To be fair 70% of what FDNY does is EMS so it makes sense to have someone with ems experience run the agency vs someone who knows fire which is only 30% of what the agency does.
Ok getting the popcorn now...
As desert says, i will look more favorably at the candidate with the required credentials. There is always a risk that i spend thousands of dollars training the employee without the credential and they somehow fail to obtain it within the required time. Ive know a few medics that were fired...