Firefighter instructor to chief fire officer
A firefighter instructor already meets 64% of what the chief fire officer role asks for. The move turns on 4 required skills not yet in the profile.
37.8/ 100
1 How much of what a chief fire officer is expected to do is already part of a firefighter instructor’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the chief fire officer role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A chief fire officer role treats 12 of its required skills as things a firefighter instructor already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- ensure public safety and security
- extinguish fires
- fire prevention procedures
- fire safety regulations
- fire-fighting systems
- implement fire safety management plans
What stands in the way is 4 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 20 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A chief fire officer role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a firefighter instructor background worth leading with.
- already held coordinate with other emergency services communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held implement fire safety management plans management skills
- already held manage emergency care situations management skills
- already held pyrotechnic articles legislation business, administration and law
- already held work as a team in a hazardous environment communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held educate public on fire safety communication, collaboration and creativity
All 20 carried skills, including the 12 the chief fire officer role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 16 missing skills fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn organise fire drills required
- still to learn lead a team required
- still to learn manage staff required
- optional, not held assess employees' capability levels optional
- optional, not held coordinate rescue missions optional
- optional, not held manage budgets optional
- optional, not held recruit employees optional
- still to learn first response required
- optional, not held apply first response optional
- optional, not held operate fire extinguishers optional
- optional, not held select hazard control optional
- optional, not held supervise worker safety optional
- optional, not held conduct public presentations optional
- optional, not held maintain operational communications optional
- optional, not held train employees optional
- optional, not held manage security equipment optional
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a chief fire officer role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 20 skills that carry over
- already held ensure public safety and security skill
- already held extinguish fires skill
- already held fire prevention procedures knowledge
- already held fire safety regulations knowledge
- already held fire-fighting systems knowledge
- already held implement fire safety management plans skill
- already held manage emergency care situations skill
- already held manage major incidents skill
- already held pyrotechnic articles legislation knowledge
- already held use different types of fire extinguishers skill
- already held use geographic information systems skill
- already held work as a team in a hazardous environment skill
- already held coordinate with other emergency services skill
- already held educate public on fire safety skill
- already held environmental policy knowledge
- already held hydraulics knowledge
- already held perform risk analysis skill
- already held plan health and safety procedures skill
- already held pollution legislation knowledge
- already held test safety strategies skill
12 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held apply first response optional
- optional, not held assess employees' capability levels optional
- optional, not held conduct public presentations optional
- optional, not held coordinate rescue missions optional
- optional, not held maintain operational communications optional
- optional, not held manage budgets optional
- optional, not held manage security equipment optional
- optional, not held operate fire extinguishers optional
- optional, not held recruit employees optional
- optional, not held select hazard control optional
- optional, not held supervise worker safety optional
- optional, not held train employees optional
20 held skills the chief fire officer role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role adult education knowledge
- not needed by the target role apply intercultural teaching strategies skill
- not needed by the target role assess students skill
- not needed by the target role assist students in their learning skill
- not needed by the target role climb trees skill
- not needed by the target role educate on emergency management skill
- not needed by the target role ensure student welfare skill
- not needed by the target role evacuate people from buildings skill
- not needed by the target role guarantee students' safety skill
- not needed by the target role maintain safety systems skill
- not needed by the target role manage resources for educational purposes skill
- not needed by the target role perform classroom management skill
- not needed by the target role perform preventive maintenance on fire fighting vehicles skill
- not needed by the target role perform search and rescue missions skill
- not needed by the target role provide advice on breaches of regulation skill
- not needed by the target role provide first aid skill
- not needed by the target role provide lesson materials skill
- not needed by the target role relay messages through radio and telephone systems skill
- not needed by the target role safely instruct about fitness skill
- not needed by the target role teach fire fighting principles skill
1 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn first response required
Common questions about this move
Can a firefighter instructor become a chief fire officer?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. A firefighter instructor already covers 64% of what a chief fire officer is expected to do: 20 skills carry over, 12 of which the chief fire officer role treats as required.
What skills does a firefighter instructor need to become a chief fire officer?
4 required skills are missing, plus 12 optional ones. They fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by management skills. The single most important is first response.
How hard is the move from firefighter instructor to chief fire officer?
Its learning distance is 37.8 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.