President's Blog: Heads up 9
One of my most disliked phrases, and we’ve all used it, as a descriptor of ourselves and others in this job is “just a firefighter”. Maybe it’s our humble
kiwi nature, maybe it’s a tall poppy thing, but we are not “just” firefighters. We are Career Professional Firefighters and we need to start thinking
of ourselves as that. We should be proud to be a Professional Firefighter, we are after all, the most trusted workers in the country. And in an organisation
with over 12000 operational personnel it is our professionalism that sets us apart, the entry tests - both physical and mental, the initial interview
process, but also the ongoing training and development - the courses, the exams, the assessments, which are continuous and must be maintained, this
is a point of difference to our volunteer colleagues.
