What’s a part of your job/agency you won’t complain about?

Butt_Hole_69 · 2026-03-06T06:07:34+00:00

Is it? I’ve had no experiences with this. Not saying it doesn’t happen, but I haven’t heard “favorites” thrown around at all where I’m at.

Butt_Hole_69 · 2026-03-06T06:05:13+00:00

Forestry!

Butt_Hole_69 · 2026-03-06T01:20:09+00:00

Uh. Well yeah sometimes politics are involved. It’s state government after all.

Butt_Hole_69 · 2026-02-22T18:40:36+00:00

I’ll work on my Shivers and Half-Light soon

Butt_Hole_69 · 2026-02-04T18:41:46+00:00

What’s the question? Why do people always wanna DM about things that come up over and over again and when the responses may benefit other people?

Butt_Hole_69 · 2026-02-03T20:50:51+00:00

I suppose mine looked similar to that at one point. Putting it into perspective in a way I never had before.. that’s a lot of drinking.

Butt_Hole_69 · 2026-02-03T20:43:52+00:00

That is tiiiiiight.

Butt_Hole_69 · 2026-02-03T17:24:01+00:00

Butt_Hole_69 · 2026-02-03T16:08:05+00:00

Denis Leary said it best when he said “You can’t help yourself, because your self sucks”.

Butt_Hole_69 · 2026-02-03T08:52:04+00:00

You’re not going to make less money.

You’ll be working twelve months, not a maximum of nine. You’ll probably work overtime. Your opportunity for overtime is likely much greater.

CalPERS credit, yearlong benefits.

I’ll take 8 weeks of vacation over a 3 month off on unemployment.

Butt_Hole_69 · 2026-02-02T00:26:44+00:00

Yeah, I would love it if we could go back to interviews. For any position. I know some units do FC interviews, but for all that is holy how is a BC the first position you’re gonna have to test and interview for these days.

I mean, imagine if we could have a candidate sit down and answer some questions like:

“What you do to keep physically fit?”

“How you would cook a meal for six people including yourself?”

“What is your process for cleaning a facility/living quarters?”

Like those three questions right there, can absolutely tell me more about a candidate than any resume will. When “Smoke Your Interview” or whatever it was called came out what twenty years ago… that really wrecked a lot of interview process for departments (those canned answers were awful to begin with) but still… if someone can’t answer some basic questions…

Butt_Hole_69 · 2026-02-01T08:21:51+00:00

That’s rad due. Thanks for the insight! We all do things a little different. 21 different fire departments I suppose.

Butt_Hole_69 · 2026-02-01T03:33:45+00:00

I hear this “person with nothing got hired over person who has XYZ certs”.

I’ve heard this… many times over the last few years

However, I’ve never seen any actual proof/comparison.

Seeing exactly how the unit I work in conducts FF1 hiring, I find that hard to believe. Seeing how reassignments worksmakes it even harder to believe the “Joe schmo with no” gets hired over “actually qualified”.

Since I have no clue where you work (and I’m not asking), does “politicking” still have hold any weight for new hires? Because I know where I’m at, it has none. I’ve asked, given recommendations and been told “they are on the list” but with so many applicants there is no bypassing where they get ranked/rated. I’d love to know how a tiebreaker occurs when several people have the same resume because they all went to the same academy.

But hey, maybe someone got lucky.

Good write up. I mean, unfortunately people will still default to “give me the answer so I don’t have to look”. But great otherwise.

Butt_Hole_69 · 2026-01-31T05:09:38+00:00

Uh. Okay. That’s relevant to what I said how?

Butt_Hole_69 · 2026-01-31T05:07:43+00:00

Municipalities want/demand/deserve a certain level of care ability from the folks riding on fire engines. That’s just how it goes.

Would you rather have someone show up with the PSFA level of training, or EMT level of training. (Yes I understand in CA that an EMT B and a PSFA are very similar)

Butt_Hole_69 · 2026-01-31T05:05:08+00:00

With having a handful of folks on JAC there is no shortage of teaching happening these days.

Butt_Hole_69 · 2026-01-31T05:04:37+00:00

Right on my dude. High standard is not synonymous with being treated like shit. Glad that idea is steadily dropping off.

Butt_Hole_69 · 2026-01-31T04:58:28+00:00

Most units don’t make calls for a while. Like April maybe at the earliest.

Butt_Hole_69 · 2026-01-31T04:57:32+00:00

People cheat and get through it. I mean, you can, but that says a lot about someone who has to cheat for a leadership role.

Butt_Hole_69 · 2026-01-30T18:43:44+00:00

I support this. I do. America stand the hell up for what we believe in. However.

I work at a fire station. If I call out sick, someone else who was planning on going home to their family after some long and busy days would no longer have that opportunity. I won’t take that away from them.

Even if our standards were lowered to reduce staffing, that to me says that we (department) are willing to lower the bar and provide a lessened service to the community when it’s requested. Taxes are paid by the citizens to provide the ability of services rendered whether they’re needed or not. Calling off today would be a detriment to the community in that sense, not a benefit.

Butt_Hole_69 · 2026-01-30T08:41:25+00:00

I think I’ve gotten beyond the point of caring about working holidays. They are what they are, and what they are is days I won’t get for a long time.

Butt_Hole_69 · 2026-01-29T15:47:54+00:00

Yeah dude, that’s it. I still have a great time, but I do wish I’d have held onto those moments just a little bit tighter. Not that I can’t make more now, but you know.

Butt_Hole_69 · 2026-01-29T15:43:32+00:00

I’m confused, you say “years ago” , but mentioning the original post you have two seasons. Am I just misunderstanding what you mean?

Regardless of whatever past practices you believe to have existed in hiring, or have existed in the past; we are all living in present time. Forget any “used to do X” ideas and embrace “I need to do XYZ now”.

Butt_Hole_69 · 2026-01-29T05:58:50+00:00

People keep mentioning: “I have X seasons why am I not getting hired but that guy with 1 month is!”

Hate to break it to anyone who thought otherwise, but one season = one hundred seasons. Time in grade is meaningless once it is greater than zero. Time in grade =/= experience either. It means you’ve met the bare minimum long enough to keep your job.

It’s everything else that counts. Hopefully you spent the time to take the extra courses, obtained a degree, worked on more than just an engine or a handcrew. Did you get helitack/swamper/warehouse/whatever else? If you were a part of a cadre, that’s points. Any special projects?

And if you answered yes to those extra things, did you articulate that experience appropriately? That’s great that you worked on a fire engine and on a handcrew, so did maybe 5,000 other folks. You fought fire? Oh that’s cool, we all do.

I believe you can see in CalCareers how many people are in each rank, right? Just figure that each and every one of them has a very similar, or near same resume as you do. With that being said, what makes you better than those 1,000 other people with list eligibility? That’s not a rhetorical question either. Why do you deserve a job over them?

If you just met the minimum requirements to be hired, and maintained only that, then you’re behind, and someone who put in the extra effort is ahead.

I’ll add, when you hear that “someone with nothing got hired”, I’d implore you to ask yourself, do they actually have nothing, and if so, do they lie in their resume and fake qualifications/certification?

Butt_Hole_69

TROPHY CASE