By
eHow Careers & Work Editor
Difficulty: Moderately Challenging
Things You’ll Need:
- Experience as a fire fighter
- Post-secondary education
Step1
Gain experience as a fire fighter. All fire chiefs must have several years of experience as fire fighters, which can be paid or volunteer experience. Many people start out as volunteer fire fighters before they apply for permanent positions.
Step2
Obtain a bachelor's degree. Careers in fire protection are becoming competitive, and many departments are requiring fire chiefs to have associate's or bachelor's degrees. Your degree should be in fire science, fire protection, public administration or a related field.
Step3
Develop the appropriate skills for this position. Fire chiefs should have excellent leadership and supervision skills. You must have a strong work ethic, be able to get along with others and have the ability to assign duties and evaluate staff.
Step4
Possess additional skills. Fire chiefs should have excellent communication, computer and administrative skills. Additionally, a fire chief should have the ability to oversee the department's budget and complete a large amount of paperwork each day.
Step5
Train and study the profession. If you are interested in becoming a fire chief, you should train regularly and learn as much as you can about fire protection. Visit the National Fire Protection Association for training and professional-development opportunities (see Resources below).
Step6
Meet the requirements for this job. Before you are elected or appointed, you need to do well on all of your written exams and interviews and demonstrate excellent job performance. Seniority is also a factor in getting this job.
Step7
Get appointed or promoted. It takes time to get to this ranking because there are usually several other positions to go through before you can become a fire chief.
