People that pursue a career in the Fire Service are usually extremely motivated and dedicated. Many will push through the required education, training, and experience required though a good portion of them may never get hired. Or those that do get hired may not be successful during their probation…. ever wondered why? One word – Enthusiasm!
I’ve seen plenty of candidates and probies during my career and the single thing that sets them apart from the masses is enthusiasm. We can train just about anyone to be a firefighter, EMT, or paramedic… but we can’t light that fire under their fanny that stokes a career-long fire. That has to come from within… and it’s painfully obvious who has it and who doesn’t.
So anyone that is reading this is likely to consider themselves enthusiastic. So let me explain what I’m looking for when I talk about enthusiasm. You have to be stoked to come to work. Stoked to train. Stoked to PT. Stoked to run calls. Stoked for hose testing. Stoked to wash rigs, clean toilets, etc. You should be approaching all of these things the same at the end of your career as you did on the first day. Your enthusiasm should last your entire career… and it will be infectious! Try it out and see for yourself!
Moral of the story… don’t be a “Ho-Hummer”. Make it look like there is nothing you’d rather be doing. Just saying it doesn’t work… you have to show it!
Dave Hardenburger
Dave is a Fire Captain and Paramedic for a municipal Fire Department in San Diego County. He co-founded FirefighterMedic with Josh and currently serves as a Mentor.