Fire Fighter Resume Templates

The most popular post on my website is my Sample Firefighter Resume Templates post.  As it is, I’m a pretty decent resume writer and I know how expensive resume writing services can be.  I once had my own small business writing resumes, but that’s another story.  The purpose of this blog is to help other aspiring firefighters achieve their dream, and let’s be honest guys: We’re just a bunch of dumb meathead fire fighter guys; what do we know know about writing resumes!?  I’m joking of course (about the dumb meathead part), but in truth, unless you have a background in the recruiting industry and have rewritten hundreds of sub-par resumes, putting a decent one together is something most people absolutely dread and will not be proficient at.

With this in mind, and the apparent popularity of my previous posts, I have created two new free downloadable resumes templates for Word.   The goal here was to create a resume that is attractive, professional, and highlights exactly what Chiefs and Captains will be looking for in new firefighters.

When I wrote my last firefighter resume posts, I was still relatively new to firefighting.  I now have two and a half years under my belt, as well as my Fire Fighter I and I feel I have a better idea of how a more senior guy would look at a resume and what he really wants to see and what he could give two sh!ts about.

Still, one of the challenges is that everybody has a different background and guys who are getting into the fire service typically range in age from early twenties to early forties.  That’s twenty years of experience!  What this means is that some guys will have one or two jobs to put in the experience list and others will have many.  Because of this, you will either have to adjust the size of the fonts, spacing, and other formatting variables to fit your specific background.  Unlike some paid resume services this won’t happen automatically, but on the other hand using these resume templates can also save you a lot of money.

If you do decide you would like help customizing your fire fighter resume, I will format and assist in writing it for a flat fee of $85.  If you want my help, contact me and we’ll make your resume look awesome.  Otherwise, below are the free word resume template downloads for your use.   I tried to make them as easy to adjust as possible, but if you happen to delete an entire section, don’t freak out.  Just hit the “undo” button and try something different.

Resume Guidelines

Writing your resume will invariably bring up many questions.  I’m going to walk you through some basic resume tips below which will hopefully answer some of those questions, and of course, while many of these tips will work for most resumes in general, the focus here is specifically on firefighter resumes.

Summary – This is a great way to avoid the classic cliche of an objective statement (explained below) and actually provide something interesting, realistic and genuine to an interviewer who actually wants to know more than “just the facts”.  The summary statement should be a brief paragraph describing yourself through personality traits, motivations, previous accomplishments and yes, even your objective if you wish.  The key in a summary statement is to eliminate any and all unnecessary filler words.  Be super concise and to the point with what you wish to say.

Objective Statement – Also known as the filler statement, the objective statement is contrived and antiquated.  If you’re applying to the Los Angeles Fire Department to be a Firefighter, don’t you think the person looking at your resume knows that you want to be a firefighter with the LAFD.  There is no reason to insult their intelligence or burden them with additional words on that piece of paper you just handed them.  Give it a rest.  The objective statement is filler.

Experience – This section of the resume can be approached in many ways.  Depending on the job being applied for, you may or may not need or want to go into the the actual accomplishments or specific duties in or of your role.  If you need filler, this can be a place to add it.  In the resume templates below, I didn’t include space for job descriptions because I do not believe they are important or necessary for the hiring officers to see.   Still, if you are young and need filler, the resume can be manipulated to expand the experience section and add descriptions for the sake of filling out the page a bit.

Otherwise, if the job experience is relevant, such as EMT, Paramedic, Wildland Firefighter, ER Tech, etc., the fire service interviewers are going to be quite familiar with the roles listed and will not need job descriptions to explain what you were doing.  If you have accomplishments in these roles that you want to highlight, save those for the interview.  Guaranteed they will ask you a question allowing you to show your heroism on the job.

If your previous job experience is not directly relevant (as in my case) such as Recruiter, Fraud Investigator, Sales Rep, etc., the descriptions won’t mean much to the interviewers anyway.  If they want to know more, they’ll ask.

Certifications & Training – This section is essential in the fire service.  As anybody who’s been through a fire academy knows, there are plenty of certs to get.  Don’t be long winded about listing them.  Keep to the point.  You don’t need to list every details written on the actual cert.  Odds are you’ll be turning copies of them in with the resume anyway.  This is another case where if you need filler, you can add extra details, but otherwise keep your list of certs and training in order of importance, highlighting what you earned – period.

Education – Some people have multiple schools to list and others have none.  Both are Ok, but do not lie!  Here are some basic rules for listing education on a resume: Start with the biggest accomplishments first.  A bachelors degree in underwater basket weaving comes before an associates degree in Fire Sciences even if the fire degree was accomplished more recently.  Obviously a masters degree goes above those and so on.

It is important to note that you do not have to list high school on your resume.  If you earned a GED, you may want to list it, but not high school.  Not having to list high school is actually considered a legal protection against age discrimination as most people graduated high school at age 18, therefore making it quite easy to determine ones age when their H.S. graduation date is listed on their resume.  If you don’t care about revealing your age (which I don’t think is a big deal in the fire service anyway), or you just need filler on the page, feel free to list it.  Also, you can always list your high school without the date of graduation.

Awards & Accolades – This section is the real show-off section of a resume.  Have you been recognized for any outstanding achievements in your life in or out of the fire service.  Highlight them here.  Again, start with those accomplishments most relevant to the fire service and go from there.  If you’re proud of it, put it down.  If you don’t have anything substantial, it is also OK to remove this section entirely.  If you do remove this section, consider adding extra to the Skills section (below).

Skills– This section lists any skills both directly and indirectly related to the role you are applying for.  Consider the following:

– Verbal and written Communication skills, Public Speaking, Dependability, Project Management, Problem Solving/Resolution, Training & Development, Leadership, Customer Service, Friendly & Caring, etc.  Get creative.  Just think of what you know, and what you are good at and list these things.  And yes, being friendly and caring can be considered a skill.  I’m sure you can think of some blockhead who just can’t be nice for 5 minutes.  That guy is missing an important skill necessary to patient care.

Resume Templates