Skills
Firefighter Skills & Tools
The technical skills, people skills and tools employers look for in firefighters, and how to build and show them.
What skills do firefighters need?
Firefighters need technical skills such as fire suppression, emergency medical care, and scba use, plus people skills like teamwork and courage and composure. They also use tools such as Self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) and Turnout gear.
Technical (hard) skills
- Fire suppression
- Emergency medical care
- SCBA use
- Ladders, hose and pump operations
- Rescue and extrication
- Hazardous materials awareness
People (soft) skills
- Teamwork
- Courage and composure
- Physical fitness
- Communication
Tools, equipment and technology
- Self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA)
- Turnout gear
- Hose, nozzles and pumps
- Ladders and forcible-entry tools
- Hydraulic rescue tools
- Thermal imaging cameras
Skills in action: common tasks
These step-by-step guides show how firefighters put their skills to work:
How to show these skills on a resume
- Lead your skills section with the technical skills from the job posting, for example, “Fire suppression” and “Emergency medical care.”
- Prove soft skills with results: instead of listing “teamwork,” describe a situation where you used it.
- List credentials such as Firefighter I and II near the top, with the issuing organization and date.
- Use the employer’s vocabulary. Our firefighter glossary covers the terms hiring managers expect.
How to build these skills
Formal training, supervised practice and certification are the most direct routes. Our Firefighter training introduces each of these skills with plain-language lessons, procedures and a final knowledge check: a strong foundation before hands-on training or your first day.