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Firefighter resume example

A resume for a Firefighter needs to show the work itself: control and extinguish fires or respond to emergency situations where life, property, or the environment is at risk. Day to day that means work like this: rescue survivors from burning buildings, accident sites, and water hazards; dress with equipment such as fire-resistant clothing and breathing apparatus. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

  • Fire Engineer
  • Fire Equipment Operator
  • Wildland Firefighter
  • Fire Fighter
  • Fire Management Specialist
  • Fire Technician
  • Fire Tech
  • Forest Fire Suppression Specialist
  • Forestry Fire Technician
  • Forestry Fire Tech
  • Hot Shot
  • Water and Fire Tech
  • Airport Firefighter
  • Apparatus Operator
  • Crash Fire Firefighter
  • Fire Alarm Operator
  • Fire Apparatus Engineer
  • Fire Chief's Aide

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation in total.

What people in this job call themselves

Titles reported by people actually doing this work, which is often not the title on the job posting.

  • Fire Technician (Fire Tech)
  • Firefighter
  • Forestry Fire Technician (Forestry Fire Tech)

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

  • Rescue survivors from burning buildings, accident sites, and water hazards.
  • Dress with equipment such as fire-resistant clothing and breathing apparatus.
  • Assess fires and situations and report conditions to superiors to receive instructions, using two-way radios.
  • Move toward the source of a fire, using knowledge of types of fires, construction design, building materials, and physical layout of properties.
  • Respond to fire alarms and other calls for assistance, such as automobile and industrial accidents.
  • Create openings in buildings for ventilation or entrance, using axes, chisels, crowbars, electric saws, or core cutters.
  • Drive and operate fire fighting vehicles and equipment.
  • Inspect fire sites after flames have been extinguished to ensure that there is no further danger.
  • Position and climb ladders to gain access to upper levels of buildings, or to rescue individuals from burning structures.
  • Select and attach hose nozzles, depending on fire type, and direct streams of water or chemicals onto fires.
  • Operate pumps connected to high-pressure hoses.
  • Maintain contact with fire dispatchers at all times to notify them of the need for additional firefighters and supplies, or to detail any difficulties encountered.

30 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

  • Rescue survivors from burning buildings, accident sites, and water hazards, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Dress with equipment such as fire-resistant clothing and breathing apparatus, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Assess fires and situations and report conditions to superiors to receive instructions, using two-way radios, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Move toward the source of a fire, using knowledge of types of fires, construction design, building materials, and physical layout of properties, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

  • Affiliated Computer Services ACS FIREHOUSE
  • Corel WordPerfect Office Suite
  • Email software
  • Fire incident reporting systems
  • Geographic information system GIS software
  • Incident command system ICS software
  • Microsoft Access
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft Office software
  • Microsoft Outlook
  • Microsoft PowerPoint
  • Microsoft Windows
  • Microsoft Word
  • Operating system software

17 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

  • Adjustable wrenches
  • Aerial lifting apparatus
  • Aerial trucks
  • Air bag lifting systems
  • Air chisels
  • Air purifying respirators
  • Air samplers
  • All terrain vehicles ATV
  • Aluminum ladders
  • Ambu bags
  • Automated external defibrillators AED
  • Automatic blood pressure cuffs

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

  1. 01Critical Thinking
  2. 02Coordination
  3. 03Judgment and Decision Making
  4. 04Service Orientation
  5. 05Active Learning
  6. 06Active Listening
  7. 07Monitoring
  8. 08Speaking
  9. 09Social Perceptiveness
  10. 10Complex Problem Solving

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

  • Public Safety and Security
  • Customer and Personal Service
  • Education and Training
  • Building and Construction
  • English Language
  • Mechanical
  • Medicine and Dentistry
  • Telecommunications

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

  • 36%High School Diploma, or the equivalent
  • 25%Post-Secondary Certificate, awarded for training completed after high school
  • 20%Some College Courses

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Medium Preparation Needed”. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Common questions

What does a Firefighter do?
Control and extinguish fires or respond to emergency situations where life, property, or the environment is at risk. Day to day that includes work like rescue survivors from burning buildings, accident sites, and water hazards and Dress with equipment such as fire-resistant clothing and breathing apparatus.
What skills should a Firefighter put on a resume?
O*NET rates Critical Thinking, Coordination, Judgment and Decision Making, Service Orientation, and Active Learning among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Firefighter list?
Software recorded for this occupation includes Affiliated Computer Services ACS FIREHOUSE, Corel WordPerfect Office Suite, Email software, Fire incident reporting systems, and Geographic information system GIS software. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Firefighter work?
O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Fire Engineer, Fire Equipment Operator, Wildland Firefighter, and Fire Fighter. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Firefighter need?
In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 36% reported their level of education as "High School Diploma, or the equivalent". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Firefighter role?
No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

  • No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
  • This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
  • Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.