chicago firefighting test in may... testing for juice?

[daveywave]

its been 10 years since the city of chicago had a firefighter test! the question is well up in the air if the participants are being tested for gear. the tests are expensive, and there is going to be a HUGE list of participants... at least a few hundred. what type of test if any would they employ for a crowd as big as this. i'd imagine if anything they would test, it would be stictly to see testostrone levels

what do you guys think? test or no test

[Georgie]

its been 10 years since the city of chicago had a firefighter test! the question is well up in the air if the participants are being tested for gear. the tests are expensive, and there is going to be a HUGE list of participants... at least a few hundred. what type of test if any would they employ for a crowd as big as this. i'd imagine if anything they would test, it would be stictly to see testostrone levels

what do you guys think? test or no test

Can't speak directly about the CFD, but I can speak about the CPD. I imagine the testing process is the same. They will take hair and urine. They make you sign a paper, and that paper states all the drugs they test for. Its a pretty small list of all the major street drugs. They do not drug test for steriods. However, at the end of the process you will take a medical, with complete bloodwork. If your blood values are out of range, you have to go see your regular doc at your own expense, and can't pass unless your values come down and he clears you. Hope this helps.

[stayinstacked]

I just got hired with the fire dept here about 8 weeks ago. What they did was basic bloodwork where they checked things like good cholesterol and bad cholesterol levels, etc etc. They didnt check liver values at all. They did a standard urine test, no polygraph. Some dept polygraph, some dont. I was on gear at the time and my shit came back fine. I live in a bigger city myself, and they never polygraphed us. I highly doubt they'll check for steroids, if they did that then they'd have to test everybody or it would be discriminatory. I have the "look" like a juicer, and they never tested me. But I will tell you this, if you get on they can random drug test you, and if they want to they can pay the extra $$ to test for juice if theer is reasonable suspicion. Any personality change, mood swing, change that may effect your job performance.

[RATM]

Being that I am heavily involved in my FD union, and have attended many many nationwide conferences on union/FD issues, no fire department that I know of tests for gear. Also, even if the contract that you work under allows for random drug testing, I have never ever heard of one randomly testing for gear.

As a side note, I would expect the number of people testing for a CFD list to be in the thousands not hundreds.

Good Luck.

[Georgie]

I just got hired with the fire dept here about 8 weeks ago. What they did was basic bloodwork where they checked things like good cholesterol and bad cholesterol levels, etc etc. They didnt check liver values at all. They did a standard urine test, no polygraph. Some dept polygraph, some dont. I was on gear at the time and my shit came back fine. I live in a bigger city myself, and they never polygraphed us. I highly doubt they'll check for steroids, if they did that then they'd have to test everybody or it would be discriminatory. I have the "look" like a juicer, and they never tested me. But I will tell you this, if you get on they can random drug test you, and if they want to they can pay the extra $$ to test for juice if theer is reasonable suspicion. Any personality change, mood swing, change that may effect your job performance.

The chicago medical is much more indepth, and it is done by U.S. Occupational Health. You will have complete bloodwork done, including liver values.

[daveywave]

wow i cant thank you guys enough for the great heads up. going off topic, how long does the application process go for? its a written exam, and those who pass are allowed to do the physical, medical, and drug screens. does this happen immediate or get delayed? as for the written exam, not choosing to take the EMT course as of yet, will i be at a great disadvantage? the department is providing study guides for the exam, but will that be enough?

edit: for anyone interested... the link to the PDF file where all information related to the test and application is found (just 3 pages) http://egov.cityofchicago.org/webpor...rEMTExamHR.pdf

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[Georgie]

wow i cant thank you guys enough for the great heads up. going off topic, how long does the application process go for? its a written exam, and those who pass are allowed to do the physical, medical, and drug screens. does this happen immediate or get delayed? as for the written exam, not choosing to take the EMT course as of yet, will i be at a great disadvantage? the department is providing study guides for the exam, but will that be enough?

edit: for anyone interested... the link to the PDF file where all information related to the test and application is found (just 3 pages) http://egov.cityofchicago.org/webpor...rEMTExamHR.pdf

Dude, don't expect to get on anytime soon. From the written test to your last test (background investigation), takes about 1 1/2 to 2 years. And after everything is completed, you are still not guaranteed a job, yet. You are put on a waiting list. Expect at least 2 to 3 years before you will get on.
Some people have been waiting around way longer than that. One of the reasons they are opening a new testing period is because the people that tested years ago that are still on the list are getting to old, they will pass up the 35 yo age maxium.

[daveywave]

georgie! i know the the length of waiting list to the hiring process... what i'm more concerned is when will the writing test, physical test, blood work, etc be completed? does this all get done THEN you are put on a waiting list, or do we wait until our name is called before we complete the physical and medical tests?

[RATM]

Dave,

It really depends on the city regarding when you will complete each part of the process. What would help is to find out exactly why Chicago is putting this list together. If for example its because of attrition and they have a few hundred people getting ready to retire, then the process might be sped up a bit. In general, all of the parts of the process are completed before a list is established.

Hope this helps,

Matt

[Georgie]

georgie! i know the the length of waiting list to the hiring process... what i'm more concerned is when will the writing test, physical test, blood work, etc be completed? does this all get done THEN you are put on a waiting list, or do we wait until our name is called before we complete the physical and medical tests?

You take the written, I believe the test is administered by Ernst and Young, then in about four months you will get your results. If you pass you will be scheduled for the next step in the testing process. Then it will be another few months before you take the next step. Like I said the entire testing process takes about 1 to 1 1/2 years.

[daveywave]

thanks again for the heads up georgie, one last question, should i be worried about the written exam? is that study guide enough?

[Georgie]

thanks again for the heads up georgie, one last question, should i be worried about the written exam? is that study guide enough?

I don't know. Like I said. I cant specifically speak for the CFD, only the CPD.