Firefighter Personality Test Online Preparation – 2025
What Is the Firefighter Personality Test?
Firefighting is a job that gives you the potential to save lives and make a difference in your community. However, because of the stress involved in handling emergencies, it’s not for everyone. When you apply for employment as a firefighter, there is a good chance you will have to take a personality test.
There is strong competition for firefighter positions, and doing well on the personality assessment can help set you apart from other candidates.
Hiring and Application Process
A personality test is just one step during the process of applying for a firefighter job. Below is an overview of the process. Note that it can take several weeks between applying and hearing a final decision.
Application Process
The first step is to find an opening you wish to apply for. There are online job boards for firefighters, and you may find positions listed on your city or county’s website.
Assessments
This step is when the hiring fire department will ask you to complete some psychometric assessments. They usually include a test of your cognitive abilities along with the personality test. You may also need to undergo a psychological examination from a trained psychiatrist or psychologist.
Fitness Test
Firefighting is more physically demanding than most jobs. In addition to the mental ability and personality tests, you’ll need to show that you are in good enough physical condition for firefighting duties.
Interview
Once you pass the assessments and physical fitness test the fire department will interview you in person.
Training
If your interview goes well and the fire department believes you are the best candidate for the job, they will extend an offer and you can begin training.
What Is the Firefighter Personality Test?
Personality tests for firefighters are designed to measure the qualities needed to succeed at the job. These include:
- Positive attitude
- Teamwork
- Motivation to help others
- Flexibility
- Resourcefulness
- Quick decision-making
- Empathy for people affected by fires and other emergencies
- Concentration
- Control over one’s emotions in difficult situations
- Ability to learn from feedback
In addition to the above traits, there are some skills that make a candidate more likely to succeed at the day-to-day aspects of the job, such as organization and time management. Some test questions may pertain to these skills.
Questions on the personality test are in a few different formats. Some are true or false or multiple choice. Others ask you to read a statement and rate whether you agree on a scale from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree.”
Some of the questions sound very similar to each other or like the same question worded differently. This is a purposeful way to ensure you’re answering honestly.
How to Prepare for the Firefighter Personality Test?
Aspiring firefighters sometimes make the mistake of thinking it’s impossible to prepare for a personality test. That is not the case. Practice tests will help you understand the answers fire departments are looking for. They can also help you know what to expect and feel more confident. There are a variety of practice personality tests online, some of which are geared specifically toward practicing the questions you’ll see during a firefighter personality test.
Honesty is important when taking a personality test, but you want to make sure to show your best qualities. The firefighter personality test is timed, so you need to make sure to answer each question quickly and carefully. By practicing ahead of time, you can avoid getting stuck on any particular question and running out of time.
While personality tests may seem intimidating, preparation and practice will help you feel comfortable and do your best on test day.
