A New Career!

I don't think I've mentioned this on my blog before, but back in March, Gairod decided to apply for the Calgary Fire Department. For a few years, he has talked about wanting to become a police officer or a firefighter, but he has never done anything about it.

He currently owns and runs his own portable welding business. He likes welding, but owning/running your own business is hard. I seems like he is always looking for work, and he has to take pretty much every job he is offered, because we never know what the next month will bring. It is NOT a steady income, we have no health benefits, and he has no pension.

So in March, when he saw that the Calgary Fire Department was hiring, he decided to apply. Applying to the Calgary Fire Department is a LONG process. There are SEVERAL different steps you have to get through, including the initial application and document check, the aptitude test, the lie detector test, the CPAT physical test, and more. It is about a six month process, that takes a lot of time and money, with NO guarantee that you will actually get offered a job at the end - IF you even make it to the end!

As he made it through the first couple of steps, we were excited, but we tried not to get our hopes up, knowing that there were hundreds of people who applied, but only a few dozen who would actually get in. At best, it was a long shot. But as he got further and further along in the process, it was hard to not start imagining him actually becoming a firefighter!!

While we were up at the lake, in mid-July, he was emailed a conditional job offer!!! We couldn't believe it, and were VERY excited!! He still had a few more things to get done, including finish his online modules, get his class 3 license, and pass his medical exam and treadmill test.

As of last Thursday, he has completed and passed everything!!! He has orientation on September 1st, and starts training classes on Sept 19th. We are THRILLED!! This will be the beginning of a whole new life for us! He will still keep his welding company, and do some welding on the side, as once he finishes his training, he will be on a 4 days on, 4 days off schedule. The fire department has great health benefits, a great pension plan, and great job security. We couldn't be happier!! :)