Firefighting is a great career choice, but it’s important to know that you’re making a choice for the right reasons. If these are the reasons on the “pro” side of your pro-and-con list, you may want to rethink your priorities.
You Want to Pick Up Women
Sure, women tend to think of firefighting as a “hot” profession, but that doesn’t mean you should make a career choice to improve your dating life.
The Thought of Going into Burning Buildings Everyday is Exciting
Contrary to popular belief, firefighters aren’t racing through a constant stream of terrible fires in the city every day. Most of the fires that firefighters have to put out are much smaller than the crazy fires that get shown on the news every once in a while. If you think being a firefighter is a constant adrenaline rush of excitement, you’re likely to be disappointed when you start the job.
You Want to Model for a Fireman Calendar
That’s nice that you love your body, but if you want to be a model, be a model. Don’t become a firefighter just to give other people a reason to bask in your body’s oily calendar glow.
You’d Love a Job Where You Have tons of Downtime in-Between Fighting Fires
Even if you do realize that firefighters have a decent amount of downtime in-between emergency calls, don’t think that they’re not working all of the time. It’s not like firefighters sleep and watch TV all day and then rush off to fires when they do happen. In reality, firefighters go through drill practices, perform chores around the firehouse, and do educational outreach when they’re not running off to put out fires.
You Think It’d Be Fun to Drive Big Fire Trucks
If you’re main motivation for being a firefighter is because you’ve always had a childhood fantasy of driving the fire trucks, you might want to consider your priorities a little more. It’s important to think about the real responsibilities that come with the job.
You Want to Be a Hero
If you just want a job where everyone treats you like a hero, then you’re in it for the wrong reasons. You should care about protecting people in the community, not enhancing your ego.
You Just Want a Steady Government Job
Government jobs have a reputation for giving employees good benefits and steady income, but that shouldn’t be the reason you pick a career. It’s also not like you’re salary will be amazing just because you work for the government. In reality, firefighters only make around $47,000 per year on average. While that’s not a bad salary, it’s also not the kind of figure that would make someone want to choose a job solely for the money.
