On April 20, the Arlington Fire Department administered the extensive written exam portion of the 2014 hiring process at the Arlington Convention Center. More than 1,000 men and women showed up to take the competitive written exam. This the first step of the process to become an Arlington firefighter.

The top 250 highest scores will move to the next step, which is the aerobic run. Candidates must complete the mile and a half run within thirteen minutes and fifty-seven seconds. Candidates who pass the aerobic run portion will be scheduled for the physical ability test. This portion will test the candidate's physical stamina, athletic ability and body endurance to ensure they are physically capable of successfully carrying out the job functions of a firefighter.

After successful completion of the physical ability test, the candidates will proceed to the panel interviews. This allows members from our department to interview the candidate and see how they answer different situational questions. After the panel interviews, candidates will be scheduled for the command staff interviews where they will be interviewed by the chief officers of the fire department. Once command staff interviews are completed, the fire department will make conditional job offers.

The remaining candidates will then go through very lengthy drug and alcohol tests, along with very detailed background checks. If successfully completed, the final remaining candidates will be assigned a start date for the fire academy and emergency medical technician school held at our fire training facility in Arlington.