FIREZINE
Cutting edge interview skills to get that badge from Fire
Captain Bob.
More than 1,953 candidates have received their badge from
this program!
June1, 2001. Copyright Code 3 Publishing 2001
captbob@verio.com web site: www.eatstress.com 888-238-3959
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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)
4. New Badges
5.. Humor
6. Resource Websites for Candidates
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1. Quick Presentation Skills Tip
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I have a question. When the oral board asks "Tell us a little about yourself", should I basically give them
a chronological rundown of my life. I'm 26. My background is 6 years in the
Navy right out of high school, then became a diving instructor where I taught
a class to the fire department which I now work for as a pcf. I attended the
fire academy, took some rescue classes became an instructor in BLS and
Swiftwater Rescue in the process and now work for an Ambulance Company as an
Emt. Can you please help me with this Bob? Thank you
Reply:
The dilemma is shall I have a short or long answer for the typical opening question, tell us a little about yourself. Remember "a little". This is just an ice breaker question to get you comfortable in the chair. A one minute or less answer about you and your hobbies and interests, blah, blah, blah all that is needed here. They don't need your name (they already have it) and NEVER tell them your age (they don't have that and never will until you're hired). A "Nugget" here: If they look baffled after your short answer, ask if they want more. They usually won't.
Most candidates make a big error on this question by dumping the whole load on why they want to be a firefighter, what they have done to prepare, why this city and on and on. That's not what this question is about. It's only to get you comfortable in the chair. Then, when the panel starts asking why they want to be a firefighter, what have they done to prepare and the other standard 30 possible oral board questions, they have to reiterate what they have already said. They lose valuable time and points here.
When some candidates start talking in an oral, it’s like going on a journey. There could be no final destination. Most panel members aren’t packed for the trip. I asked a candidate to tell me a little about himself during private coaching one day. I stopped him 12 minutes later. I said you have just used up 12 minutes of a 20 minute oral. What do you think we have time for now?
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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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2. Entry
Level Skills Tip ==========================================
Question:
Do you think you have what it takes to answer situation questions correctly?....answer this (in less that an hour).
What would you do as a rookie FF? If your Captain asks you to come inside his office to review your final evaluation of probation. When you notice a smell of alcohol on his breath?
Reply:
This is a perfect example how you can be fooled on a scenario question. I believe there are only 30 oral board questions. They can be disguised in hundreds of different ways. This is one of the disguises for drinking on the job, which is number 12 on our 30 plus list below.
Here is a simple way to break a disguised question down. Dissect the question down to its simplest term, one word, of what the question is really about (i.e. stealing, drugs, drinking, etc.). Once you have removed the disguise, you can place it in one of the 30 plus oral board questions you already have answers for.
This is one of the simple tools we have to uncomplicate the oral board process.
One way to help you do this is picture a piece of paper with a line drawn down the center. On the left of the line are issues dealing with ethics, such as stealing, drugs, or drinking. With ethical issues, you ask appropriate questions to determine what you suspect.
If true, you don't deviate . . you go straight up to a supervisor. On the right side of the line is anything to do with getting along with others; you will go to great lengths to work it out before going to a supervisor. If you can decide what side of the line the question belongs, you have a better chance of knowing how to answer the question.
So take off the disguise of that this is your captain. Dissect the question down to its simplest form; one word. What is this about? Right, drinking. What side of the line is this on? Right or left. If it's on the left side of the line what do we do? Drinking is not tolerated. Right again, ask questions to determine if your suspicions are correct (are you drinking?). If so, you go straight up( why don't we go to our supervisor) no matter who or what rank is on the other side of the table; and stick to your answer no matter what. YOU WILL NEVER BE WRONG! TRUST ME!
Fantasy land:
The oral interview is like fantasy land. It is not like the real world. Your answers in the oral board might not be what you would do in real life. Do not fall into the trap. The board understands the rules. You can not fool them. If you try, the board will crank up the music and let you dance your fool head off. Do not try to intellectualize and bring heavy logic to this process. If you do, someone, who understands the rules in fantasy land better will get the badge. So, please follow the yellow brick road rules in fantasy land and do not look behind the curtain.
Here's another way this question can be disguised:
You go in the locker room and see a fellow firefighter drinking something that looks like alcohol. What do you do? The clone, soap opera answer would be: I would try to get him into the day room, play cards and try to smell his breath; or I would have him go home sick, or have another firefighter come into relieve him.
These are all soap opera answers. Unfortunately they are taught in fire academies and fire technology programs. They will make you a "Clone" candidate. Don't go on this journey. They are insulting to the oral board. You will loose valuable points here. We are intelligent beings on the other side of the table. Give us credit for that. Don't start a soap opera.
Ask a question that would verify your suspicions and give a direct answer; not a soap opera.
Understand that if the oral board fires up a question that sounds like drinking on the job, it's going to be about drinking on the job. If it's a question that sounds like taking drugs on the job, it's going to be about taking drugs on the job; It's not going to be aspirin. If the question sounds like it's about stealing on the job, it's going to be about stealing on the job. If they fire up a question that sounds like sexual harassment, that's what it's going to be about, or they wouldn't bring it up.
If they fire up these questions, take off the disguise ask questions to verify what you suspect decide what side of the line it belongs and then take action in fantasy land. Don't be like so many candidates by starting a soap opera.
Here is the list of the "Thirty Plus Oral Board Questions":
Thirty-Plus Basic Oral
Board Questions
1. Tell us about yourself.
2. Why do you want to be a firefighter? When did you decide on this career?
3. What is the job of a firefighter? Are you qualified?
4. What have you done to prepare for this position?
5. What are you bringing to the job?
6. Why do you want to work for this city or agency?
7. What do you know about his city or agency?
8. What do you like to do? What are your hobbies?
9. What are your strengths? Weaknesses?
10. What would your employer say about you?
11. What are the attributes of a firefighter? What is the most important one to you?
How Would You Handle the Following Scenarios?
12. Drinking or drugs on the job? 13. Stealing on the job? 14. Conflict with another employee?
15. Irate citizen? 16. An employee crisis at an emergency? 17. Sexual harassment?
18. Racial situation? 19. Conflicting orders at an emergency? 20. An order that could place you in great danger or be morally wrong?
21. What do you say when you don't know an answer to a question?
22. Are you on any other hiring lists? What would you do if another city
called you?
23. When can you start if we offered you the job?
24. How far do you want to go in the fire service? Where do you see
yourself in 5 years?
25. What are the quality traits of a firefighter? Which one is the most important to you?
26. Have you ever been in an emergency situation? Tell us what you did?
27. What word would best describes you in a positive way? A negative way?
28. How do you handle conflict?
29. Why would we select you over the other candidates?
30. Do you have anything to add?
It's your job to take off the disguise and find the real question and have a "Nugget" answer to satisfy the oral board, get your best score on the answer and cause the board to go onto the next question.
This "Nugget" tool is one of several that can separate you from number 40 and below on a list to between 1 and 10 where you get a shot at the badge. You'll know the difference when the call comes in to go to the Chief's oral. It can happen quicker than you can imagine.
Absolutely nothing counts 'til you have the badge. Nothing!
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Bottom line getting a badge is all presentation skills!
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3.
Promotional Level Skills Tip
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Second Interview:
Once the promotional list is established, there could be another interview with the fire chief and/or his staff. They want to know if you are going to be one of the horses in the team that is going to pull the department in the direction to fit the chiefs culture and future plans. Know his direction. Do you have the ability to solve problems? Have you established a reputation of providing solutions and not problems? Are they going to have the confidence in handing you a command? Giving you a station, battalion or higher position is like giving you a 7 Eleven franchise. Are you going to be part of the solution in keeping your franchise together, or part of the problem of keeping it productive? You had better have a plan thought out before you show up for this part of the interview process.
Many candidates go in to this interview thinking they have to do repair work for something that happened during their career. Leave it alone. It is buried in cement. Unless they bring up the situation, remain silent. They probably never will bring it up. Focus on your assets to the team and the organization.
Abraham Lincoln said, If you want to check a man’s character, give him some authority. Are you the one who turns into the resident Nazi when given some authority, or micro manages everything within your reach? One of the malcontent firefighters that always is bad-mouthing the administration or tearing others apart to try and make themselves look good? A good, healthy, stress-free life can depend on good thoughts and attitude. If you are a born pessimist, constantly negative, and look at everything as black, then this situation feeds on itself and can poison you, your relationships, and any chance you had for a promotion.
No one wants to be stuck working and living with a black negative cartoon. You have been in stations and seen crews that feed off of being negative. They must have forgotten how it was to work a regular job or do not realize that there is an army of people that would take their spot in a heart beat. These are the folks that back in the cowboy days if they were caught rustling horses and the sheriff was going to hang them, would be complaining because it was not a new rope.
This is a bad habit you can change by your attitude. Attitude is such a small thing that can make such a huge difference. Attitude is your rudder through life. Practice not being negative for five minutes. Then, double the time. Keep doubling it until you break the habit. Do not take the bait if others try to hook you into being negative. If you fail, start over. Once you can do this for twenty-one days, your subconscious will be reprogrammed. You will not die! Water, a drop at a time, will eventually float a whale.
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4.
New Badges ===========================================
Entry Level:
Captain Bob,
I can't believe it, I just found out that I passed my
background
with my dream Fire Department!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I never really
thought this could happen to me because it seems like I'm the
type of guy that has to work twice as hard as everyone else
to make it. I cannot thank you enough for ALL of your help.
Visiting your website and purchasing your products made all
the
difference. There are so many things to be done for the
preparation of the interview process. Everything counts and
what you do not know will seriously hurt you.
In my many years of pursuing this career I have listened to
everyone's advise- many of the people seemed to give advice
that was confusing and contradictory. Not only was your
advice solid and to the point, you have a gift for analyzing
people, you figured out my personality and kept me on course
during the entire process.
If anyone is even contemplating purchasing your products and
your coaching, I guarantee it, your products along with very
hard work equals a badge. And now that I have the badge,
Every penny, ounce of hard work, and countless hours, days,
weeks,
months, and years of preparation are definitely worth it. Thanks
for all the help, advice, and even follow-ups.
R. Hughes - Badge: 1,950
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Promotional:
Capt.
Bob,
Today in
the mail I received some of the best news of my 18-year fire career. In that
mail was a letter from the Civil Service Commission that stated I was the #1
candidate in the promotional testing for the position of Fire Lieutenant.
Better yet, I was number one by 3 full points!
The
testing consisted of a written test (165 questions) and an assessment center
that consisted of three separate parts, A coaching and counseling session, A
formal interview that included a tactical problem and a written exercise
concerning staffing of a new fire station.
Since
there was only one position open for immediate promotion, I knew I had to smoke
the assessment center portion to "lock in" my badge.
After
the written portion I had 10 days to get ready for the assessment center. I did
this by using your "Promotional" video and audio tape program at almost every
waking moment. I knew them backward and forwards, not only the tapes themselves
but the concepts behind them.
I also
used the notes and sample questions that came with the training packet. I
answered all of the questions longhand and on the computer in a form that I
could study. I also made 3 x 5 cards that I took into the assessment center with
just the "Nuggets" written on them to reinforce the major points.
It
turned out just like you said that it would, my answers to the oral questions
such as "why do you want to be a Lieutenant?" were not a surprise. My answers
weren't "canned" or from rote memory. Just like a line in a good movie, they
were rehearsed to the point that it felt natural, I had just enough nervous
energy to put an edge on my answers but I wasn't shooting from the hip.
Words
can't express the feeling I had today when I opened that envelope. Thank you for
providing that extra edge that helped me get my badge.
Sincerely,
Don
Witner
Cuyahoga
Falls Fire Department
1924
Front Street
Cuyahoga
Falls, Ohio
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5.
Humor
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THE NEXT TIME YOU THINK YOU ARE HAVING A BAD DAY:
Fire authorities in California found a corpse in a burned
out
section of forest while assessing the damage done by a forest
fire.
The deceased male was dressed in a full wet suit, complete
with
scuba tanks on his back, flippers, and face mask. A post-mortem
revealed that the person died not from burns, but from massive
internal injuries. Dental records provided a positive
identification. Investigators then set about to determine how a
fully clad diver ended up in the middle of a forest fire.
It was revealed that on the day of the fire, the person
went for a diving
trip off the coast some 20 miles from the forest. The firefighters, seeking
to control the fire as quickly as possible, called in a fleet of helicopters
with very large dip buckets.
Water was dipped from the ocean and then flown to the forest fire
and emptied. You guessed it. One minute our diver was making like
Flipper in the Pacific, the next he was doing he breast
stroke in a fire dip
bucket 300 feet in the air. Apparently he extinguished exactly
5'10" of the fire.
Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed.
This article was taken from the California Examiner.
STILL THINK YOU ARE HAVING A BAD DAY?
A man was working on his motorcycle on his patio and his wife was
in the kitchen. The man was racing the engine on the motorcycle
when it accidentally slipped into gear. The man, still holding
onto the handle bars, was dragged through the glass patio doors and
along with the motorcycle dumped onto the floor inside the house.
The wife, hearing the crash, ran into the dining room and found
her husband lying on the floor, cut and bleeding, the motorcycle lying
next to him, and the shattered patio door.
The wife ran to the phone and summoned the ambulance. Because they
lived on a fairly large hill, the wife went down the several
flights of stairs to the street to escort the paramedics to her
husband. After the ambulance arrived and transported the man to
the hospital, the wife uprighted the motorcycle and pushed it outside.
Since gas was spilled on the floor, the wife got some paper
towels, blotted up the gasoline, and threw the towels in the toilet. The
man was treated and released to come home.
Upon arriving home, he looked at the shattered patio door and the
damage done to his motorcycle. He became despondent, went to the
bathroom, sat down on the toilet and smoked a cigarette. After
finishing the cigarette, he flipped it between his legs into the
toilet bowl while seated. The wife, who was in the kitchen, heard
the loud explosion and her husband screaming. She ran into the
bathroom and found her husband lying on the floor. His trousers
had been blown away and he was suffering burns on the buttocks, the
back of his legs, and his groin. The wife again ran to the phone
to call the ambulance.
The very same paramedic crew was dispatched and the wife
met them
at the street. The paramedics loaded the husband on to the
stretcher and began carrying him to the street. While they were
going down the stairs to the street accompanied by the wife, one
of the paramedics asked the wife how the husband had burned himself.
She told them and the paramedics started laughing so hard, one of
them slipped and tipped the stretcher, dumping the husband out. He
fell down the remaining stairs and broke his arm.
Taken from a Florida Newspaper.
Having a bad day? Just remember, it could be worse..... 1. The
average cost of rehabilitating a seal after the Exxon Valdez oil
spill in Alaska was $80,000. At a special ceremony, two of the
most expensively saved animals were released back into the wild amid
cheers and applause from onlookers. A minute later, in full view,
a killer whale ate them both.
2. A psychology student in New York rented out her spare room to a
carpenter in order to nag him constantly and study his reactions.
After weeks of needling, he snapped and beat her with an axe
leaving her mentally retarded.
3. A woman came home to find her husband in the kitchen, shaking
frantically with what looked like a wire running from his waist
towards the electric kettle. Intending to jolt him away from the
deadly current she whacked him with a handy plank of wood by the
back door, breaking his arm in two places. Until that moment he
had been happily listening to his Walkman.
4. Two animal rights protesters were protesting at the cruelty of
sending pigs to a slaughterhouse in Bonn Germany. Suddenly the
pigs, all two thousand of them, escaped through a broken fence and
stampeded, trampling the two hapless protesters to death. And
finally.......
5. Iraqi terrorist, Khay Rahnajet, didn't pay enough postage on a
letter bomb. It came back with "return to sender" stamped on it.
Forgetting it was the bomb, he opened it and was blown to bits.
Your day's not so bad, is it?
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5. 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
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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go to our web site @ http://www.eatstress.com/faq.htm
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appreciate a tear sheet or electronic copy too. Thanks
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Nothing counts until 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
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