West Midlands Success

[JuanFran]

I'm delighted to say that I've got a conditional job offer as of yesterday with the West Midlands Fire Service! The only thing I'm waiting for now is for references to be satisfactory, so it should be fine. My induction day is on October 16th, and I begin training on October 19th.

 

I'll tell a bit about my story in case it's of any help or inspiration to future applicants. About 2 years ago in August 2018, I noticed that our local fire station was doing an open day for the public. I thought it would be nice to take my 2 year old son for a day out there. When I told my wife about it, she then asked me the question that lit the fire inside of me "Would you ever consider being a firefighter?" The truth is, I had never considered it, but for some reason, right then, I knew it was meant to be.

 

After having a lovely day at the open day with my son, I decided to take the plunge and visit my local fire station to ask them about recruitment. My initial idea was to ask about part time firefighting, and then see if I could combine it with my career as a musician. The firefighters were extremely friendly and told me about Wholetime recruitment (again, never considered it) and provided me with a tour of the station, insight into the recruitment process and an interview with their newest recruit to quiz him about the process. Needless to say, all this was inspiring, and I was fully motivated to give it my best shot! As all of us do, I really wanted to pass the first time, so I bought some resources and started work to prepare for the online test phase.

 

I passed the Behavioural and Situational Judgement tests without trouble. Next came the Maths, Mechanical and Verbal tests. I thought I did alright, but no, I didn't pass those! The thing I found most unbelievable was that I couldn't get any feedback on how I'd done, so I couldn't devise a plan for how to improve for the next time! This was very demoralising, and at that point, if it wasn't for this forum and the many inspirational stories of people who tried again and again for years, I may have quit. But I thought to myself "If they can, I can".

 

One of the suggestions on this forum was to try for other FRS's in order to gain experience with the process, so I decided to do that. I needed to wait 6 months before trying to apply to West Midlands anyways. In a short amount of time, I applied to 5 other FRS's, failing each time at the online test stage. Each time I tried getting feedback I came back empty-handed, but on my last of those attempts, I finally got some feedback. Not scores, but yes "pass or fail" information. My suspicions were confirmed, Math was my achilles heel.

 

Armed with this new information, I doubled down on my prep, and was able to practice consistently for a month and a half before my next opportunity, which was Warwickshire FRS. This proved to be enough, and I finally broke the barrier and passed! Next was a dictation and memory test, which I passed. I was then on to the physicals. Due to a childish error on my part, I almost arrived late for the physicals, and was this close to being shown the door! Thankfully, I was allowed to take part.

 

Because I was a little flustered, this may have affected my performance, and I didn't make it past this stage. I was discouraged, of course, but a day later I received the invitation from West Midlands Fire Service to try again. This time I was prepared for the online tests, and I passed. Next to come was Assessment day, with all remaining tests and interview on the same day. I knew that the Interview would require a lot of preparation, so I worked really hard on it. At the same time, I knew that it was a strong point of mine. In the entire process I remember thinking to myself, "If I can get to Interview, I know I'll go the distance".

 

This time I felt the physicals went much better, and I really enjoyed some of the tests, especially the ladder climb and equipment carry. The Interview went well, although there was one question I wasn't expecting, and the role play went well. Overall, I knew I had done well, but not perfectly. I thought maybe I would have to do perfectly to make it through, but I now know that it's not true. If you try your hardest to prepare, you have a very good chance of making it through, even if your performance isn't perfect.

 

So on my 8th attempt, I finally passed! Few times I'm my life had I been so happy.

 

I thought the medical and the rest would be easy. I was wrong. Little did I know that the wait between passing selection and starting training would be the most trying part of the process by far. It's worth noting that most people don't have this experience.

 

Everything was fine on my medical, except when the doctor detected a heart murmur. He was a bit annoyed with me saying "why didn't you tell us before?" I honestly told him I had no idea. He then told me it could be harmless, but I would need to obtain clearance from my GP before he could pass me as fit.

 

I was more unsettled now than I ever had been. I had no idea if there was something seriously wrong with me, and I felt so helpless, as my heart is something I cannot see or control. As a man of faith (I'm a Christian), this experience tested and deepened my faith, as I had to let go of the idea of controlling my fate, and instead giving it to God.

 

My GP was really friendly and helpful. She explained to me that young and fit adults can sometimes have heart murmurs which are harmless, but in order to be sure there was no harmful underlying cause, I would need to do a 24 hour blood pressure monitoring, blood test and ECG. Since this was all over the Christmas season, I had plenty of waiting to do, but in the end, all the results were positive and I was given clearance and passed fit.

 

Despite passing selection in October, because of all the delay I missed the chance to start in March, and I found out that I was pencilled into start training in October. A bit of a wait, but at least I knew. I had a kit fitting day scheduled in March, and then along came COVID-19, and with it, more uncertainty and more waiting. At this point, I was not placing my hopes in the fire service, but simply doing whatever work I could find, since the virus had put all my music work in hold. This included jobs in a care home and sorting mail in the Royal Mail warehouse in Birmingham. But now that things have settled more, I'm overjoyed that the time has finally come to embark on this new adventure. Stay tuned, because I intend to write a training log.

 

In case any of you are interested in finding out what worked for me in the selection process, here is a summary of what what I did :

 

Online test phase: 1 test of each subject per day from the Online Firefighter Suite from How2become.com. You can buy it in the store section of this site.

 

Physicals: I used the "Firefighter Fit" program, which is free to download on this forum. But really, there are many ways to train, and a long a you are consistent, and build all physical qualities in a balanced way, you should do well. For the more technical aspects of the physicals, there is a wealth of information on this forum. I hear training academy is tough, so I'm turning up my training a notch with Stew Smiths "ACE the CPAT" Firefighter Program. 

 

Interview and Role Play: I purchased and worked through the following books. "How to pass your Interview Workbook" and "Assessment Day", both by FRS Development. For the West Midlands Fire Service, you will also need to learn the "Our Plan" Document like the back of your hand, as you will need to speak about it for 5-10 minutes. The interview may have changed by now, but the PQAs I was asked about were Openness to Change, Commitment to Development and Commitment to Excellence.

 

Medical: Be honest

 

In closing, and above all, I will say never, ever give up. I've come to the end of this process successful, yet not proud, but rather humbled by the process. I hope I can stay humble and open as a firefighter, and that I can give all I have to give. By the way, my age is 34 (35 in November), so I'm one of the ones who can say it's never too late to start a second career!

 

Special thanks to everyone in this forum for their advice. Especially @Andy1 and @Kimfor their advice, and also to @Carl for setting up the forum and to @Noddy for his advice. 

 

I'll be sticking around to help with any advice I can.

[Carl]

Congratulations @JuanFran. About time. Always nice to see one of our very active members achieve their goal. 

Just reading your introduction post and I quote the below taken from it.

Quote

I'm aiming to pass recruitment first time, but am determined to try as many times as necessary. 

Your perseverance has paid off and this is what we say to all the hopefuls. If you stick at it, work hard, you will get there. 

Hope this serves as a reminder to all those still trying.

Well done. I shall open the Blog to you now as requested

[Andy1]

Fantastic post @JuanFran and congratulations on getting your offer of employment. For many including myself it’ll be a day you will remember for all your career. To find out you have been successful and got to the end especially after lots of hard work, there isn’t quite another feeling like it. Enjoy your course and what lies ahead. Well done again you’ve earned it.

[JuanFran]

Thanks @Carl. I'm looking forward to writing the blog. It is about time! 1 year wait between assessment day and starting training!

Thanks @Andy1.It's been some time ago now, but you've been a massive help to me, and dozens of others.

[JonnyHolbs]

Many congratulations. Well deserved.

[Rory-495]

Fantastic news. Been following your posts for a while. Chuffed for you!

[Luminoki]

Well done mate, welcome to West Mids

[Airze]

Congratulations mate well deserved truly well done! 👍🏻👊🏻

[Steve93]

Well done mate! Great to see yet another forum member being offered a contract.

Well deserved and i wish you the best for what lies ahead.

[Kim]

Congratulations and Well done!!

I wish you the very best of luck for the future🙂

[TM Connor]

Congratulations to you on your success. A very inspiring read, good luck! 👍🏻👍🏻😊

[Wald81]

Superb read @JuanFran and a huge congratulations mate. Always appreciated your advice on the forum, truly happy your day has come. Good luck in your new career, I’m looking forward to reading your training blog. All the best 

 

[Dyson]

Welcome brother. Enjoy the best job in the world !

[JuanFran]

Thanks very much, everyone, for your congratulations. It's truly uplifting to read your posts. 

[Copey25]

Well done @JuanFran!

I remember you asking about WFRS' recruitment process while you were going through it. I remember thinking then that with your commitment and dedication you'd eventually get through, I was very surprised you didn't make it through our physicals. 

I'm glad you finally got in, cherish your time at training school as it goes by in a flash!

I'm looking forward to your training log. 

All the best for your new career. 

 

[JuanFran]

Thanks @Copey25! In the Warwickshire physicals, It was the equipment assembly (different than the standard one most FRS's do), the tunnel (I let go of the rope) and the ladder extension (not quite sure what I did wrong), this were the things that failed me. All the other tests, I was told I passed to a very high standard. 

We live and we learn.

I am looking forward to training school. I'm sure it will be tough, but I'm also sue I'll enjoy it. 

[Noddy]

Well done mate well deserved I’ll see you around no doubt 

[JuanFran]

Cheers @Noddy. 

[CaptainFlack]

Congratulations mate,

You've certainly put the effort in and now it's paid off. 

Welcome to the best job in the world 

[Wallyf]

Congratulations Juanfran! Enjoy your recruits course and looking forward to the training log. 

[TrainHardFightEasy]

Well done enjoy your new career. 

[Webby]

Well done mate, welcome to the best job in the world 👍

[JuanFran]

Thanks a lot! 

[Kamran]

Hi , well done and congratulations it was lovely reading your post and informative, I have just been told my next stage is assessment day just waiting on dates taking longer then usual I guess because of covid, very nervous as not 100% sure what to expect, Nevertheless I have purchased both the books you have mentioned so thanks for that . Good luck with your training.

 

 

[JuanFran]

Thanks @Kamran!