Firefighter : Employers and vacancy sources

There is no national fire service. Principal employers are local authority fire and rescue services. There are 46 fire and rescue services in England run by locally accountable fire and rescue authorities (FRA) and accountable to the Department for Communities and Local Government . Wales has three fire and rescue services, accountable to the Welsh Assembly Government; Scotland has eight, accountable to the Scottish Government; and the Fire and Rescue Service in Northern Ireland (NIFRS) is divided into four area commands, accountable to the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety.

A list of the UK fire and rescue services is available from the Ordinary People, Extraordinary Career  website.

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU)  is the recognised trade union for the fire and rescue service and carries out national negotiations when necessary. The FBU website also has up-to-date information on salaries and pensions.

Opportunities also exist with a small number of other private and public sector employers, including:

• Ministry of Defence (MoD)  Fire Risk Management Organisation;
• civil airport fire services, e.g. British Airports Authority (BAA)  and other non-BAA airports regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority;
• port fire services, e.g. Port of Felixstowe;
• forest industry;
• industrial fire services (to protect private companies in the chemical, pharmaceutical, nuclear, oil and gas industries).

Sources of vacancies

• Search graduate jobs on this site.
• Individual UK fire and rescue service websites (see Ordinary People, Extraordinary Career  for a list).
• Fire
• Fire Service
• Local and national press
• Royal Air Force (RAF)
• British Airports Authority (BAA)

Recruitment campaigns are usually advertised in the local press, on individual UK fire and rescue websites and in jobcentres.

Get tips on job hunting, CVs and covering letters and interviews.