Contract: Permanent
Working Hours: 42 hours a week
Salary: £28,265.00 rising to £37,675.00 when Competent
Location: Across Essex (you could be posted to any station in the County)
Closing Date: 12pm (noon) Friday 21st February
This is the first of two application opportunities for you to apply to become an apprentice wholetime firefighter in 2025, with the second window opening on 5 May 2025.
If you have any concerns about your ability to meet our fitness standards at this time, please consider applying later in the year. Information about firefighter fitness is available here: Firefighter fitness | Essex County Fire and Rescue Service
In addition, if you do not have the relevant Maths or English qualifications (see eligibility below), you may be eligible to free support to achieve these. More information is available here: Functional Skills - English or Mathematics L1 & 2 -Colchester Institute
We strongly recommend that you research the role and read all the information about being a firefighter, and how to become a firefighter. Further additional information about a range of topics, including the application stages and visual and audio standards, can be found on our accessible website here: FAQs - Wholetime | Essex County Fire and Rescue Service
Eligibility
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service applies Safer Recruitment standards and checks.
To be eligible to apply to become an Apprentice Wholetime Firefighter, you must:
Be eligible to work in the UK
Be able to provide hard copy evidence that you have GCSE C-A, or 4-9, or Functional Skills Level 2, in Maths and English, or recognised international equivalent
Hold a full manual UK Driving Licence
Be able to travel to any fire station in Essex
Have a valid email address
Meet the vision and hearing criteria (for more information, see: FAQs - Wholetime | Essex County Fire and Rescue Service
Be able to provide full employment and education history, including being able to explain any gaps in this history that have occurred in the last five years
If you are an internal candidate, you must have discussed your application with your line manager and confirmed with them there are no outstanding issues of conduct or performance. If you are an ECFRS On-call Firefighter, you must have an in-date Fitech and Operational Health medical assessment. These will be verified during the process.
The Role
We’re recruiting wholetime firefighters to begin training in June 2025. All our new wholetime firefighters complete an apprenticeship programme alongside training to become a competent firefighter. That's why the job title is ' Apprentice Wholetime Firefighter'.
Forget those outdated stereotypes - we are team members, teachers, communicators, community-minded, protectors and role models. Firefighting is a diverse and rewarding career on the front line, saving lives. If you want to play a key role in our communities, preventing and protecting our residents and visitors from harm and keeping Essex safe, this is the role for you.
Firefighters come in all ages, shapes and sizes and we know the best teams are made up of different kinds of people, which is why we’re interested in hearing from anyone who meets our eligibility requirements. You don’t need any previous experience of firefighting, you just need to be community-minded and share our vision of making Essex a safe place to live, work and travel. We’ll give you all the training you need to become a first-class firefighter.
You will live and breathe our Service values of being professional, inclusive, courageous, a team-player, and high-performing.
How to apply
Stage 1
Online application form. You will be required to provide all the details requested, and upload a CV (or similar supporting document) that covers your full employment and education history.
Stage 2
Psychometric assessment. This is an online problem solving and task-based assessment that provides information about your natural behaviours and responses to situations, and is part of our shortlisting process.
Stage 3
Fitness & physical assessment. These will run from 24 February 2025, and more information is available here: Firefighter fitness | Essex County Fire and Rescue Service
Stage 4
Interview. You will be invited to attend an interview, which will run from 10 March 2025. The interview will explore your values, ethics, and experience in various situations to find out more about you.
Stage 5
Practical Assessment Day. You will undertake a series of practical and team working activities, with a confirmation of knowledge assessment, which will form the final assessment.
Stage 6
Pre-employment Checks. You will be required to undertake an enhanced DBS check, reference checks covering five years of employment and education, and a further fitness validation. You will also be required to attend induction, and take a skills-scan related to the apprenticeship.
Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme
Disability Confident
About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident .