Firefighter selection process?

Well, no. Also, if you ranked low with a perfect score, ten to one they gave extra points for something like previous military experience, EMT certifications, minority status, and fire certifications.

Usually they will get stuff for the first 20 applicants like the physical examination. Then the ones that pass that, they eliminate them for their backgrounds, drug tests, work history background, driver license, etc. Sometimes they flip the order. Then the interview is last 90% of the time and that's usually for the top 6 of the group. If they are hiring a bunch like 10, they may do a larger group like 60 to 80 and do the background checks first to eliminate them for the physical.

As for the verifications, I take it you are already a paramedic? It sounds like they want medic candidates.

More then likely, your exam is a pass/fail exam. The department has set a minimum score on the exam so anyone that scored above that minimum receives a score of 100. If the only thing you have done so far is take the test, I would not worry about it just yet. Most departments have a physical agility test and an interview before doing the things you stated above. This will narrow the field down some more. There could be other things certain departments do to narrow the field. You are just beginning the process that will take awhile to get through.

Look on the economics of each. The want for firefighters has regularly lowered through the years. As technological know-how improves, much less fires will arise. Population develop will have the reverse outcome nevertheless. The want for police will develop. The populace is growing. If the economic system is deficient, extra crime will come up consequently.

I can't speak that much about east coast firefighter hiring. We do things a little differently on the west coast but I suspect it's mostly the same.

Remember that your exam score is not the only thing that goes into your ranking. Your resume and what is on it are important. Fire departments like to see familiarity with the fire service and firefighter/EMT training (though this tends to be a bigger concern for smaller departments... large cities are generally happy to train you if they like your background). Some things can really help you out. A lot of departments give hiring preference (think +5 points on your exam) to candidates who are veterans. So if you served in the military and then got a perfect score on your test, it would be as if you scored 105/100. Pretty helpful if you're looking for a job.

Something you could look into if you really want to do firefighting is wildland out west. We tend to hire a lot of seasonal firefighters to help out during the summer so it's pretty easy to get a job. Depending on where you work you may or may not get some normal fire department calls too (you know: medicals, structure fires, etc...). Unfortunately the agencies that do the latter a lot (like Cal-Fire where I work - we're actually the county fire department for a lot of counties and provide city firefighting by contract in countless cities) aren't really hiring right now due to the economy. But you could still get a job with the US Forest Service and rock that world. Lots of backcountry hiking, lots of huge fires, lots of smoke in your face, days where you're standing there just a couple dozen feet away from trees torching watching the flames tower 100ft above you.

Here's a photo of a friend on a fire a couple years ago. Made it on the front page of the local newspaper. http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/548...