Fire alarm technicians view electrical layouts present on the blueprints to determine appropriate fire alarm systems. They provide cost estimates for system installation and ensure compliance with electrical and fire codes. They also examine and test systems to find any loose connections or circuit malfunctions. Fire alarm technicians earn a median sum of $18 per hour, which amounts to $38,000 per year.
Fire alarm technicians primarily install and update fire alarm systems in commercial and residential buildings. They perform inspections to ensure alarms are installed according to code and perform a detailed inspection to check for any issues. Then, they test and repair the alarm systems that are already in place. Their duties also include maintaining a clean and safe workspace and responding to emergency service calls.
Fire alarm technicians typically hold a high school diploma or GED certificate. However, a bachelor's or associate's degree from accredited universities may be preferred. They are expected to have a fire alarm systems certification, which is administered by the National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies (NICET).
How to Become a Fire Alarm Technician
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a fire alarm technician. For example, did you know that they make an average of $26.07 an hour? That's $54,227 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 8% and produce 1,300 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Fire Alarm Technician Do
There are certain skills that many fire alarm technicians have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed communication skills, color vision and detail oriented.
How To Become a Fire Alarm Technician
If you're interested in becoming a fire alarm technician, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 16.9% of fire alarm technicians have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 2.8% of fire alarm technicians have master's degrees. Even though some fire alarm technicians have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a fire alarm technician. When we researched the most common majors for a fire alarm technician, we found that they most commonly earn associate degree degrees or high school diploma degrees. Other degrees that we often see on fire alarm technician resumes include bachelor's degree degrees or diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a fire alarm technician. In fact, many fire alarm technician jobs require experience in a role such as electrician. Meanwhile, many fire alarm technicians also have previous career experience in roles such as technician or installation technician.
Fire Alarm Technician Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of electrician you might progress to a role such as foreman eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title project superintendent.
Average Salary for a Fire Alarm Technician
What Am I Worth?
Top Skills For a Fire Alarm Technician
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 19.2% of fire alarm technicians listed customer service on their resume, but soft skills such as communication skills and color vision are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Fire Alarm Technician Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Fire Alarm Technician templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Fire Alarm Technician resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Fire Alarm Technician Demographics
Fire Alarm Technician Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among fire alarm technicians, 3.2% of them are women, while 96.8% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among fire alarm technicians is White, which makes up 61.7% of all fire alarm technicians.
- The most common foreign language among fire alarm technicians is Spanish at 57.1%.
Online Courses For Fire Alarm Technician That You May Like
Fire Alarm System 1. 2. 3.(smoke detectors, Heat detectors, Multi sensor, beam detector, .) 4.( Bells and horns) 5. 6. MATV System 1. 2.(Amplifiers and switches ) 3. 4. Sound System 1.(Sound System) 2. 3.(Amplifiers) (Speakers) 4. 5. CCTV System 1.(CCTV System ) 2. 3. 4.(DVR) 5. 6. 7. Data and Telephone Systems 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.(Patch panels, Switches and Data Rack) 6. 7. 8.(Telephone Outlet ) 9. 10.(IDF, MDF ) 11.(PABX) 12...
Learn fundamentals of Mechanical & electrical system modeling, simulation and control with this unique practical course!...
Learn Building Energy Management System ( BMS ) from Zero with many interesting practical videos in English Language...
Best States For a Fire Alarm Technician
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a fire alarm technician. The best states for people in this position are Washington, Alaska, Idaho, and Wisconsin. Fire alarm technicians make the most in Washington with an average salary of $65,154. Whereas in Alaska and Idaho, they would average $61,193 and $60,186, respectively. While fire alarm technicians would only make an average of $59,759 in Wisconsin, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Idaho
$60,186
Avg. Salary
2. Alaska
$61,193
Avg. Salary
3. Indiana
$58,206
Avg. Salary
How Do Fire Alarm Technician Rate Their Jobs?
Top Fire Alarm Technician Employers
Most Common Employers For Fire Alarm Technician
| Rank  | Company  | Average Salary  | Hourly Rate  | Job Openings  |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BFPE International | $63,905 | $30.72 | 9 |
| 2 | The Hiller Companies | $60,914 | $29.29 | 12 |
| 3 | APi Group | $57,278 | $27.54 | 11 |
| 4 | Brinks Home | $56,084 | $26.96 | 9 |
| 5 | Western States Fire Protection | $55,956 | $26.90 | 16 |
| 6 | Firetrol Protection Systems | $55,923 | $26.89 | 9 |
| 7 | Fire & Life Safety America | $55,820 | $26.84 | 10 |
| 8 | Advanced Fire & Security | $55,368 | $26.62 | 9 |
| 9 | Tradesmen International | $54,483 | $26.19 | 21 |
| 10 | Tyco SimplexGrinnell | $54,227 | $26.07 | 52 |
Fire Alarm Technician Videos
