First-Line Supervisor of Firefighting and Prevention Workers resume example

A resume for a First-Line Supervisor of Firefighting and Prevention Workers needs to show the work itself: directly supervise and coordinate activities of workers engaged in firefighting and fire prevention and control. Day to day that means work like this: assign firefighters to jobs at strategic locations to facilitate rescue of persons and maximize application of extinguishing agents; provide emergency medical services as required, and perform light to heavy rescue functions at emergencies. 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.

  • Engine Boss
  • Fire Battalion Chief
  • Fire Captain
  • Fire Chief
  • Fire Lieutenant
  • Fire Marshal
  • Fire Prevention Chief
  • Fire Suppression Captain
  • Forest Fire Specialist Supervisor
  • Section Forest Fire Warden
  • Battalion Chief
  • Captain
  • Chief
  • Crew Boss
  • Crew Chief
  • Damage Prevention Coordinator
  • Deputy Fire Marshal
  • District Fire Management Officer

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

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.

  • Assign firefighters to jobs at strategic locations to facilitate rescue of persons and maximize application of extinguishing agents.
  • Provide emergency medical services as required, and perform light to heavy rescue functions at emergencies.
  • Assess nature and extent of fire, condition of building, danger to adjacent buildings, and water supply status to determine crew or company requirements.
  • Communicate fire details to superiors, subordinates, or interagency dispatch centers, using two-way radios.
  • Serve as a working leader of an engine, hand, helicopter, or prescribed fire crew of three or more firefighters.
  • Instruct and drill fire department personnel in assigned duties, including firefighting, medical care, hazardous materials response, fire prevention, and related subjects.
  • Maintain fire suppression equipment in good condition, checking equipment periodically to ensure that it is ready for use.
  • Evaluate the performance of assigned firefighting personnel.
  • Direct the training of firefighters, assigning of instructors to training classes, and providing of supervisors with reports on training progress and status.
  • Perform maintenance and minor repairs on firefighting equipment, including vehicles, and write and submit proposals to modify, replace, and repair equipment.
  • Schedule employee work assignments and set work priorities.
  • Monitor fire suppression expenditures to ensure that they are necessary and reasonable.

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.

  • Assign firefighters to jobs at strategic locations to facilitate rescue of persons and maximize application of extinguishing agents, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Provide emergency medical services as required, and perform light to heavy rescue functions at emergencies, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Assess nature and extent of fire, condition of building, danger to adjacent buildings, and water supply status to determine crew or company requirements, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Communicate fire details to superiors, subordinates, or interagency dispatch centers, using two-way radios, 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
  • BehavePlus
  • BIO-key FireRMS
  • Computer aided dispatch software
  • Corel WordPerfect Office Suite
  • Email software
  • ESRI ArcView
  • FARSITE
  • Fire incident reporting systems
  • FlamMap
  • Geographic information system GIS software
  • Geographic information system GIS systems
  • IBM Lotus 1-2-3
  • Incident command system ICS software

25 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.

  • Aerial lifting apparatus
  • Air bag lifting systems
  • Air chisels
  • Air purifying respirators
  • All terrain vehicles ATV
  • Aluminum ladders
  • Ambu bags
  • Automated external defibrillators AED
  • Automatic blood pressure cuffs
  • Backboards
  • Backfiring fusees
  • Backpack pumps

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. 01Active Listening
  2. 02Critical Thinking
  3. 03Social Perceptiveness
  4. 04Coordination
  5. 05Judgment and Decision Making
  6. 06Management of Personnel Resources
  7. 07Monitoring
  8. 08Reading Comprehension
  9. 09Service Orientation
  10. 10Speaking

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
  • Administration and Management
  • English Language
  • Mechanical
  • Law and Government

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.

  • 29%High School Diploma, or the equivalent
  • 24%Associate's Degree
  • 19%Post-Secondary Certificate, awarded for training completed after high school

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 First-Line Supervisor of Firefighting and Prevention Workers do?
Directly supervise and coordinate activities of workers engaged in firefighting and fire prevention and control. Day to day that includes work like assign firefighters to jobs at strategic locations to facilitate rescue of persons and maximize application of extinguishing agents and Provide emergency medical services as required, and perform light to heavy rescue functions at emergencies.
What skills should a First-Line Supervisor of Firefighting and Prevention Workers put on a resume?
O*NET rates Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Social Perceptiveness, Coordination, and Judgment and Decision Making 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 First-Line Supervisor of Firefighting and Prevention Workers list?
Software recorded for this occupation includes Affiliated Computer Services ACS FIREHOUSE, BehavePlus, BIO-key FireRMS, Computer aided dispatch software, and Corel WordPerfect Office Suite. 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 First-Line Supervisor of Firefighting and Prevention Workers work?
O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Engine Boss, Fire Battalion Chief, Fire Captain, and Fire Chief. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a First-Line Supervisor of Firefighting and Prevention Workers need?
In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 29% 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 First-Line Supervisor of Firefighting and Prevention Workers 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.