Affiliate disclosure
Short version: some links here earn us a commission, it never costs you more, and it never changes what we tell you.
Effective date: July 29, 2026
The disclosure
Golden State Firefighter, operated by Golden State Careers LLC, participates in affiliate programs. Some of the links on this site are affiliate links. If you click one and buy something, we may earn a commission from the seller. The price you pay is the same either way. Nothing is added to your cost because you came through us.
We make this disclosure to comply with the Federal Trade Commission's guidance on endorsements and testimonials (16 CFR Part 255). Where an individual article or page carries affiliate links, it also carries a short disclosure line near the top, so you see it before you click rather than after.
How we choose what to link to
We link to a product because we think it helps a California firefighter candidate, a probationary firefighter, or someone testing for promotion. That judgment comes first. Whether a commission exists comes second, and it does not break a tie in the product's favor. Plenty of what we recommend pays us nothing: free FCTC resources, department pages, state certification pages, and public agency material.
Editorial independence
No advertiser, merchant, or affiliate program reviews our content before it publishes, and none of them can pay for placement, a rating, or a recommendation. If a product we link to gets worse, we say so or we remove it. If we would not send a recruit to it, we do not link to it. Our independent read of a product is the only thing we are actually selling, so we protect it.
Not affiliated with any agency
Golden State Firefighter is an independent resource. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or connected to any government agency, CAL FIRE, the Firefighter Candidate Testing Center (FCTC), the California Firefighter Joint Apprenticeship Committee (Cal-JAC), the Office of the State Fire Marshal, or any fire department or testing agency. All trademarks and agency names belong to their owners and are used only to describe the process. Always confirm requirements directly with the department you are applying to.
Not advice
Everything here is general information, not legal, career, medical, or financial advice, and nothing on this site guarantees that you will be hired, promoted, or pass any test. See our Disclaimer for the full statement.
Questions
Ask us anything about a link or a relationship on this site: hello@goldenstatefirefighter.com.