Houston Fire 2013

Good morning everyone,

Anyone applying this year? And if there are any members already on with HFD, any tips/advice/information for going through the process?

Be safe all.

I'm taking the CCE in March myself. I'm 31 years old, did 4 years in the Navy, completed my Associates Degree last year.... Now I'm praying I can land my dream job as a firefighter in Houston. I've talked to an acquaintance who works for the Houston Fire Dept. and he said obviously score high on the test. I have the 5 extra points for military service so I'd be happy to see a 105 on the test, but just do well on the test. He also said its similar to military processing in that yes be honest on your application, but don't disclose any additional unnecessary information. I heard the hiring process is long 6-9 months, and the pay sucks for the first couple years.

Lastly, and I'm sorry if this offends you or anyone else who reads this.... But my chances of getting hired are harder due to my skin color (I'm a white guy). HFD prides themselves on diversity, which is a nice way of saying they prefer to hire minorities over white men/women even if they're not as qualified. So if your a minority, good for you, you've got a better **** than me. If you're white.. Sorry.

Good luck to you! I hope we both get the opportunity to serve our city together. God bless.

Yeah I also spent 6 years in the Navy as a Corpsman. I am up in Minneapolis now, just applied for Minneapolis Fire. Received 20 points towards the exam. (10 citizen/10 veteran). So that is nice. But, I want to get a job and I am willing to travel. I applied for Houston. Scheduled to take the exam on March 13th. The diversity aspect is discouraging to be honest. So spending 400 on a plane ticket...I wonder if I really should. But I want the job so I'll take the risk I suppose. Good luck!

First off... From one Navy vet to another, thank you for your service. I had a lot of respect for HMs in the navy.
Houston has a lot of minorities, but WILL be hiring white men/women, so don't get discouraged. Do good on the test, look sharp during processing, etc. HFD loves hiring military vets, so we have a slight edge over everyone else.
Don't let anything discourage you and pursue your dream like I am. Remember, you have to make it through hard things to get to good things. Good luck, study hard, and god bless!

Do anyone know how many they are looking to hire. Also I saw they have a have the certified application up, for you guys that are certified ff/emt.

Sander,

Thanks a lot fot the kind and motivating words. My time in the Navy as an HM was great life experience and excellent training in many aspects, as you completely know. I will take your advice all the way through. Thank you.

I heard they have 3 Fire Academies coming up (2 starting this summer and 1 early 2014) and they need ~60 recruits for each Academy......So from my understanding the Houston Fire Department is looking to hire around 180 people (which I'v heard is a LOT at one time for HFD). They are expecting over 500 people to take the Civil Service Exam.

With a city of 2 million people and having an open application period for as long as they had, I would be expecting a LOT more than 500 people testing. (a couple thousand is my guess, although I may be wrong as I am just speculating.)

Hey sander, whats normally the cutoff score to move on in the process. 90s or 100s

This exam is a little trickier than I thought. Did anyone purchase the practice exam? Has HFD used the FST format before? Insights? Thoughts? Studying for three exams is no easy task. Thanks in advance.

Well they do have hiring requirements such as college credits/veteran so that will prohibit a lot from being able to apply too.

How did everyone do? I dont think i did to good on this test. I had about 15 questions left with bout 5 minutes of time remaining before the proctor told us to stop so i had to guess.

The test was time consuming. I had to guess on a few b/c I was running out of time. I don't know how they're going to score the exam but I hope I scored high enough to make the top 350.

If we dont score in the top 350 we dont have a chance of getting hired?

@gogetit: Did you not get the flyer w/ the detailed instructions for the hiring process?

Yeah i got. I didnt know it was front and back. stupid me lol thanks dctalk

I'm really curious how they're going to score the exam. I heard that 2500 tested today. God speed.

On Houstons facebook page it says 1200 tested. Im not sure either but i bet the personality questions have a lot to do with your grade.

@gogetit: 1200? Even better. God speed.

If the 1200 is true, half of those people probably didnt pass the civil service exam. People wont pass the 1.5 mile run, background check,poly. I think they will go behind the 350 to get 210 candidates. Im pretty sure if we got at least a 70 on the exam we will get called back at some point. In my opinion :rolleyes: