"Anyone considering applying for wholetime or on-call roles should 100% do it as there’s so many interesting people at the Service, new skills to learn and it’s a job to proud of."
Jacob Robinson, 19, works as a Development Fire Fighter (retained) at Stratford-Upon-Avon Fire Station and joined Warwickshire Fire Service in May 2021.
Jacob had always been interested in the Fire Service and was considering career options for himself in 2020 and working in One Stop in Stratford- Upon-Avon.
He said: "Over time I struck up conversation with a regular customer who happened to work for Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service and mentioned in passing that they were recruiting for retained Fire Fighters. I decided to go for it, applied and was quickly accepted onto the recruitment process."
He was passing through the stages of the recruitment process without issue, enjoying the support and encouragement from serving Firefighters working as part of the process, until disaster struck and he was knocked off his moped by a car through no fault of his own and he unfortunately broke his leg. This forced him to withdraw from the recruitment process in 2020 and he was able to defer his place until 2021.
With his leg fully mended, Jacob returned to the recruitment process in April 2021 and successfully passed all the stages of the process to become a Development Fire Fighter in May 2021. He found the recruitment process challenging, but in an enjoyable way where he was able to learn, develop his skills and prove himself in an environment with lots of support available. He recalled that there was discussion among his fellow prospective recruits about whether they were ‘fit enough’ for the fitness elements of the recruitment process. Jacob found that the majority of the fitness tests did not call for sheer brute strength and instead rewarded the proper use of techniques.
He was filled with pride and excitement on the day he learned he had completed all stages of the recruitment process successfully. Jacob is still working in the One Stop in Stratford Upon Avon but this time with a difference: he now carries a pager when ‘on-call’ that will alert him that he is needed at the fire station to head out to an emergency. He finds it very exciting to not know what kind of emergency he will be heading out to when called and is finding it interesting to learn more about and participate in community fire fighting pieces of work too.
Jacob is considering his next career steps as a Fire Fighter and has a bright and exciting career ahead. with Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service.
This is the difference you make, working for Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service.
If you think you’ve got what it takes, go to www.warwickshire.gov.uk/wholetimefirefighters