Wholetime firefighter's job role

All kinds of people can be firefighters. Being there for your community and making a real difference.

Be a firefighter. You can.

Pay and career development

We offer a starting salary of £23,366, rising to £31,144.

Successful applicants will join our apprentice firefighter scheme. For the first 12 weeks you will be paid a trainee rate of £23,366. You will then move to a development rate of £24,339 until you complete your apprenticeship. After that, you will move to the competent rate of £31,144.

You'll be continually learning through lectures, exercises, equipment training, practice drills etc. Continual personal and professional development is an integral and on going part of the job.

Our structured training and development will allow you to maximise your potential, giving you the opportunity to progress into specialist areas such as protection, prevention, operational resilience or training to develop your career further.

Responsibilities

The role of a firefighter involves a wide range of tasks, some you'll do every day while others are less frequent. The typical duties of a firefighter are:

• Responding immediately and safely to emergency calls and requests for assistance
• Attending emergency incidents including fires, road traffic collisions, floods, terrorist incidents, spillages of dangerous substances, and rail and air crashes
• Rescuing trapped people and animals
• Minimising distress and suffering, including giving first aid before ambulance crews arrive
• Safeguarding your own and other people's personal safety at all times
• Cleaning up and checking the site after dealing with an incident
• Inspecting and maintaining the appliance (fire engine) and its equipment, checking emergency water supplies
• Maintaining the level of physical fitness necessary to carry out all the duties of a firefighter
• Educating and informing the public to promote fire safety by giving talks in schools and to local organisations, as well as home visits to offer advice, etc
• Maintaining links with the local community

Working hours

As a firefighter, hours of work typically include regular unsocial hours and could be expected to work at any wholetime fire station in Norfolk if you are successful.

You will be assigned to a Watch where you will work a set shift pattern from any station in Norfolk.

What to expect on the job

You'll be joining a closely knit team of people with a great sense of team spirit, so you will need excellent team working skills.

The working environment can be challenging and work often takes place in dangerous and unpleasant conditions: in heat and cold, at heights, in enclosed spaces, in smoke-filled buildings, in water, and in all kinds of weather conditions

You need to be physically fit. It's a physical role and firefighters work with heavy equipment.

You will be working in a disciplined environment and you will need to be able to take instruction safely.

Smart appearance is important. Additionally firefighters must be clean shaven so that their breathing apparatus equipment can work effectively.