Originally Posted by
Unregistered
Congrats on getting through the academy and passing the state exam! Just curious why you didn’t have an agency put you through instead of paying the expense yourself?
I am not sure when they will have the next certified academy but go ahead and submit both parts of your application now. There is a separate process for already sworn applicants. Our website spells it all out pretty well. There are 2 parts to the app so make sure you do both.
The academy for certified recruits is much much shorter, around 2 months. You just do what we call the breakout portion where you will learn FWC focused LE like vessel operations, man tracking in the woods, etc. aka the fun stuff!
It all depends on position openings in each county. If there is an opening in one of those counties you will likely get it. If there aren’t any openings than you will get assigned somewhere else that needs a position filled but you will know what county you would be assigned to in the conditional letter of employment. Keep in mind that the central and northern FL counties are hard to get into right out of the academy. I work in a southern county, where the activity is great, but our turnover to officers transferring to more northern counties is frustrating.
No step plan but the Gov has been good to us working in raises.
Just be invested in the process of FTO, take notes, show your interest in learning and you will get along with your trainer just fine. It is a lot of work for the training officer so they want to see that you are truly interested in doing the job and doing it well.
There are recruiters for each region. Check on the website for the recruiter in your area. They will be able to answer timeline questions.
Good luck!
