Overview

As you progress through the Fire Service, the sort of work you can expect to do changes. Firefighters of FF, QF and SF rank are the front-line, with tasks largely based around emergency response work and involvement in community fire prevention. Training courses for attaining these ranks will deal primarily with these tasks.

SOs and SSOs tend to do more incident management and front-line supervisory work. Their involvement with fire prevention in the community is usually of a higher level.

Training courses for attaining these ranks will involve assessment of task-based leadership and decision-making.

Once officers reach executive officer ranks (DCFO and above) they are primarily concerned with managing their patch, a district or a whole region.

The Fire Service’s strategic objectives come into their day-to-day decision-making, as well as long-term planning. Training courses for attaining these ranks will assess high-level leadership and strategic thinking.

While the tasks that different ranks perform often overlap, the training courses have been designed as a series of distinct steps with new knowledge and skills taken on at each level.

How long does it take?

All staff must serve a minimum of two years paid service in each rank before they are eligible to progress to the next one, as per the Collective Employment Agreement.

How much time is involved in studying for each programme will vary between individual firefighters. The distance learning element of each programme is designed to be completed at the convenience of the student within a number of weeks.

Practical courses and exams will be of fixed lengths in between periods of distance learning or consolidation.

The total programme length varies from rank to rank.

Courses and their NQF equivalent

• Recruit programme (plus consolidation and QF stage 1) – Nat. Certificate, level 2, Urban Fire and Rescue Operations
• QF programme – National Certificate, level 3, Urban Fire and Rescue Operations
• SF programme – National Certificate, level 4, Urban Fire and Rescue Operations
• SO programme – National Diploma, level 5, Urban Fire and Rescue Operations
• SSO programme – New Zealand Institute of Management (NZIM) Diploma in Frontline Management. Australia Business Training Diploma in Frontline Management. National Certificate, level 4, First Line Management