Cheshire FRS - My Ten Year Journey

[FFAR542]

"Nothing in this world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty"

- Theodore Roosevelt

In 2012, i decided i wanted to be a Firefighter... i was soon to regret that decision and wish i had chosen something easier to get into, like an astronaut or an olympic gold medalist. I applied to Shropshire FRS, which is the county i'm from, but didn't even make it past the Behavioural Styles or Situational Judgment tests.

Fast forward a year, i'm living in Chester with my girlfriend (now wife) who is a student at the university and i'm volunteering for Cheshire FRS as a community safety assistant. This is my first exposure to the 'inside' of the FRS... i love it. Giving people advice, educating the public, fitting those all-important smoke alarms, keeping people safe. That's what being a part of the FRS is all about... so i apply again. This time to Cheshire. No luck. That damned numerical reasoning test. This was a sticking point for me, having done no mathematics beyond the 'how much change do i have, and how much is a bag of chips?' equation since i left school.

After a couple more failed attempts and a move back to Shropshire in 2015, i applied for an RDS position in the town where i was living. When i found out i'd been successful, i can't tell you how happy i was. BUT it wasn't the end game, the goal was, and has always been, to make this job my life's work. And doing 12 hour shifts in a factory just felt like a waste of life and ambition, even if i was loving my time spent in my RDS role.

Back to the Wholetime applications then; after working on my maths with the help of numerous work books, i finally passed the online stages of the process! Practical tests next then and i wasn't worried about this as i'd passed them before for my RDS post. A bit of a shock then when i found out i hadn't passed... it turns out they had too many people pass the practical assessments so they 'top sliced' from those combined with the online tests. Another let down.

2019 now and i finally get through the online tests AND practical tests with Warwickshire FRS. I have an invite to the interview stage! Amazing! Now's my chance, so i spend the couple of weeks leading up to the interview looking over the IRMP and getting some stories together for something called 'Firefighter PQAs'. In the interview, i'm tasked with giving a short presentation on why i would make a good Firefighter. I had spent the past years developing myself for this role so i gave loads of great examples... but then i sat down in front of the panel and the questions started flying my way. Turns out, my answers aren't up to scratch and i'm grossly underprepared.

The weeks following the interview were agony, it took what seemed like months to finally hear back. When i did recieve the email, it was another let down... a big one. It was a 'so close, yet so far' type of feeling and knowing that i would have to put all that effort in again was deflating at the very least. That wouldn't be the last time however, and i faced another two rounds of failure with Shropshire FRS in 2020 and 2021. Both times reaching the role play interview stage and being unsuccessful...

By this point, i was hating every minute that i had to spend in my other job. Making the CEO of a large manufacturing company even richer, when what you really want to do is help people, can be soul destroying. It was even causing me some issues with depression... but i kept on going.

It's the new year. 2022. I've completed the online tests for Cheshire FRS and am through to the practical assessments. When i turned up at the training centre at Winsford on the assessment day, i was blown away by the facilities there. 'I've got to do this' i thought 'i've got to get it this time'. So after returning home from Winsford, i started preparing for an interview. I hadn't been offered one yet but if i was to be offered one, i wanted to be as prepared as possible. I spent every day writing out different examples that met the NFCC framework, scrapping them and then writing them again. Repeating them to myself whilst driving and holding mock interviews with my wife. Hours were spent pouring over the IRMP, annual action plan, EDI strategy and planning for the worst possible questions that might be asked.

I was offered an interview, and when the big day arrived i was calm. I felt prepared. I couldn't think of anything else that i could have done to prepare any better than i had. So when i walked into the interview room and sat down, it went off like clockwork. Six questions were asked, and i had something prepared for all of them. I even managed to relate to the panel, build a rapport and chat to some degree about certain topics within the service. I left the building with a big smile on my face... i'd done it... surely?

Over the next two weeks, doubts started to creep in. The old 'what ifs' began to rear their ugly yet familiar heads. Every day, i went over the interview in my mind. Picking apart my answers and trying to piece together the bits that i couldn't remember. And on the Tuesday of the third week... my phone went PING...

it was an email... from 'Recruitment' at Cheshire FRS. My heart started pounding and i held the phone at arms length and turned my head away, like somebody with a horrific injury who can't bear to look (which my wife found ammusing). I somehow managed to compose myself, and opened the email. It read:

'Good afternoon,

Following the interview you attended for the role of Wholetime Firefighter, please can you confirm your contact telephone number?

Kind regards,

Recruitment team'

Huh? This is most strange. Surely they're not letting all the unsuccessful candidates know they're results via phone call... 

'OH MY GOD'

I replied to the email with my contact number and sat there staring at the phone like a maniac waiting for the call. Would you believe it, i actually got a phonecall from somebody trying to sell me insurance during these couple of minutes. Needless to say, i wasn't best pleased. Anyway, i finally got the call and almost made a chocolate sausage in my pants when the lady from HR told me that i'd been successful.

I'm writing this whilst working my last weeks at my current job. Soaking up the congratulations from those who know how much this 'job change' means to me.

There are many things that i've omitted from this story for the purpose of readability. But to put it into perspective: my first attempt was made just after i'd left college in 2012. Now, ten years, six jobs, two volunteer roles, one marriage, two children, four qualifications, three stone in weightloss and god knows how many attempts later, i have finally been made an offer by the brigade that it all started with.

For those of you who are at your wits end with the recruitment process. Believe me, there were so many times that i thought 'screw this' and considered ditching my ambition. And so many times i put it down to simply not being good enough. But trust me, and trust in good old Teddy Roosevelt (the above quote). If something is worth doing, then it's worth suffering and working for.

Don't give up.

[Becile]

What a story...welcome

[Messyshaw]

Jesus! I hope the job doesn't disappoint now you are in😳😱

Congratulations to you and everyone that has your strength of character and determination to keep going 👍

[Carl]

I have to agree, what a journey you have been on. Im glad you have finally made it and as Messy says, I hope it meets tour expectations. 

Big congratulations and as I say to many, I hope you stay on here and share your experiences both as a trainee and as a firefighter going forwards. 

Well done

[Youngnis4]

I really enjoyed reading that, a massive congratulations. Great effort and what a way to explain it all. Well done

[Andy1]

@FFAR542 Congratulations and very well done for your perseverance! Enjoy what lies ahead! 

[Steve]

Congratulations, enjoy your time. A worthy candidate if ever there was one. 

[Luminoki]

Love reading about the journeys determined people have made to get into the job

Well done and welcome to the best job in the world

[Keith]

Always good to read posts in the success stories. Well done and all the best for the future.

[Jobbo]

Congratulations! Enjoy yourself - I applied to Cheshire and I liked what I saw there.

[Noddy]

Well done 👍

[Sam2304]

An absolutely inspirational story. Congratulations and good luck with what lies ahead.

[Toffer]

Well what a story! Congratulations and well done on sticking at it! Definitely worth it! 

[FFAR542]

Thank you all, i am beyond excited! The story's a bit dramatic but at times, it felt that way. And thank you generally to the forum, it's an incredible resource and i hope i can contribute in the future and help others that are in the same position.

[Messyshaw]

I really enjoy reading these stories and admiring the tenacity and resilience of some on this site to keep going. A very useful attribute for the role IMHO

The recruitment process I went through 44 years ago was a simple one. I do not mean easier, but it was less scientific . No PQAs. No numerical reasoning (albeit lots of maths)

When i read excellently written posts like this, I  wonder whether I would have got through. Would I have had the strength of character? I have no idea

Many congratulations to you - what a journey. That poor insurance salesperson - I bet they got an earful 😊😊

Good luck!!

[FFAR542]

Thankyou @Messyshaw! They didn't get an earful... i just hung up and had to sit down to let my heart rate return to normal. 😂

[RBuck88]

Having just been unsuccessful again, I've been asking myself at what point I should accept defeat. Not yet, it seems!