How To Become A Squad Boss: What It Is and Career Path

What is a squad boss and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a squad boss. For example, did you know that they make an average of $18.54 an hour? That's $38,556 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 13,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreSquad BossUS Average

Salary

3.0

Avg. Salary $38,556

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.5

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

1.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.09%

Asian 2.30%

Black or African American 2.93%

Hispanic or Latino 8.59%

Unknown 5.93%

White 79.16%

Gender

female 13.17%

male 86.83%

Age - 49

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 49

Stress level

9.5

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.7

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

2.7

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a squad boss

Explore squad boss education requirements

Most common squad boss degrees

Bachelor's

40.0 %

High School Diploma

27.7 %

Associate

20.0 %

Start to develop specific squad boss skills

Skills	Percentages
Patrol	25.47%
Fire Behavior	12.60%
Fire Operations	8.82%
Firefighting	8.24%
Fire Prevention	8.19%

Complete relevant squad boss training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New squad bosses learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a squad boss based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real squad boss resumes.

Research squad boss duties and responsibilities

Manage daily deck operations on multiple commercial fishing vessels to ensure all operations run smoothly and efficiently.
Fall trees, clear brush, and dig trenches to create fire lines, using axes, chainsaws or shovels.
Perform fire suppression duties on an advance firefighting crew.
Survey summer home locations for wildland urban interface and possible improvements by home owners.

Prepare your squad boss resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your squad boss resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a squad boss resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable squad boss resume templates

Build a professional squad boss resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your squad boss resume.