnt be able to live with him. Better to train a nice guy the essentials in FF than a FF the essentials in LIFE (how does that sound resqtek, its basically your saying with a little modification on my end, but you get all the credit).

and one last thing, my dad always said to me "nice guys finish first" instead of last like how the saying goes. well, i consider myself to be a nice guy and maybe not the smartest FF student out there but hey, i am sitting on a list.

enough proof the RESQTEK sure hit the nail on the head.

[iamvff]

Hey Jurrasic,
First of all, I'm not wound up. I couldn't care less if you get hired or not. It doesn't seem to affect my pay cheque. You are absolutely right...I wrote that post knowing nothing about how things work in your province. Sorry for being a little blunt in the post, but the part you are missing is that whether you realize it or not, I would bet money on it that your negative attitude is going to those interviews with you!
I remember when I was about 25, and I was so sick of my boss running HIS business all wrong, and everthing they did there sucked, etc, etc. I applied for a job at another shop, and had all of the ability to walk away with the job, but when they interviewed me, all I did was bitch and complain about the place I worked at. I figured why would this place not want me. They called me back a couple of days later and said that I was the guy they were looking for, but because of my crappy attitude, they did not hire me! My uneducated take on reading your posts.....you are in the same boat I was, and once you realize that, make some changes for the better. Try to figure out how to make them realize you are positive and progressive, and you will get hired.

As far as me being an a$$hole.........Ah, I've been called worse, by a lot better people! I can live with that. As you said this is an open forum, some give advice, some ask for advice, some choose to take or not to take advice....whatever. To each there own. Just trying to help, no hard feelings on my part. Have a good one, good luck in your job hunt!

Be safe
iamvff

[iamvff]

Originally posted by mbii
(even though you slammed me about volunteer or FF in a past post).

Sorry Bud....It wasn't really a slam, as much as an assertive observation:rolleyes: :)

Have a great week,
sincerely,
iamvff

[bestcoast]

Sound's like there is a fight going on in here and I wasn't invited...:mad: :mad: Thanks alot iamvff........;) ....BC...

[iamvff]

Originally posted by bestcoast
Sound's like there is a fight going on in here and I wasn't invited...:mad: :mad: Thanks alot iamvff........;) ....BC...

:o ......:( ........:confused: ........:rolleyes: .........:p ........:) ........:D

Sorry buddy....no fight. Just some friendly name calling and the like!! I promise I'll let ya know when theres a fight.

iamvff

[Jurassic]

iamvff,

no hard feelings. How much are you betting? I don't have a negative attitude, just expressing the way it is here in ontario. I was only trying to start a new thread, successfully. Trust me, I am not negative at all toward anyone or anything in interviews, in fact, i've only had one and was only a couple of points away. I have only really begun the journey competitively. I'm confident (but not cocky!) that i'll land the job in my next interview or few.

There is much more to this job than trying to prove to the panel that one is positive and progressive. As everyone knows it's a delicate mix of skill, personality, and life history that makes the individual. Then again, you could have none of those and know the chief, etc. and be hired. What i'm trying to say is that not everyone who is best for the job gets it. And that there can be alot of politics involved, at least here in ontario in my experience. You may call it a negative attitude, I call it REALITY.

All the best in your pursuit. May the BEST man win.

[iamvff]

Go hard brother....best of luck

iamvff

[FFWannabe]

Quoted from 18atone... I thought it was great advice, as someone else on a list who is in Ontario and has written some tough tests and is waiting to be called and can't wait for it all to come together... I guess some people are either glass half empty or glass half full and there's not much to change that.. but this was great advice!

Sue :)

I will offer a few tips based on the Calgary Fire hiring process but these items will suit a candidate seeking a position in any FD. Also on a little side note for those of you waiting on a list to be called to service. Congratulations! Don't stop growing and learning because you feel mistreated. Understand that most people, even the Chief of the department have lived on one of those list in the past so they know what you are going through. Complaining does not show you in a good light to your future boss and you may not be aware of what they are struggling with at the political end. The world is changing rapidly and most departments are struggling to keep up. The FF's of the future will need to come with a high tolerance for change built in. Playing the poor victim by being a bitcher and moaner makes you less attractive to these departments who are already overwhelmed with problems. Nobody likes to work with people who sit at the table and complain about how bad things are and how unfair this is. Talk about how things use to be is fine for an understanding of history but counter productive and down right boring if it is not to help improve conditions as they currently stand. Be part of the solutions in your career and people will like to work with you. If you seem the sort people will like to work with, well this is one of the most important traits FDs are looking for in new personnel.

Lets talk.........Credentials are all fine and good and in fact neccessary to challenge for a spot in most departments. The fact is that standing out above the crowd to get your foot in the door is not important with the hiring process at the Calgary FD. Each file is handled individually and you will get a chance to prove your worth, but you must come prepared because others certainly do. Lots of others and they bring proof of positive past performance. In today's world recruiters are not looking for the "best candidate" because everybody's definition of best is entirely different. Recruiters are trained to reduce the risk to the organization by finding people who are suitable based on criteria which are most important to the organization. If the candidate can demonstrate evidence they possess these positive attributes they are most suitable. Like buying any product it is a buyer beware story so bring your proof.

Courses may help in your quest but the more important feature will be your ability to show positive trends in your past. Consider.....A candidate can state all manner of great traits such as optimism and dependability. They can tell us that they are hardworking and able to problem solve while keeping a friendly professional demeanor, even while the world about them is in total chaos. Candidates will tell us pretty much anything they perceive we may want to hear. Credibility is the issue, what have you done to prove you are as you are promising us?

Hiring is based on lowering the risk to an organization of buying unknown goods. (hiring a recruit) The more positive information you can provide to the hiring decision the less risk the candidate is to hire. Gone are the days of hiring based on just a few attributes such as a strong back and friendly fella. These are still considered but in the context of using many other important criteria as well.

Dive or trench rescue courses mean very little in the big picture of hiring an individual for a thirty year career. We will train a candidate who shows positive behaviours that fit within a department's criteria for abilities and decision making competencies. Are they adaptable, optimistic and personable? Has this person demonstrated they are accountable in their behaviours? The public sure expects it once you put them in a uniform!! Have they demonstrated positive well rounded characteristics? An example is the issue of volunteering with a volunteer fire department. This is a noble great step for gaining a little understanding about the job and giving back to the community. Yet all to often the candidate appears to be doing this to suck up to get hired in a career department. Candidate number two shows up at our door without a bunch of fire related courses but volunteers for whatever cause which they personally truly believe in and are entirely committed to and it shows. They are learning other skills which may be things that training and fire courses could not cover off as well. Workplaces can't teach skills your mother should have taught you, but being involved with the community for the right reasons often does. Which person suits the job more? Well, consider the positive trends issue.

The CFD is expecting to hire in large numbers in the coming years and the NFPA 1001 certification will be a minimum qualification as of January 1 2006. I would ask any candidate to be certain the school you are paying your money to is offering you value beyond a simple certification. If they are promising that their training will be key to your success would you not wonder how many others were promise the same thing? What do you bring to the table that is different? The onus is on you so the key is to ask yourself this question..........."what part of this do I own?" FD's have never hired personnel because of their technical skills. Personnel are choosen because they have a mix of positive attributes. Desire alone does not make you a good organizational fit. Is your school offering training to build your understanding of the service needs beyond simply putting the wet stuff on the red stuff?

Once you apply for any department they will need evidence not only in word but in deed of your stated qualifications and attributes!!! Success will not come simply because you played a game of chase the certification. It will be because you understand how your attitude and behaviours are important to a FD. The last key will be your ability to provide evidence in your presentation and that of your references that a department is buying a superior product.

Best of luck in your quest, stay safe

[TTFD]

WOW.................and I was just about to get on the blowhorn to Secretary General Kofi Annan at the United Nations and tell him to get a peacekeeping force ready to move in here!!!!!

:p

[Rescue78]

Originally posted by Jurassic
now, for the test we all love to hate the most, the OS. History says that those with fire experience (that is usually the most qualified) fail the test the most. Once again, this process has eliminated the best candidates.


The people with fire experience fail the test the most because a whole lot of them think they should be handed the job because they have "fire experience".

Ontario is saturated with firefighter candidates with either pre-service or volunteer experience and with more diplomas then shelf space. You got to select somewhere.

I said it before and I'll say it again, you can train a good person to be a good firefighter but an a%$hole is always gonna be an a%$hole, no matter how many certificates or experience he has.

[Jurassic]

I said it before and I'll say it again, you can train a good person to be a good firefighter but an a%$hole is always gonna be an a%$hole, no matter how many certificates or experience he has.
______________________________________

What about a good person with certificates and experience?

[Rescue78]

Originally posted by Jurassic
What about a good person with certificates and experience?

Unfortunatly, the process will fail that person once in a while. But if it keeps happening, maybe that person just THINKS he is a good person.

If it keeps happening, then that person obviously needs to grow, and one more certificate might not be the answer.

Don't take me wrong, I think the system in Ontario should be revisited but since these are the rules you have to play with for now, fighting it can only hurt you.

[BCFFFV]

I have to say that I was a volunteer for awhile and it was a great experience. But there were several guys with 5,6,7 etc. more years experience than me that figured they would be hired first. Guess what.....They are still trying. One of them was a "trainer" and he gets rejected by every dept. he applies to. The guys doing the interviews have a good idea what to look for. If you complain about this that and whatever chances are you will be pretty dissapointed. Firehall life is pretty much all about getting along. Someone with the right attitude and work ethic will be brought along by their crew and in the end make a better firefighter than someone who thinks they know it all. Sure some of the tests are stupid.....but you can complain or try harder next time. The try harder next time approach will get better results.

[bestcoast]

I agree. I've seen quite a few guy's that "know it all" get turned down time and time again. You'd think that if they knew it all, they would figure out why they aren't getting hired as a professional FF. Attitude is everything.........BC.......

[colin911]

And to the "know it all" that does manage to somehow get hired, he/she will get a big kick in the ass before they even leave training. There's nothing worse than a "20 year guy" that has only been on a coupla months.

[TalonJK]

Hello to all.

I hate to beat a dead horse about the hiring procedures around Ontario and other provinces, but here is something that I have learned from friends and other new recruits who have been hired on recently. I am sure most of us may have heard this but those who haven't, I hope it helps.

Everything we do is an interview. They look at everything we do and make decisions from there. Even at school, or at the CPS test, the fitness tests... everything. If we make a bone headed move in class, the instructor takes notes and will pass it on to his friends in the other departments. You don't think the people in the interview process don't call the instructor and ask "what is this guy/gal like?" . This may sound a little funny but, how about what you were wearing at the CPS test. Ball cap, sweats, ripped jeans... They notice. How did you treat the person at the HR when you picked up your application? If you were rude or didn't even say thank you, have a nice day. Do you think they are not going to make notes. Sure they do. I used to test the applicants on the treadmill etc when I went to York. One day, a PC came in to watch the testing. One applicant was instructed on the procedures of the treadmill test, specifically, don't jump off the treadmill and try to get back on. He did this very thing and fell off the treadmill, taking out a student tester and another applicant. You can better believe his name was written down.

I was at an information session last summer for Toronto. Someone had the balls to ask how easy is it to transfer from one department to another. "If I get hired on in Toronto, how easy is it to transfer say to Mississauga or Kitchener?"!!!!!!!!! Unbelievable. Do you think TO would give this guy an interview?

It seems that this whole group has alot to offer any department. But sometimes it is the little things that matter most.

Thanks guys/gals for listening, take care and good luck to you all.

Andrew

[FFWannabe]

Andrew, I couldn't agree more and it really just seems to be common sense, if you think about it like any other job interview. If you've applied for a job and you complain about the companies practices to other company employees, it's going to get back to the top. What's the sense in it.. you either want to do it or you don't... so act like you want it!

I am also a big believer in karma, call me crazy! But you reap what you sew.. if you are negative, you reap negative, if you are positive.... it just makes sense to me.

But maybe that's just me, I like to treat every person and every process with respect... they're in place for a reason and it seems like they are just doing what they feel is right to get the best possible candidates.... I can't wait until they finally get to me!!! :)

Sue :)

[Whitewater_419]

Adding my two cents into the debate, here;

When I interviewed for our volly department, I really - *really* wanted to get on, but I figured that realistically, my chances were low - While I have heavy equipment and demolitions experience, that was quite a number of years ago (Computer programmer now). One of the questions they asked me, I got partly wrong (What are the three elements needed for combustion). No fire fighting experience, so on and so forth.

Obviously, I got hired anyway - Now, I'm not trying to compare being hired as a volly (or, rather, as a 'part time firefighter, as they're classifying us now) the same as career, but I've gotta say that attittude counts for a *lot*.

These are the men and women that are not only going to be relying on you in life-threatening situations, but also in the day-to-day mundane situations. Like I tell my daughter, for every hour of really *cool* stuff you get to do as a firefighter, there's about three hours of really boring stuff you've got to do - it's all part of being on the team. No one wants to work with someone who's going to bitch and moan because it's the 436'th time they've swabbed the bay floors, or scrubbed the toilet bowls, or cleaned a thousand feet of hose.

While you might think your attitude does not show up in an interview, you'd be surprised at what an experienced interviewer can pick up.

Aside from the coolness and excitement of being a firefighter, above all, it is an *honour* to join the ranks, be that volunteer, part-time or career. Bitching and complaining about the hiring process suggests, to me anyway, that you don't quite understand that, yet.

Good luck in your efforts.

[Red_Devil]

Man oh man, looks like i missed a pissing match contest hehehehehehe, Well from what i read I gotta say Jurassic, Stop your friggin bit*hing dude, I gotta totally agree with IAMVFF, here hes totally right and if you ever wanna get hired you better not just check the attitude at the door but elsewhere too cause HR can see right through you and they dont want a guy whos gonna whine and bit*h all the time . HR spends a lot of money on tests and inteviewing skills so that they can weed out people with attitudes like yours. If you are fed up with ontarios recruitment process, then maybe you should ask yourself if you still wanna apply in ontario and take the attitude some place else cause I can gurantee that they wont put up with it also.

Good luck in your quest my friend

[dentedhead]

Originally posted by colin911
And to the "know it all" that does manage to somehow get hired, he/she will get a big kick in the ass before they even leave training. There's nothing worse than a "20 year guy" that has only been on a coupla months.


When I worked in EMS we called them 220s,2 months on the job acted like it was 20 years.You could always tell them from the boot prints on their asses:D :D

Dentedhead

[dentedhead]

Talonjk you raise some excellent points.Iwasnt going to say anything, but it is something that really stuck with me.

I recently wrote the KW test it was the first large recruitment I had taken part in about 10 years.The two things that I noticed the most were the way people were dressed and the attitudes.

I am not offended or shocked by much,but like you said ripped jeans,T-shirts with inappropriate sayings or designs, some of the gals thought that we should all see their pierced belly buttons.To top it off anyone wearing a hat had to be told to remove it,a fire department T-shirt does have a time and a place,its not going to score you any points.You dont have to wear tails and a top hat but a bit of common sense goes a long way.

The other thing I noticed was the attitude being displayed by a good number of the applicants I wasnt eavesdropping but anywhere I stood I couldnt help but hear groups of people talking. It was constant name dropping or trying to out do each other with who they knew.I saw guys coming out of the first test and and calling their buddies to tell them what was on the test or how the test sucked or how easy it was.I hate to say it but there was a prevailing attitude of I deserve to be hired cause im just so excellent.My perception anyways.

As I stated in an earlier post I had a good discussion with my chief about hiring, what they look for or what makes someone stand out.He did say that there are people who are red flagged at the written stage based on attire, attitude, behaviour and the like.You may get to the interview but they already know who you are.It just makes selling yourself that much harder.

Sorry about the harrangue. I just had to say it.It is only a generalization and not directed at anyone living or dead

Dentedhead

[LdrClmr]

Don't mind me I just stumbled on board here, but in light of reading everyone's posts I have to tell ya Jurassic, buddy Ontario is considerably laxer than Alberta is...for instance should you wish to test for the city of Edmonton, you need to be young, college or equivilant educated and you should be holding emt or paramedic tickets to even begin to try out.
The hiring of fire/rescue/ ems personnel isnt as simplified as it was some 20 years ago, and altho it seems a tad harsh to some of the potential candidates, its done for a reason, they want and expect the best... as it should be!
There are a good many "qualified" part time paid people out there, but you put them into a position where they are paid and they arent the same person they were in their old department.
And yeah, you might feel ripped off by not being chosen and so might some of the others, but theres more than one department in Ontario, I have 4 or 5 friends working in Mississauga, and I have a bunch more on other departments thoughout Ontario and I know for a fact that they hire. Maybe check out Hamilton or Belleville, if you set your sights on one department you cant want to fight fire that badly, spread yourself around a bit more and it will better your chances of getting chosen!

[bcfire]

Originally posted by Red_Devil
Man oh man, looks like i missed a pissing match contest hehehehehehe, Well from what i read I gotta say Jurassic, Stop your friggin bit*hing dude, I gotta totally agree with IAMVFF, here hes totally right and if you ever wanna get hired you better not just check the attitude at the door but elsewhere too cause HR can see right through you and they dont want a guy whos gonna whine and bit*h all the time . HR spends a lot of money on tests and inteviewing skills so that they can weed out people with attitudes like yours. If you are fed up with ontarios recruitment process, then maybe you should ask yourself if you still wanna apply in ontario and take the attitude some place else cause I can gurantee that they wont put up with it also.

Good luck in your quest my friend

How did you get on? BCFIRE

[Sneddy]

I can understand hiring young, I know that I was in better shape when i was a little younger. As for the other things you mentioned, well that is why they don't hire young. Life experience and maturity can be seen a mile away in the way a person carries themselves. Those are the people that don't offend others and make a good addition to a fire hall.

[LdrClmr]

Sneddy, you're not wrong there, but sadly most departments now days are looking for the "ideal" candidate...you know what I mean...kinda like the elusive saskquatch, you always hear tales about them but are rarely ever seen

[Sneddy]

Ya...risk reduction is the in thing.

[hom4er]

Its a good thing too spread yourself and your applications around. The thing is about that is to not do too much all at once and spread yourself too thin. The advantage of applying to a lot of places is actually getting to travel to the area and seeing if that area suits you as well as just trying to get on. I have applied to about 13 places so far and am starting to get a good indication of where I will be at my best.

Homer