Need help on career

[Bretti4TIB]

Hi,
I am 20 years old and I am deciding whether to have a career with a fire dept. in south or central florida or become a manager at a huge grocery chain called Publix. I went through the fire academy already but failed the state test.... I loved every second of it and would be willing to take it again but many people tell me its very hard to get a job in south florida. That is a big reason why I am considering staying with Publix since I have been there for 4 years now and I already passed the managers test. I am getting very sick of how Publix treats its employees (the ones who work get s*** on and it you kiss a** your fine). The great thing about Publix though is how much money you can make including their stock and you have many job opportunities. Is the fire house just like Publix where if you an a** kissser you get ahead? I mean I'm sure it happens from time to time but does it happen a lot? One other question I have is how are the raises once you get onto a fire dept in florida? Any input you guys could give would be appreciated. Thx.

[FlyingKiwi]

Decide what you want to do and if you have a pair.

If your chasing the money, start the kissing.

If you are chasing a challenge, pass the test.

[KeithA8]

Flyingkiwi makes a good point.

If it were me I would take the Publix job until I got on the "Job". Persue the Publix job as if you will never get hired on the FD. This way if you don't there is no time waisted. You are only 20 years old and it sounds like you have a little growing up to do. The fire service is a mans' club not a boys' club. (No offence laddies.) If you're scared about kiss *****'s then get used to it. They are every where in every proffesion. The fire service is not condusive to ***** kissing because of how promotions are ussualy given. Take a test and let the best person win. This is not neccessarily true in all depts but most work this way. So the bottom line is if you are serious about the fire service than study and be the best. All fire jobs are hard to get - it's very competitive. It takes some people many many years of testing to finally acheive the job.

[CaptOldTimer]

Stay at Publix!!! A manager at the age of 20!! WOW

If you can't pass the test in Florida, I doubt if you could in any other state that has high standards.

[Big10Dog]

Hey, comparing the fire service to Publix is like comparing apples to cinderblocks. Trust me, there will be kiss *****es everywhere, even in the fire service. The money they give us for doing the job is just icing on the cake, but remember-you'll be a civil servant, and you ain't going to get rich being one. Put in your applications, keep your nose clean, study your ***** off, get all the Florida fire and EMS certs you can (up to and including Hazmat, SCT, dive certs, paramedic, any TRT you can get-remember, you have to make yourself worthwhile to any department you apply to. BTW, try to keep the piercings and flash to a minimum, it just looks bad going in), keep the job at Publix so you can give your parents some spundulix for room and board and make it happen. Your choice; either the best job on the face of the earth, with Brothers all over the place and the chance to make a real difference in the world OR "clean up on aisle 5, clean up on aisle 5". Seems like an easy decision to me...

[CALFFBOU]

Wow...Where to start?

Me- I have failed MANY fire department test- writtens, orals, whatever. And some at the time where I was already a paid FF.

My advice would be to BUILD A LIFE BASE right now. What?!? Build a life base- Build your credit, savings account, education (big one), YOUR CURRENT JOB, friends, relationships, housing. Basiclly, get the complete package together. THEN, maybe a year or two...take your package to a testing process and present the complete and established YOU.

I can say this because I just did it. I was hired on at age 20 with a small foundation. Sixteen years later, I just got my first job offer to promote to Captain. How did I pull it off? Beat out 30+ people? Years of hard work and building a foundation.

Please email me with any more questions. Also check out these sites- www.eatstress.com and www.firecareers.com

[CALFFBOU]

PS- Since you work at a store, I am wondering if you have some type of union and/or retirement plan?

If your store has a plan where you work like 5 years and then vested in their retirement plan- STAY IN IT. DO NOT PULL OUT! I AM SERIOUS!

Why? If you are "vested" in this plan, then most likely you will be collecting a pension check for the rest of your life at age 50, 55 or 60. You dont care about this now, but you will in the future.

Trust me/us- Having some sort of security net in the future, no matter how little it might be, it's a nice feeling. You may get injuried on the FF job and dont know what the financial future holds. But having that steady check coming in from a past job is a very, very good feeling.

PS- And this is a biggie. You just passed the Managers test AND do not like the way the employees are trested....DING-DING....Here is your chance to change that. Promote to Manager, get some training, education and START TREATING THE EMPLOYEES BETTER. Here is your chance to make change. STEP UP AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

[FlyingKiwi]

And...

Whats the specials this week?

[snowball]

Wow...Where to start?

Sixteen years later, I just got my first job offer to promote to Captain. How did I pull it off? Beat out 30+ people?

That's because I didn't apply there Bro!

[CALFFBOU]

That's because I didn't apply there Bro!

I think they have enough Moes working there...You might not have had a shot.

Seriously- I was hoping Mr. Snowball was going to add on to what I have writtne above. He is a smarty and should have some insight to add.

[ChiefReason]

Whatever you do, don't do it JUST for the MONEY.
If it is not challenging and something that you like doing, money will not make you like it any better.
You have found Mecca when what you love doing is rewarding personally AND professionally.
Study hard for those tests and good luck. I passed EVERY firefighter test that I took on the first try. How? Loved it and studied hard. Failure wasn't an option in my mind.
CR

[ucanfollowme]

If I'm not mistaken, in Florida you must be certified in order to get a job. If your not certified (passing the test) then you will never know what could have been.
Pass the test, you dont have to quit the grocery store to pass the test. Do it get it done.Then start the process of testing in different departments.
All depends on how hard you want to work at it, some get by by just doing the bare mininum in life and some (including myself) need to work their butt off to get by. It all depends on YOU.
To me, and take no offense to this, if you gotta ask this question then stay packing the bags and waxing my cucumbers its where you belong. ;0

[DeputyChiefGonzo]

Believe it or not...some people actually take a pay cut to become a firefighter.. and some of the cuts are substantial. Why would someone leave a good paying job for the FD? The son of Chief Peter Ganci, who was murdered on 9/11 left a six figure job on Wall Street and donned the uniform of an FDNY probie, earning $25K a year to start.

Honor. Duty. Integrity. Brotherhood. That's what the job is about.

There is a challenge every single day, as each call is different. You will have times of tedium, hours of boredom as well as moments of terror.. and you will relish every minute of it. You will work with some of the nicest people you'll ever meet, and work with some of the biggest a**holes on God's green earth, but when the tones drop and the bells ring.. you will be part of a band of brothers.

Keep studying.. and if you are successful, you'll be doing hazmat calls on Highway 5 instead of a cleanup on aisle 5!

[ucanfollowme]

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[RivCo71]

Dude I wasnt in your shoes that long ago. I started testing as a firefighter/emt 5 years ago. Test after test, class after class. But i never had a heads up on anyone, and I thought that maybe I should go in another career path. The acdemy is good, but EVERYONE has their academy. I decided if i wanted to stay in this great profession, i'd have to look better than others. SO i did what many people do and went to school and became a paramedic. 1st test, like a childern's story book, i got hired. A 22 year old firefighter/medic who made all his dreams come true. If you can't cut the acdemy, or you wrent ready for it, there are other ventures. Try becoming a medic, and having the department put you through their academy. Just a suggestion.