FIREZINE
Cutting edge interview skills to get that badge from Fire
Captain Bob.
More than 2,000 candidates have received their badge from
this program!
Jan 2, 2002. Copyright Code 3 Publishing 2001
captbob@verio.com web site: www.eatstress.com 888-238-3959
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No one ever lost credibility by
being interesting.
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Nothing counts til you have the badge . . . Absolutely Nothing!
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OUR CIRCULATION INCREASED from 125 on March 27, 2001 to more than
1,500 at the end of the year. This phenomenal increase is due mostly to our
readers passing on the newsletter to others aspiring to gain a badge or
promotion. For back issues, see
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IN THIS
ISSUE
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1. Quick Presentation Skills Tip
2. Entry Level Skills Tip
3. Promotional Level Skills Tip
(Entry level should read this too)
7. Resource Websites for Candidates
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1. Quick Presentation Skills Tip
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Learn how entry level and promotional candidates are improving their interview
scores up to 15 points and nailing that badge!
Click here:
www.eatstress.com/newpage2.htm
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ethics of professions firefighters rank first among people of different
professions for their honesty and integrity, with 90% of Americans
rating them "high" or "very high" on these characteristics.
I'm sure those on this are not surprised by this poll. Would this be why so
many aspire to this great profession?
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2. Entry
Level Skills Tip ===========================================
We got the village idiot hired. Yep, that is right. When this guy was out of town, the village did not have an idiot. Dan was a volunteer going for this third attempt of being a paid firefighter for this department. He told us if someone called and said there was a fire near the pig barn, he knew where that was; even though the pig barn is not there anymore. This is what we started with. After getting our program and doing not one, but two coaching sessions, holding him together with crazy clue going into the chiefs oral, guess what? Dan gets a badge.
The following week, Dan posts a message on a firefighter bulletin board that he would help you with your oral boards. The village idiot became the expert over night. He got 32 e-mails asking for help.
Everyone becomes an expert on oral boards after they have been hired. Have you noticed? That is why I am concerned about candidates doing mock orals. Before considering a mock oral you need to be asking how many oral boards they have been on? Have they been on an oral board for their or another department? How long since they have been on an oral board? Many people are not in touch with the process today.
There is a fire science instructor that gives classes on oral boards. He hammers his students with his theatrical style of how to present yourself at an oral board. He is the training officer for his department. He takes all requests for officers to set on other departments oral boards. Funny thing, when a department asks for someone to sit on their oral board, he's the only one who ever goes. When candidates who have taken his class come into an oral board and find him there, they cringe. They know if they do not do it his way, which is foreign to them, he will give them a bad score.
I know people who give mock orals and they never had to do an oral to get on their department and have never sat on an oral board. How does this work?
Yes, mock orals are good exposure and they get you used to sitting in an oral board setting. But, use caution by what they tell you. It's very easy to be made into a clone candidate in the process. You see, your buddies can't tell you how bad you really are. Could you? Rob and I will because you want to get value for the investment in your career and we want to see you get that badge.
If we can get the village idiot hired, surely we can help you.
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Bottom line getting a badge is all presentation skills!
Click here for the FREE 101 Inside Secrets How to Get
a Badge!
http://www.eatstress.com/faq.htm
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3.
Promotional Level Skills Tip
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In-and-Out Basket:
I encourage a lifelong firefighter friends Son Ray to come in for private coaching for his first Captains test after he had received our Promotional Program. He thought he didn't need it. He ended up fourth on the list. Just when he thought he would get the next job, they announced they would give another test. I told him if he had come in for the private coaching session, he probably wouldn't have had to take another test. Again, he didn't take advantage of the coaching offer. I can not figure this out, because his brother Kevin complete our program with a coaching session and came out number 2 his first time out. He had a badge within a week. I guess you can not take people kicking and screaming.
I bumped into Ray at the coffee shop and asked him how he ended up. He started talking about the guys with less seniority, the salesman type that jumped ahead of him. When he told me it wasn't fair he had lost value points in the In and Out Basket because those newer medics had the advantage of doing all their reports, I said do not tell me you were not helping your captain out with his reports. He said he did not know it would be part of the test. This is covered in our Promotional Program because the In and Out Basket segment of the assessment center is changing. Ray ended up number six, when he should have had a badge already.
In-and-Out Basket:
During the
in-and-out basket exercise you will be given tasks to make a decision and
complete in a specified time. You
probably won’t complete all the tasks.
The “Nugget” here is to go through the in basket completely and separate
the tasks in order of importance and amount of time they would require to
complete. Do the simple tasks
first. It will help you feel less
overwhelmed with the pile. Try to
handle the task the first time you pick it up.
Make a decision and move on.
Many
candidates get bogged down trying to complete every task.
The secret “Nugget” here is to delegate, delegate, delegate as much as
possible. If you're lucky, just a
quick note to delegate and calendar a follow up date in your day timer will get
it to the out basket and onto the next task.
Often though they will want you to write out what you would actually do.
Like Rays
situation, they changed the process for the In-and-Out Basket. You could be given a computer to log onto and do a line
up, response reports, handle training reports and customer complaints.
Another
test gave the candidates the assignment to prepare a speech to be delivered to
the mayor at 6:00 p.m. that same evening.
Some candidates lost valuable time attempting to write the entire speech.
A simple outline of an opening, three major points, a summary, question
and answer time, and a conclusion would have covered this assignment.
It’s time and presentation that’s being tested, not the subject.
At the end
of this exercise they will want you to justify what you have done.
This is another great opportunity to use your personal experience stories
relating to the tasks.
Ray called
the following week that he was headed for an interview with the Chief and now
wanted to take advantage of that coaching session. Believe me like most candidates, he needed it.
The session helped because he jumped to number 4 position after the
Chiefs interview. Pretty amazing
considering the circumstances.
http://www.eatstress.com/promo.htm
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4.
Robs Corner
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I was outside a building where oral interviews where taking place.
I saw a guy sitting in his car writing like mad on a piece of binder
paper. Another guy walking by looked in the car and acted like he was thinking
if maybe he had written some stuff down he might not feel like throwing up right
then. These guys have never shopped early for Christmas.
Right after Christmas, you are probably saying, as most of us do, I will
have all my Christmas shopping done by October next year. That same attitude
should apply to your preparation for your oral interview.
Please allow me to get on my soapbox for a moment. If you have put in an
app., taken the written, or physical ability, you have an oral coming up...If
you are in a fire academy, working as a volunteer, in high school, or are twelve
years old and are going to be a firefighter some day YOU HAVE AN ORAL INTERVIEW
IN YOUR FUTURE; YOU JUST DON’T KNOW THE DATE YET.
The choice is up to you.
How do you think you can present yourself in the best light? If you have spent
weeks or even months preparing or you are sitting in your car an hour before the
interview still trying to figure out what you have done to prepare and hoping it
looks something like what you put on you application.
My suggestion is you kill two birds with one stone. Prepare for your
interview like you know you should, and next year you can give everyone a
picture of you with your new badge for Christmas.
Rob is our firefighter son.
He does all the entry level coaching by phone nationwide.
You can contact him direct with your questions or set up a coaching
appointment @ 707-869-1330. His
e-mail address is:
nrtc@sonic.net
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5.
New Badges
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It happened last week. Drum roll please for the 2,000 badge in our program. Here goes:
To Capt Bob,
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the
information you have on your web site for Firefighter interviews. Let me
tell you a little bit about me.
My is John. I am 33 I live in
Vancouver Canada; I have been trying to become a firefighter for the last 7
years. I started my first
course in 1994 and since that time have been trying unsuccessfully to get a job.
I have
either failed the written test or made it all the way to an interview
and nothing.
My very first interview ever was in1995 with a local dept
here, when I sat down in front of 4 officers it was very intimidating
for me1 minute into the interview I knew that I not only wasted my time
but theirs as well. I went back a few weeks later for a briefing on how I
did and basically they told me that I was giving to long of answers and
needed more life experience.
I took the information that they gave me and I used it at my next interview with another dept, well same result NOTHING. What I later found out is that I was not selling myself properly I was ready to give up because I was not sure on how to sell myself. One day last year July 2000 while I was on the Internet I came across your web site by accident and was impressed with what I saw. I was hooked. I took full advantage of your free information on the web site.
In March 2001, 9 months after hitting your web site I tried again.
It was with the Calgary Fire Dept Alberta, 2000applicants
competed for the jobs, 82 candidates they were putting on a hire list to make a
long story short at my interview I had put all the information that you give on
your web
site to work. On Dec 17 2001 1:32 pm that sunny cold afternoon I had
received my golden hand shake. I amm starting in March 2002.
I am in recruit
class2, THANK-YOU very much for your million dollars worth of
information if it can work for me it can work for anybody.
Sincerely John firefighter CFD
We have been waiting for this call. This is badge number 2,000 in our
program. Like John said, "If it can work for me, it can work for anybody.
I never tired of these victories. This is my passion. Almost all of these
messages I cry. I know how difficult it is to get a badge. To be a part of
helping a candidate get unstuck and nail a badge is an awesome feeling. I
received many Christmas cards this year with those who have received their badge
from our program. They often included pictures with them in uniform in front of
an engine surrounded by family. They were signed with something like, you made
it happen. This touches me deeply. "Captain Bob"
Captain Bob, Although my husband was already a Captain on a department, I
was having trouble passing oral boards to get hired.
My husband ordered Captain Bobs Entry Level Audio/Video Program.
It didn't take long to turn things around and get hired.
Thank you, Nadine.
Capt Bob: Like many with the passion of being a firefighter, I was having trouble making it high enough on the list to get a badge. A friend who had already been hired using Captain Bobs program, loaned me the tapes. Even though I was only an EMT, I was able to use the work booklete from the program to set up my script to get hired by San Jose Fire. Captain Bob is right. The proof is in the badge. It's real now! Thanks, Stu.
Captain Bob. I just wanted to thank you with your
help...I got the badge.
I start work with the Newmarket Fire Department, Ontario Canada on January
2, 2002. I also got an offer for the Toronto FD.
Again Thank you.
Vincent C. Crane
Smiths Falls, Ontario.
I have been taking fire department tests for two and a half years now with some
success, but never The Success. I have finally been offered a position in my
hometown after my first test with them. I know your tapes really helped me
especially in the confidence area and propelled me ahead of much older
candidates with more credentials than me (I'm only 21). I really appreciate your
service and your advice that you have taken upon yourself to impart to people
like me. You were very inspirational and gave me that edge down the home
stretch!
Respect and
Regards,
Matt
K.
http://www.eatstress.com/newpage152.htm
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Check out the current "Bonus Nugget" oral board tip on our web site by clicking
here:
http://www.eatstress.com/bonusnugget.htm
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Hot off the Press! Captain Bobs new book, Eat Stress For Breakfast. Click here to check it out:
www.eatstress.com/stressfire.htm
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The Formula
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Here's
what we know after 30-years of experience. Candidates
who get
our Audio/Video Entry Level or Promotional Program, use the work booklet,
practice
with the all-important TAPE RECORDER, and come back for
a
private coaching session, catapult themselves into the Olympic
camp.
That's where you get a shot at that badge you have been
looking
for.
One on one coaching
sessions are where you get dialed into making your best presentation. It can
make the difference between being down on a list and being in the top 10 going
for the chief's oral. Candidates armed with this information are the one's who
are smoking past you in the oral, grab the badge and leave you as the bride's
maid again. We know because we get the calls when they get their badge! You can
contact my Son Rob direct to set up a coaching session @ 707-869-1330.
Robs e-mail is nrct@sonic.net
Click here to learn more
about private coaching
http://www.eatstress.com/private%20coaching.htm
You start by ordering our
Entry Level Audio/Video or Promotional Program from the products section of our
web site below or by calling our distributor Rayve @ 800-852-4890. This program
will keep you motivated! The program comes with a no questions asked full refund
if you're not satisfied. You're at no risk except you might get a badge.
Consider also getting our new book "Eat Stress For Breakfast" to help you
along your journey.
"Nothing counts 'til you
have the badge . . . Nothing! And, there is no feeling like proudly
wearing the badge."
Check out the specials on
our products for entry level and promotional testing:
http://www.eatstress.com/newpage6.htm
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6.
Humor
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THE DARWIN AWARD NOMINEES
ARE IN:
The nominees are:
NOMINEE No. 1: [San Jose Mercury News]: An unidentified
man, using a shotgun like a club to break a former girlfriend's
windshield, accidentally shot himself to death when the gun
discharged, blowing a hole in his gut.
NOMINEE No. 2: [Kalamazoo Gazette] James Burns, 34, (a
mechanic) of Alamo, Mich., was killed in March as he was trying to
repair what police describe as a "farm-type truck." Burns got a
friend to drive the truck on a highway while Burns hung underneath
so that he could ascertain the source of a troubling noise. Burns'
clothes caught on something, however, and the other man found
Burns "wrapped in the drive shaft."
NOMINEE No. 3: [Hickory Daily Record] Ken Charles Barger,
47, accidentally shot himself to death in December in Newton, NC
Awakening to the sound of a ringing telephone beside his bed, he
reached for the phone but grabbed instead a Smith & Wesson .38
Special, which discharged when he drew it to his ear.
NOMINEE No. 4: [UPI, Toronto] Police said a lawyer
demonstrating the safety of windows in a downtown Toronto
skyscraper crashed through a pane with his shoulder and plunged
24 floors to his death. A police spokesman said Garry Hoy, 39, fell
into the courtyard of the Toronto Dominion Bank Tower early Friday
evening as he was explaining the strength of the building's windows
to visiting law students. Hoy previously had conducted
demonstration of window strength according to police reports.
Peter Lawyers, managing partner of the firm Holden Day Wilson,
told the Toronto Sun newspaper that Hoy was one of the "best and
brightest" members of the 200-man association.
NOMINEE No. 5: [Bloomberg News Service] A terrible diet and
room with no ventilation are being blamed for the death of a man
who was killed by his own gas. There was no mark on his body but
an autopsy showed large amounts of methane gas in his system.
His diet had consisted primarily of beans and cabbage (and a
couple of other things). It was just the right combination of foods. It
appears that the man died in his sleep from breathing the
poisonous cloud that was hanging over his bed. Had he been
outside or had his windows been opened, it wouldn't have been
fatal. But the man was shut up in his near-airtight bedroom.
According to the article, "He was a big man with a huge capacity
for creating "this deadly gas." Three of the rescuers got sick and
one was hospitalized.
NOMINEE No. 6: ["News of the Weird"] Michael Anderson
Godwin made News of the Weird posthumously. He had spent
several years awaiting South Carolina's electric chair on a murder
conviction before having his sentence reduced to life in prison.
While sitting on a metal toilet in his cell and attempting to fix his
small TV set, he bit into a wire and was electrocuted.
NOMINEE NO. 7: ["The Indianapolis Star"]. A cigarette lighter
may have triggered a fatal explosion in Dunkirk, Indiana. A Jay
County man using a cigarette lighter to check the barrel of a
muzzle loader was killed Monday night when the weapon
discharged in his face, sheriff's investigators said. Gregory David
Pryor,19, died in his parents' rural Dunkirk home about 11:30 p.m.
Investigators said Pryor was cleaning a 54-caliber muzzleloader
that had not been firing properly. He was using the lighter to look
into the barrel when the gunpowder ignited.
NOMINEE No. 8: [Reuters, Mississauga, Ontario] A man
cleaning a bird feeder on the balcony of his condominium
apartment in this Toronto suburb slipped and fell 23 stories to his
death. Stefan Macko, 55, was standing on a wheeled chair when
the accident occurred, said Inspector D'Arcy Honer of the Peel
Regional police. "It appears the chair moved and he went over the
balcony," Honer said.
AND FINALLY: [Arkansas Democrat Gazette] Two local men
were seriously injured when their pickup truck left the road and
struck a tree near Cotton Patch on State Highway 38 early Monday
morning. Woodruff County deputy Dovey Snyder reported the
accident shortly after midnight Monday. Thurston Poole, 33, of Des
Arc and Billy Ray Wallis, 38, of Little Rock are listed in serious
condition at Baptist Medical Center. The accident occurred as the
two men were returning to Des Arc after a frog-gigging trip. On an
overcast Sunday night, Poole's pick-up truck headlights
malfunctioned. The two men concluded that the headlight fuse on
the older model truck had burned out. As a replacement fuse was
not available, Wallis noticed that the .22 caliber bullet from his
pistol fit perfectly into the fuse box next to the steering wheel
column. After inserting the bullet, the headlights again began to
operate properly and the two men proceeded toward the White
River bridge. After traveling about 20 miles and just before crossing
the river, the bullet apparently overheated, discharged and struck
Poole in the right testicle. The vehicle swerved sharply right exiting
the pavement and striking a tree. Poole suffered only minor cuts
and abrasions from the accident, but will require surgery to repair
the other wound. Wallis sustained a broken clavicle and was
treated and released. "Thank God we weren't on that bridge when
Thurston shot his balls off or we might both be dead" stated Wallis.
"I've been a trooper for ten years in this part of the world, but this is
a first for me. I can't believe that those two would even admit how
this accident happened," said Snyder. Upon being notified of the
wreck, Lavinia, Poole's wife asked how many frogs the boys had
caught and did anyone get them from the truck. (Way to go,
Lavinia).
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7. Resource Websites for Candidates
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Perfect Firefighter
Candidate. Job listing and a
complete resource web site with a community bulletin board.
Don McNea Fire School, Inc. is the #1 Firefighter
Preparatory Entrance School in the Country.
They have the inside information how to tackle those psychological and
personality questions on the written.
Learn how entry level and promotional candidates are
improving their interview scores up to 15 points and nailing that badge!
www.eatstress.com/newpage2.htm
FREE 101 Inside Secrets How to Get a Badge!
http://www.eatstress.com/faq.htm
Check out the specials on
our products for entry level and promotional testing:
http://www.eatstress.com/newpage6.htm
Firenuggets.com "The Internet magazine dedicated to keeping firefighters safe" www.firenuggets.com
B-Pad Assessment Devices.
If you're an agency looking for a new dimension to evaluate candidates,
or a candidate wanting information on how you can orientate your skills for this
evaluation check out their web site:
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FREE ARTICLES FOR YOUR PUBLICATIONS
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I have many articles available for reprint in your
publication, newsletter, etc. You may use
articles written by me that you see in Fire-Zine or
go to our web site @ http://www.eatstress.com/faq.htm
All you have to do is print the article in its entirety along
with the by line, the credits, and complete contact
information found at the bottom of the web site page. I would appreciate a tear sheet or electronic copy too. Thanks
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http://www.eatstress.com/firezinearchive.htm
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THE SMALL PRINT
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TIME TO SHARE. Please send your
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Nothing counts til you have the badge . . . Absolutely Nothing!
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Code 3 Publishing. Fire Captain Bob Smith, Speaker, Author, Publisher
Information Products on How to Get a Badge.
Web site: http://www.eatstress.com Over 300 pages of helpful information.
5565 Black Ave. Pleasanton 94566 (near San
Francisco)
Phone: 888-238-3959 local 925-846-3959 Fax: 925-846-9650
E-mail
Mailto:captbob@verio.com