Something About Buses

[OscarTango]

Rather stoked to say I have been accepted for a transfer into Surrey Fire and Rescue Service. I've long looked lustfully at SFRS, my neighboring brigade, and this will be my first permanent local authority whole time role, a goal I've been close to giving up on trying for over the last 8 years.

I've been an on-call firefighter in Kent for five and bit years at a fairly busy station, two of those as a Ministry of Defence firefighter and, at the time of application, was on a sabbatical from there to carry out a temporary wholetime role with KFRS.

Given this mixed bag of experience I was not holding out much hope, but I was transparent about my history from the off, and was pleasantly surprised to be invited to an interview.  Following this and a fitness test, that both went well, I received and offer and will be on a conversion course in October. Being something of a nerd about how other services work and someone who loves training I'm looking forward to getting stuck in. Already met a few coursemates and visited TC a few times and have positive vibes. 

At the same time as this I had a trainee application running for LFB and had just attended my medical for it. However this was what I was secretly hoping for however long a shot it seemed. 

* Boring personal history ensues *.......

My application history spans about 8 years. I started to get serious about it right at the start of the recession, when there was scarce recruitment, and when it came along it was often postcode restricted. I applied RDS to my local fire station in 2010, but my application was frozen due to the change from RDS to its current "On call" incarnation.

In that time I applied to RDS in East Sussex where I was working at the time, was successful, only to have my employment dry up making it unworkable. In 2012 recruitment started again for On call and I joined my local station, (essentially two years late) in early 2013, providing all day cover and getting loads of experience in. Happy days. In that time I bent over backwards trying to fit main employment in around it (Being retained maybe taking a little too high a priority but there you are). I managed to secure a job with the Ministry of Defence in 2016 which provided a lot of training opportunities, although the site was, and is, soon to close. While lucky to get a temporary WT role with Kent also, it was not to be for ever, so the pressure was still on in the long run. 

My applications include (with varying degrees of success): 11 Local authority, 3 Ministry of Defence, 7 airports, 3 retained. Sometimes it would be a knock back at first hurdle, other times through to interview, some times even a job offer, only for certain T&Cs about the job being revealed to make it unworkable. Ironically I am on the cusp of success with LFB, but Surrey is where I want to be, so will be withdrawing my application. Nervous and excited, looking forward to developing my skills. 

Huge thanks to @TrainHardFightEasy  and @Becile for info and contacts, otherwise I would most likely have never tossed my hat in the ring. 

If youre going through the process now, of any description, be bloody minded and keep grafting. The joy was sucked out of me after so many applications. But after every interview, every practice apollo test, every bleep test, I got slightly better each time. If its your first or 100th attempt at getting in, it will eventually happen, just make sure you are the best version of yourself you can be each time. Identify your own weaknesses, hammer them, and enjoy the process of improving.

[Slade1890]

Well done OT from following posts i could see how much you put in. Congrats

[Carl]

First of all huge congratulations. I love posting in this section. Well done

Secondly, I was going to post a little inspiration for others, but you appear to capture that perfectly in the quote below

18 minutes ago, OscarTango said:

If youre going through the process now, of any description, be bloody minded and keep grafting. The joy was sucked out of me after so many applications. But after every interview, every practice apollo test, every bleep test, I got slightly better each time. If its your first or 100th attempt at getting in, it will eventually happen, just make sure you are the best version of yourself you can be each time. Identify your own weaknesses, hammer them, and enjoy the process of improving.

[CaptainFlack]

Well done OT, richly deserved mate

Enjoy your time with Surrey

[Luminoki]

Well done mate?

[Becile]

See you on the drill yard....lol well done !

[TrainHardFightEasy]

Well done mate & enjoy the conversion course. 

[Carefree]

Nice one OT, I’ve followed and sometimes contributed on here re your journey and I’m thrilled that you’ve finally got to where you want to be.  You deserve it mate, well done you?

[JonesMrJones]

Good work man! 

[SteelCity]

Well done mate, congratulations. 

[CPA1]

Well done and conratulations

[Noddy]

Well done mate 

[HoldFast]

Awesome mate well done

[KJWilliams1994]

Congratulations! Long graft seems to have paid of for you! ??

[Ian]

Great stuff....well done!

[GameOn]

Congratulations mate, your persistence paid off. Well done.

[Percy]

Great news mate, well done. It’s a great organisation with some fantastic people and equipment wise it’s second to none really. 

[TandA]

Another one of “the Lifers” gets their well deserved release date.  Another great demonstration that perseverance and a drive to improve oneself really does pay off in the end.  Really well deserved.

[Messyshaw]

Many congratulations and what a journey!!! Your resilience has paid off and with your MoD base closing, just in time!

Good luck with your new employer and role