Fire Fighter Recruit/2024-A #2307-300500-01

The Charlotte Fire Department (CFD) provides fire suppression, emergency medical services (EMS), technical rescue including urban search and rescue, hazardous materials mitigation, fire prevention, domestic preparedness, fire and EMS safety education, and fire investigation programs. From 43 fire stations, including two stations at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, CFD protects a population of more than 892,000 residing in 320 square miles of Mecklenburg County. The department’s ISO Class 1 Public Protection Classification rating and International Accredited status rank it among the top fire departments in the world.

The City of Charlotte is the largest municipality in North Carolina and the 17th largest city in the United States, with a total population of more than 892,000 citizens. A major commerce center, Charlotte hosts several of the nation’s largest banks and technology companies.

Also known as the Queen City, Charlotte is home to the Carolina Panthers, the Charlotte Hornets and the NASCAR Hall of Fame. We work hard to ensure that the community will be a winning city for everyone – a truly remarkable place to live, work, learn and play. Join us in helping to keep our City thriving, ensuring upward mobility and advancement in the workplace.

Public Safety

Performs general firefighting work in fire suppression and rescue activities, including responsibility for serving as a first responder Emergency Medical Technician for calls within the City of Charlotte; may occasionally drive fire apparatus.  Work involves responsibility for the protection of life and property through firefighting, rescue, first responder and related duties. Assignments are given by a superior officer at both emergency scenes and the firehouse.

• Responds to fire alarms with a company; lays and connects hose; holds nozzles and directs water streams; climbs ladders; uses chemical fire extinguishers, bars, hooks, lines, and other equipment.
• Ventilates burning buildings by opening windows and skylights or by cutting holes in roofs and floors.
• Provides medical assistance to fire victims or as fire responder to emergency situations, until arrival of county medical unit.
• Performs salvage operations such as applying salvage covers, sweeping water and removing debris.
• Participates in fire drills and attends training classes in apparatus operation, firefighting, emergency medical and related subjects; studies assigned materials relating to firefighting and fire prevention.
• Inspects buildings and premises for familiarization; checks for fire hazards; participates in the inspection and maintenance of fire hydrants.
• Operates fire apparatus and assumes command of a fire company on an occasional basis.
• Performs general maintenance and cleaning work in the upkeep of departmental apparatus, equipment, and structures; cleans kitchen, locker room, sleeping quarters, walls, and floors; washes, hangs and dries hose; washes, cleans and polishes apparatus.
• Maintains fitness and personal health to meet annual NFPA 1582 medical requirement.
• Performs related work as required.
• Works in shifts, including nighttime, for a minimum of 24 hours (average of 10 days per month, including weekends and holidays). There are three shifts (A-shift, B-shift, and C-shift) and firefighters work to provide continuous service. An example work schedule is WORK-off-WORK-off-off-WORK-off-WORK-off-off-off-off. This cycle then starts over after the 4-day break.

• Ability to wear full protective clothing and equipment, including SCBA, while carrying fire equipment and performing physical tasks.
• Ability to remove ladder from fire apparatus
• Ventilate roof with power tools
• Search for victim in limited visibility
• Remove victim or injured partner from the scene
• Extricate victim from vehicle
• Crawl through smoke filled structure pulling the charged hose line
• Ability to hook up to hydrant
• Able to move heavy objects to gain access to fire and/or free trapped persons
• Knowledge of personal protective devices
• Thinking and reasoning ability
• Knowledge of rescue and extrication operations
• Basic mechanical knowledge
• Knowledge of hose practices and ability to hold a charged attack line
• Oral and written communication skills
• Arithmetic ability
• Emergency medical knowledge
• Function as an integral component of a diverse team in dynamic and stressful situations
• Ability to perform and communicate critical, time-sensitive, complex, problem solving during physical exertion and/or in -stressful environments
• Ability to sustain prolonged concentration, problem-solving, and decision-making skills during physical exertion and/or working in stressful environments
• Maintain a harmonious work environment as part of a diverse team
• Interact with the public and colleagues in a professional and respectful manner

Physical Requirements:

All applicants must pass a physical ability test (FPAT) during the hiring process. For more information on the physical ability test please visit our website https://www.charlottenc.gov/Public-Safety/Fire-Department/Work-for-Us#section-4. All applicants must also pass the NFPA 1582 physical during the hiring process.

Light to heavy lifting and carrying; some crouching, stooping, squatting, crawling, reaching, pushing, and pulling when performing tasks. Must have the agility and physical strength to do prolonged and arduous work under adverse conditions.  This includes the ability to lift, move and maintain position on items (e.g., charged hoses) up to 90 pounds; push objects up to 25 pounds; pull objects from 25-50 pounds, and lift or pull victims weighing more than 150 pounds. Ability to perform mental and physical tasks over prolonged periods of extreme physical exertion without a warm-up period, scheduled rest periods, meals, access to medication(s), or hydration. Adequate vision, hearing, and speech required.

General Information:

Please visit https://www.charlottenc.gov/Public-Safety/Fire-Department/Work-for-Us#section-1 for details regarding the full 2024-A Fire Fighter Recruit hiring process and starting a career in Firefighting. Fire Fighter Recruits hired will be paid, full-time Recruits/students in Recruit School, Monday through Friday from approximately 8:00am through 5:00pm. Recruit School is approximately 26 weeks of rigorous, academically challenging material delivered in a structured classroom environment including textbook instruction, classroom lectures, hands-on learning, and testing, in addition to physically demanding training and daily PT. In order to graduate from the training academy, Recruits must meet all standards established by the department, including but not limited to:

• Attendance in all classes and training functions
• Successful completion of all academic portions of recruit training
• Participation in physical fitness training and achievement of goals set forth by the Fitness Coordinator and Training Staff
• Adherence to all standards, rules, guidelines, and requirements as established by department General Orders and by Training Staff expectations

After submitting an application, application status and Notices that have been emailed to applicants are stored for 24/7 access in their JobAps Applicant Profile at https://jobapscloud.com/oec/Charlotte/. Click on My Applications at the top of the screen. Enter the Username and Password you created when you built your Applicant Profile. If you cannot remember your Username or Password, use the recovery options provided there. Once logged in, you can view your Applicant Profile as well as the current status of all of your Unsubmitted, Submitted, or Unfinished City of Charlotte employment applications. **To the right of each Job Title is the current status/step in the process that your employment application is currently in, and by clicking the date under Last Notice you can open, scroll through, and review the Notices sent to you via JobAps regarding that application.** It is each applicant’s responsibility to monitor their emails, INCLUDING Junk/Spam folders, as well as their JobAps Portal, for updates and invitations for the duration of the hiring process.

Initial Testing Information:

Soon after the application period has CLOSED (08/03/2023) and all completed applications have been received and reviewed, invitations to self-schedule for the first components will be emailed to eligible applicants. For these first two components, a VERY limited number of virtual/online appointments will be made available to applicants while the remainder of applicants must attend in-person. Applicants are responsible for carefully reviewing the information below related to these two testing methods.

The job application will provide applicants the opportunity to indicate interest in completing the Written Exam and Structured Oral Interview (SOI) virtually/online; however, indicating interest does NOT guarantee the applicant will be granted virtual appointments. Evaluation will be made soon after the application period has CLOSED (08/03/2023) and, following evaluation of all applications, applicants will receive further information via email. Virtual appointments will REQUIRE applicants to have access to the following on test days: 1) 2011 or newer cell phone with fully functioning camera/video capabilities and space to download a required app, AND, 2) Computer/laptop which can accept a software download prior to testing. Applicants who experience technical difficulties and are subsequently unable to complete their scheduled virtual appointment MUST attend the component(s) in-person.

VIRTUAL/ONLINE Written Exams will be held, on a very limited basis, during the week of Monday, September 11 through Friday, September 15, 2023. Applicants’ specific Written Exam date and time will be assigned based on slot availability during the self-scheduling process. The exam does not require applicants to have prior knowledge about fire services work.

VIRTUAL/ONLINE Structured Oral Interviews (SOIs) will be then held for those same applicants on Saturday, September 16, 2023. Applicants’ specific SOI time will be assigned based on slot availability during the self-scheduling process. In this exercise, applicants will be given hypothetical situations to respond to.

IN-PERSON Structured Oral Interviews (SOIs) will be held between Saturday, September 23 and Sunday, September 24, 2023. Applicants’ specific SOI date and time will be assigned based on slot availability during self-scheduling. In this exercise, applicants will be given hypothetical situations to respond to.

After completion of the in-person Structured Oral Interview, upon exiting, applicants will receive the location and a randomly assigned appointment time to report for their IN-PERSON Written Exam on Monday, September 25, 2023. The exam does not require applicants to have prior knowledge about fire services work. 

Eligibility Requirements:

• The Charlotte Fire Department requires its Firefighters to have a valid driver's license as a condition of employment; all applicants must have a valid driver's license to APPLY.
• Must be at least 18 years of age BY the date of applications: July 20, 2023
• Must have a high school diploma, GED, or high school equivalency from an accredited educational institution BY the date of applications: July 20, 2023
• Must meet medical requirements set forth in National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1582 Chapter 6: Medical Evaluations of Candidates

Automatic Disqualifiers Include, but are not Limited to:

• Reason(s) other than an ‘Honorable’ discharge from the military; ‘General discharge under Honorable conditions’ will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis
• Admission and/or conviction of felony offense
• Admission and/or conviction of misdemeanor involving moral turpitude
• Use of marijuana/THC (smoke, inhale, ingest, etc.) within 6 months before, or any time after, the date of applications: July 2023
• Use of any other illicit or illegal drugs within 3 years before, or any time after, the date of applications: July 2023
• Pattern of illegal drug use, including distribution
• Pattern of theft
• Six or more points for moving violations on driving record during past three years. Three-year period calculated from date of conviction for each violation: July 20, 2020 to present. Court decisions such as Prayer for Judgment Continued (PJC) will be counted as convictions.
• Conviction of DUI / DWI within the last five years. Five-year period calculated from date of conviction for each violation: July 20, 2018 to present. Court decisions such as Prayer for Judgment Continued (PJC) will be counted as convictions.
• Prior to receiving a Formal Offer of Employment, candidates will be expected to be in full compliance with the GO 209.01A-Body Art-Tattoo Policy linked on the Charlotte Fire Department website at https://www.charlottenc.gov/Public-Safety/Fire-Department/Work-for-Us#section-3  which includes the following: 1) No tattoos above the shirt collar to include the neck, face, or anywhere on the head, or anywhere below the wrist to include the entire hand (with exception to a single tattoo on the ring finger in place of a wedding band). 2) No tattoos that express hate or defame any group of citizens to include, but not limited to, race, gender, sex, color, or national origin, or any tattoos that are vulgar, profane, drug related, offensive, racist, gang related, or sexually explicit.

Base starting salary for all incoming Fire Fighter Recruits is currently $49,838 annually.

• Fire Fighter Recruits receive a 5% incentive for an Associate’s degree OR a 10% incentive for a Bachelor’s degree; an official transcript is required.
• Fire Fighter Recruits who have served at least 2 years of Active-Duty military OR 6 years in the Reserves/National Guard, who do NOT have any educational degrees, may be eligible for a 5% military incentive; DD-214s/NGB Form 22s are required.

The City’s Background Check Policy requires background checks to be conducted on final internal or external candidate(s) applying for any position with the City of Charlotte. The type of information that will be collected as part of a background check includes, but is not limited to: reference checks, social media check, social security verification, education verification, criminal conviction record check, and, if applicable, a credit history check, sex offender registry and motor vehicle records check.

Background checks must be in compliance with all federal and state statutes, such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The checks must be consistent with the guidelines set forth by these laws requiring organizations to obtain a candidate’s written authorization before obtaining a criminal background report, motor vehicle records check or credit report; and to properly store and dispose of information derived from such reports.

During the selection process, candidates will be required to participate in various testing and assessments. Final candidates must pass the NFPA 1582 physical examination and pre-employment drug-screening test. Please visit https://www.charlottenc.gov/Public-Safety/Fire-Department/Work-for-Us#section-1 for details regarding the full 2024-A Fire Fighter Recruit hiring process and starting a career in Firefighting.

The City of Charlotte is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Apply online by the deadline; complete all application fields including full work history.

By submitting this application, you are agreeing that you have read and understand the above information, to the best of your ability, including the NFPA 1582 Medical Requirements.

Federal law requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. Please tell us if you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job. Anyone seeking an accommodation to apply for a job may call 704-336-2285 for assistance or email CityHrJobPostingsNotify@charlottenc.gov .

You are welcome to visit the City of Charlotte Human Resources Department lobby where there are workstations available to submit your online application. The office is located at 700 East 4^th Street, Suite 200, Charlotte, NC 28202 and the hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (EST), excluding official City holidays.

The City of Charlotte provides a comprehensive benefits package to all employees.

Click here to learn more about the City of Charlotte’s benefits.

The City of Charlotte is a drug- and alcohol-free workplace.

If you have any technical issues with submitting your application, click here.

Direct any questions about this position to 704-336-2181.