Frequently Asked Questions

There is a regular selection process for hiring new instructors.  Click here for more information on the selection process.

You must be at least a Fire Instructor I and have four (4) years of active experience in emergency services.  Your experience may include the fire service, EMS, law enforcement, hazardous materials operations, or industrial safety.  The experience may be as a volunteer.

First, you have the opportunity to make a positive impact on emergency services in Oklahoma.  The training you provide will enhance the skills of emergency responders.  This not only increases their safety on the job, but it also improves the quality of the services they provide to their community.  You will have the personal satisfaction of knowing you've made a positive difference in your profession.

Second, you will improve your skills as an instructor and communicator.  You will be working with experienced instructors who will be willing to help you develop your instructional skills.  In some cases, you will be willing to help you develop your instructional skills.  In some cases, you will be working alongside professionals who are recognized nationally and internationally in their respective fields.

Finally, you will build your skills in the topic areas you are teaching.  At FST, we expect you to stay on top of the latest techniques and methods in the areas you are teaching.  You may have the opportunity to attend professional development courses to enhance and expand your skills in the areas you teach.  As the cliché says - if you want to know about something, teach it!

Yes.  Each FST course has specific requirements to be eligible to teach the course as a FST field instructor.  For example, to teach Fire Fighter I for FST you must be certified as a Fire Fighter I and have at least three (3) years experience as a fire fighter.  Click here for more information on the minimum qualifications for each course.

Good question!  FST only interviews when additional or new field instructors are needed to meet the demands of our training programs.  At times, new field instructors are needed several times a year.  There are also times when no new field instructors are needed for a year or longer.

Also, interviews may be conducted to meet a very specific instructional need.  In that case, only those applicants who have those qualifications are invited to the interview.  For example, if an instructor was needed in the haz mat program to teach chemistry an interview process would be held for those applicants who are qualified to teach haz mat chemistry.  In this example only applicants with those qualifications will be invited to the interview.

This is a common question.  Unfortunately, it is impossible to give an honest answer.  The demand for field instructors is determined by the number of coursed being delivered by FST, the number of field instructors approved to teach those courses, and the amount of time each field instructor is able and willing to teach.  We have some field instructor who only want to teach a few hours each year.  Other field instructors want to teach as often as possible.  One thing is for certain - if you are looking for a regular part-time job with a constant income, becoming a field instructor is NOT going to meet your needs.

FST strives to provide the highest quality training available in Oklahoma.  To do this, we must have field instructors who are effective instructors AND qualified in each topic area.  The hiring process allows us to ensure that each new field instructor is able to deliver training successfully so that the customer - the student - meets the learning objectives and has a positive experience during the training.  In short, FST will only use the best-qualified field instructors available in Oklahoma.  Our hiring process ensures those are the people being hired.

There are no specific medical or physical requirements for becoming a field instructor.  However, there are some courses that require you to meet physical/medical requirements for wearing a respirator.  You must meet those requirements before you can teach those courses.