Some common questions we get asked are answered below. To get more information, why not come to one of our taster days?
There are no height restrictions to become a firefighter!
Of course you can! It’s perfectly normal for a firefighter to have children.
Not entirely true, although we have our baseline requirements which will need to be passed.
There is currently no upper age limit in place, however you will need to be able to pass the annual fitness tests.
Applicants must be 18 when starting their role as a firefighter, however, they can begin the application process at 17 or older as long as they turn 18 by their job start date.
There are no boundaries relating to gender, ethnic background or Identity Suffolk welcome all applications. On Call Firefighter will need to work and/or live within 5 to 8 minutes from their closest Fire station. Each station may have different needs with regards to the number of hours you will need to be on call and available ready to respond to your alerter. To help stations manage their appliance availability we ask on call firefighters to complete an ‘ availability form’ please download and send in with your application.
View our availability form hereCandidates who believe they have colour blindness may wish to be formally assessed prior to submitting an application form. The minimum standard accepted is the Farnsworth D-15 standard test. We also conduct functional tests as part of the medical process if candidates display difficulties with colour perception. Candidates must also pass the Ishihara test.
The vision standards for eyesight are:
Visual Acuity
There are no boundaries relating to gender, ethnic background or Identity. Suffolk welcomes all applications.
Throughout your career, you will be presented opportunities to progress for promotion, work within various departments, such as community prevention, protection, fire safety and have the opportunity to gain instructor tickets in various skill sets.
As an applicant, if you live with some form of neurodiversity (e.g. dyslexia, dyspraxia or ADHD) we are able to accommodate this as part of the application process.
This can include adjustments such as:
Need for these accommodations should be made known to the recruitment team at the earliest possible opportunity.
Any further accommodations or neurodiversity needs will require a conversation with the recruitment team.
Suffolk County Council staff networks
Suffolk County Council is proud to have a number of active staff networks supporting and promoting groups of staff, councillors and partners that share similar characteristics, life experiences, values and beliefs.
Networks influence the organisation to be more inclusive, through work on policy, service development, training, communications, events, culture and have a seat at Suffolk County Council’s Strategic Equalities and Inclusion Board. The staff networks are run by our staff, councillors, and other public sector partners:
Staff networks within Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service:
Some common questions we get asked are answered below. To get more information, why not come to one of our taster days?
There are no height restrictions to become a firefighter!
Of course you can! It’s perfectly normal for a firefighter to have children.
Once you have arrived for your day shift, you’ll start by checking breathing apparatus along with various equipment. This will be followed by some community fire safety work and general admin. This may include putting up smoke alarms or checking on high-risk premises. In between this, there may be call-outs during the day.
Not entirely true, although we have our baseline requirements which will need to be passed.
During initial training course: £24,191
During probation period (minimum 2 years): £25,198
After successful completion of probation period: £32,244
There is currently no upper age limit in place, however you will need to be able to pass the annual fitness tests.
Applicants must be 18 when starting their role as a firefighter, however, they can begin the application process at 17 or older as long as they turn 18 by their job start date.
There are no boundaries relating to gender, ethnic background or Identity Suffolk welcome all applications.
The wholetime fire stations within Suffolk and which shift system they follow. Suffolk run 2 different shift systems:
24-hour shift stations within Suffolk:
Day Crewed stations within Suffolk:
On-call stations are around the county which may be looking to recruit & to check within their local town/village.
Candidates who believe they have colour blindness may wish to be formally assessed prior to submitting an application form. The minimum standard accepted is the Farnsworth D-15 standard test. We also conduct functional tests as part of the medical process if candidates display difficulties with colour perception. Candidates must also pass the Ishihara test.
The vision standards for eyesight are:
Visual Acuity
There are no boundaries relating to gender, ethnic background or Identity. Suffolk welcomes all applications.
Throughout your career, you will be presented opportunities to progress for promotion, work within various departments, such as community prevention, protection, fire safety and have the opportunity to gain instructor tickets in various skill sets.
As an applicant, if you live with some form of neurodiversity (e.g. dyslexia, dyspraxia or ADHD) we are able to accommodate this as part of the application process.
This can include adjustments such as:
Need for these accommodations should be made known to the recruitment team at the earliest possible opportunity.
Any further accommodations or neurodiversity needs will require a conversation with the recruitment team.
The application will have a selection of questions of which your answers will be marked around the NFCC leadership framework. To learn more click here.