26-02 Firefighter Recruit

Our diverse and inclusive workforce of more than 7,000 employees play a key role in the success of San José, the heart of the Silicon Valley. All City of San José employees work together as one team to make San José a vibrant, innovative, and desirable place to live and work. Visit here to learn more about our One Team Leadership Values and Expectations, including quality and excellent customer service and here to learn more about San José.

The City of San José is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants for all job openings will be considered without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, veteran status or any other consideration made unlawful under any federal, state or local laws. The City of San José is committed to offering reasonable accommodations to job applicants with disabilities. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please contact us at 408-535-1285, 711 (TTY) , or via email at CityCareers@sanjoseca.gov .

About the Department

The San José Fire Department's (SJFD) core mission is to serve the community by protecting life, property, and the environment through prevention and response. SJFD is a high-volume, all-hazards fire department providing fire suppression and rescue services that protects approximately 200 square miles, Advanced Life Support and Basic Life Support services as well as specialized operations including Urban Search and Rescue, Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting, and a Hazardous Incident Team with a Decontamination Unit. SJFD deploys resources from 34 fire stations, protecting areas within city limits and some unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County by contract. SJFD is budgeted for 735 authorized sworn positions across nine ranks, offering many opportunities for career advancement.

Click here for information on the SJFD Department.

Click here for information on Benefits.

Click here for the California Equal Pay Act

To apply, please complete an application via the City of San José’s website click here and ensure you have an up to date profile with Firefighter Candidate Testing Center (FCTC) Statewide Eligibility List.

Position Duties

Please note that applications are currently not accepted through CalOpps or any other third-party job board application system. To apply, applicants must complete an application via the City of San Jose’s website at www.sanjoseca.gov/citycareers .

This is the trainee level class in the Firefighter series, responsible for becoming proficient in the understanding of lifesaving and firefighting methods within the SJFD. Through a specific program comprised of general and specialized education, focused training including extensive hands-on experience, Firefighter Recruits will learn diverse tasks, policies, procedures and standards within the SJFD. Incumbents will learn techniques in emergency medical services, rescue work, firefighting and other emergency services. Duties may involve considerable physical exertion and potential risk to health and safety. Work is rigidly structured, highly supervised, and incumbents are continuously evaluated and receive feedback regularly. Firefighter Recruits must graduate from the Academy and be appointed to the classification of Firefighter in order to retain employment in the job series.

In addition to the salary, employees shall also receive an approximate one percent (1%) ongoing non-pensionable compensation pay.

• Competitive Salary
  • Firefighter Recruit: $50.16 hourly, $4,012.80 bi-weekly*

Upon successful completion of the Firefighter Recruit Academy:

• • Firefighter, Step 1: $4,613.60 bi-weekly base pay; $119,955.68 annually*

Upon successful completion of the Academy, eligible employees may also receive the following additional premium pays:Paramedic Pay: 14% of top step Firefighter upon completion of Santa Clara County Paramedic Accreditation process (currently $858.13 bi-weekly)Oral Bilingual Pay: 2.5% of top step Firefighter (currently $153.27 bi-weekly)Education & Training Pay (AA/AS - BS, Fire Science, Fire Technology, Fire Protection Technology): 1.5% of top step Firefighter (currently $91.94 bi-weekly)

Employees hired on or after January 1, 2017, must reside within one hundred and eighty (180) minutes travel time from the nearest City of San Jose fire station (non-traffic period as calculated by Google Maps tm or map program mutually agreed to by the parties).

Minimum Qualifications

To be considered, the following minimum qualifications are required by the final filing date of Wednesday, December 17, 2025 :

Firefighter Recruit applicants: Must have a current profile and test scores on the Firefighter Candidate Testing Center (FCTC) Statewide Eligibility List (SEL) by the final filing date of 12/17/2025 . For more information on how to be placed on the FCTC SEL, visit https://www.fctconline.org/find-a-job/fctc-statewide-list/. A passing score on the FCTC Written Test must be dated between 12/18/2024 and 12/17/2025.
To view upcoming Cal-JAC Candidate Physical Ability Test and FCTC Written Test dates, click here (https://www.fctconline.org/candidates/upcoming-test-schedule/).

Candidates experiencing financial hardship may qualify for financial aid to pay for their FCTC testing fees. (https://www.fctconline.org/grants/)

Education: Graduation from High School or equivalent (G.E.D. or California Proficiency Certificate).

Experience:

• Firefighter Recruit- None.

Licenses or Certificates:

• Possession of a valid driver’s license at time of application. Must obtain a California driver’s license, if issued by another state, prior to promotion to the Firefighter classification.
• Possession of a current and valid State of California Emergency Medical Technician Certification or Certified by the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians, Emergency Medical Technician - Basic.
• Proof of a valid Candidate Physical Ability Test (CPAT) must be dated on or after 1/1/2025. (Please note that at time of application submission, a current CPAT must be on file or submitted to FCTC). CPAT must remain valid through time of appointment to Firefighter Recruit (tentatively scheduled for 7/20/2026).

REQUIRED LICENSURE AND CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR FIREFIGHTER-RECRUIT (PARAMEDIC):

• Proof of Paramedic Licensure and Certification as demonstrated by:
• Documentation of successful completion of an approved paramedic training program and successful completion of the National Registry of EMT-Ps written and practical examinations by the date of the written examination and actual possession of a current and valid paramedic license issued by the State of California Emergency Medical Services Authority OR
• Possession of a valid EMT-P certification from another state, territory, country and registration with the National registry of EMT-Ps and actual possession of a current and valid paramedic license issued by the State of California Emergency Medical Services Authority OR
• Possession of a current and valid Paramedic license issued by the State of California Emergency Medical Services Authority.

Other Qualifications

Desirable Qualifications:

• Possession of current and valid State of California Emergency Medical Services Authority Paramedic License.
• Possession of a Bachelors (BS or BA) degree or Associates (AS or AA) degree from an accredited college or university.
• Possession of a Fire Science/Fire Technology Certificate from an accredited college.
• Completion of 30 semester units (or equivalent) from an accredited college with at least 15 semester units (or equivalent) in Fire Science/Fire Technology.
• Possession of California State Fire Marshal Firefighter I Certification or equivalent.
• Possession of California State Fire Marshal Firefighter II Certification or equivalent.
• Bilingual (Arabic, Armenian, Assyrian, Cambodian, Cantonese, Croatian, French, German, Greek, Hmong, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, or Vietnamese).

Selection Process:

The selection process will consist of an evaluation of the applicant's training and experience based on the application and responses to all the job specific questions. You must answer all questions to be considered or your application may be deemed incomplete and withheld from further consideration. Only the candidates whose backgrounds best match the position will be invited to proceed in the selection process. Applicants deemed most competitive after oral interviews will be required to pass a Fire background investigation, which includes polygraph and psychological screening. Additional phases of the selection process are described below.

Tentative Timeline:

Personal History Questionnaire (On-line) : January 8, 2026

Oral Board Interviews (In Person): January 31and February 1, 2026

Chief’s Interviews (In Person): Starting January 31, 2026

Backgrounds (In Person): Week of February 16, 2026

Conditional Offers: Week of April 27, 2026

Polygraph/Medical Examination (In Person): Starting w eek of May 18, 2026

Livescan (fingerprinting)/ Uniform Sizing/ Mask Fit (In Person): Starting w eek of May 18, 2026

Psychological Review: Starting w eek of May 25, 2026

Final Job Offer Notifications: Week of June 29, 2026

Academy Start Date: Monday, July 20, 2026

*DATES ARE TENTATIVE AND MAY BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE*

The application deadline is Wednesday, December 17, 2025, at 11:59 PM Please allow adequate time to complete the application and submit before the deadline or the system may not save your application. If your online application was successfully submitted, you will receive an automatic confirmation email to the email address you provided. IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE THE CONFIRMATION, please email CityCareers@sanjoseca.gov and we will research the status of your application. Please contact Human Resources at (408) 535-1285, or Human.Resources@sanjoseca.govif you have any questions.

Additional Information:

Employment Eligibility: Federal law requires all employees to provide verification of their eligibility to work in this country. Please be informed that the City of San Jose will NOT sponsor, represent or sign any documents related to visa applications/transfers for H1-B or any other type of visa which requires an employer application.

You must answer all job-specific questions to be considered for this vacancy or your application will be deemed incomplete and withheld from further consideration. Applicants are expected to write their own essays/responses.

Please note that applications are currently not accepted through CalOpps or any other third party job board application system.

This recruitment may be used to fill multiple positions in this, or other divisions or departments. If you are interested in employment in this classification, you should apply to ensure you are considered for additional opportunities that may utilize the applicants from this recruitment.

Please allow adequate time to complete the application and submit before the deadline or the system may not save your application. If your online application was successfully submitted, you will receive an automatic confirmation email to the email address you provided. IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE THE CONFIRMATION, please email CityCareers@sanjoseca.gov and we will research the status of your application.

The City of San Jose offers a wide range of core health benefits including Medical, Dental, Vision, Employee Assistance Program, Life Insurance, Disability, and Savings Plans. Please visit the City's benefits pagefor detailed information on coverage, cost, and dependent coverage.

For information on the City’s Retirement Plan(pension for full-time employees), please visit the Office of Retirement Services website. You will be able to view information based on different Sworn/Federated job classification.

In additional to the benefits above, there is an additional perks siteto explore further benefits of working for the City of San Jose like paid leave, educational reimbursements, and holiday pay are specific to the job classification and union membership.

Closing Date/Time: 12/17/2025 11:59 PM Pacific

• 

• City of San Jose

• 408-535-1285

Show more