FireZine Oct 2001
Fire-Zine Newsletter
FIREZINE
Cutting edge interview skills to get that badge from Fire Captain Bob.
More than 1,982 candidates have received their badge from this program!
October 1, 2001. 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
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Nothing counts til you have the badge . . . Absolutely Nothing!
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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.. Remembrance
6. Resource Websites for Candidates
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First this:
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I was scheduled to speak to Con Edison in NYC (Their utility) at the New
York Fire Department Training Center (a legend) on Randal's Island on
October 2nd. Then I received this message:
Good morning Bob,
Sorry I have been meaning to get back to you sooner. It has been HELL
here(and that doesn't best describe the situation). Dan (our other
committee rep) is a retired FDNY LT and lost many friends. I lost two
very good friends as well as two still unaccounted for. Here at Con
Edison as you know must also assist in this emergency so we put in our
12 -16 hour shifts.
We also lost our retired VP (consultant) of Emergency Management who was
with Chief Peter Ganci (FDNY) when the collapse occurred.
Sorry but we need to cancel and we hope to have it later in 2002.
Please stay in touch and we grieve our lost comrades and GOD BLESS
AMERICA
!!!
Karl
Captain Bob's comment:
When you consider all my brother and sister firefighters, their
relatives,the uncounted numbers of other innocent citizens, the loss is
overwhelming.
The simple act of going by the fire station and thanking them for being
there goes along way. And yes, although we do not need it, a desert in
hand or your specialty dish. Home made is best.
Captain Bob
The following says it all:
Still They Ride
Sister or Brother a Uncle or Aunt
A Niece or Nephew
Your Mother or Father even a Cousin
When the call comes in
They all start moving
They answer a calling
Paid, Volunteer, Seasonal, Reserve
When the call comes in
They are ready to serve
They respond to danger
Whatever the trouble, with calculated risk
When the call comes in
Rescuers show up to fix
And every now and then
In spite of courage and training
When the call comes in
Some won't be returning
And those who remain
With hearts still heavy
When the call comes in
Remember their duty
And
Still,
They ride
In remembrance of New Yorks Bravest
Rest easy. MGB us all.
Author: Thomas Dominguez <tomdeltazulu@hotmail.com>
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1. Quick Presentation Skills Tip
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Coaching
Did you ever see a batter change his stance after a few words from his
coach? And then see his batting average go higher? Of course. As a
firefighter candidate coach for 30-years, I have been there, done that.
Got the ball cap, T-shirt and played the game. I have seen beyond the
horizon you see.
I am a coach. A coach is a seasoned veteran, someone who knows the game
inside out, upside down, backward and forward. I let these experiences
and insights keep you on the high road to a badge.
I have coached candidates who had no experience and those who have been
trying up to 18 years to get a firefighter job or promotion. One thing
is common with most. After beating their heads against the wall trying
everything possible to get this job, they figured out that the real
secret is being able to pass the oral high enough to get a shot at the
badge.
Can you do it on your own? It is certainly possible if you don't run out
of money, jobs, family and hope before you figure it out. We give hope.
Hope is the anchor to the soul.
Almost immediately candidates who come to us get unstuck, improve their
scores and get a real shot at a badge. We shorten the learning curve the
shortest distance between you and the badge. The proof is in the badge!
Here is how it worked for Garret:
I was doing work experience at Captain Bobs fire department. One day he
asked me an oral board question. I thought I answered it O.K.. Captain
Bob offered me a private coaching session. I did not think I needed it.
I continued to test and became a paramedic. I still could not crack the
oral boards. I did not know what to do next. A year later, I took
Captain Bob up on his offer for private coaching.
Ten minutes into the coaching session, Captain Bob rewound the video
tape and showed me the mistakes I was making he had seen the year
before. I dropped my head and said, What took me so long to get here?
I nailed my next three orals. Three months from that private coaching
session, Captain Bob, in class A uniform, spoke for me as my wife pinned
my badge at my fire department graduation.
I can only tell you one thing about private coaching with Captain Bob .
. . . DO IT! It will be the best money you can spend in gaining a
career.
One thing I did not expect when I became a firefighter. The thrill to
ride in the jump seats and have kids and adults wave and give you
praise. If that does not light your fire, you have got wet wood. Garret
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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
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Remember, You're Just a Rookie
I have coached several candidates who have had B.S./BA degrees in Public
Administration areas. They had been guided by misguided counselors that
this would be an asset to get into the fire service. What ends up
happening is these candidates end up at an entry level oral board
boasting and trying to hammer the board with their degree. What they do
not understand is probably no one on the other side of the oral board
table has or will ever obtain this degree. And most of these candidates
will ever have a chance to use it in the fire service.
John came in for Private Laser Coaching after not being able to pass any
oral boards. He was one of those candidates who I think was misguided
into a Public Administration Degree. During his coaching, he kept trying
to come back to his degree. I finally told him, Screw you! You want to
come into my oral board and try to hammer me with a degree you may never
use? You are applying for a snotty nose rookie position as a
firefighter! John dropped his head and said, Maybe that is why I can not
get through any orals."
John ended up going to paramedic school, which he should have already
done instead of the B/A degree. Although he mentioned the B/S degree in
his oral board answer what have you done to prepare for this position,
he focused on his personal life and paramedic experience. He got his
badge!
Do not get me wrong. I believe in education. If you want to get a
Public Administration, engineering or any other degree as a career
track, great. Do not think it will be the key to get into the fire
service. It could hurt you.
I look for the shortest distance to the badge. If I were starting out, I
would run to paramedic school. Yes, you can get on without it. I have
candidates all the time who get a badge without being a medic. But for
the time spent and with more than 80 percent of job offerings being
fire/medic, the odds are better.
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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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Fire Problem:
Almost all the promotional candidates I do private coaching with have
the biggest problems with fire, HAZMAT, or multi-casualty simulation
problems. Most of the candidates will say, I've got this area wired.
Few do. Somewhere at the second or greater alarm, the wheels start
coming off their wagons. Embarrassed and frustrated, especially when
they thought they had it together. Involving themselves in the fire
instead of taking command, not ordering enough equipment, and losing
equipment trap most.
While coaching a recent candidate in this segment, he said that is not
how we do it in our department. We go right to fighting the fire.
That
may be true, but most if not all the evaluators are going to be from
other departments. They will be scoring you on how effective you are in
establishing an IC (incident command) and staying a head of the curve
operating the command. The simulation can place you in a fire simulation
larger than you will ever be in the remainder of your career. I have to
take most candidates kicking and screaming into this arena.
Jokingly, fighting a fire is simply a blunder of errors until the fire
goes out.
Every candidate should be capable to put out a garage or bedroom fire.
The raters want to find out how long you can tread water at a 3rd alarm
fire when the chief and his staff are delayed in responding. The
problem could be on a white board or a full-blown fire simulator. The
higher the rank you are applying for, the larger the fire.
Here is a simple example of a fire problem: You give an on scene
size up
at a fire involving a residence with fire blowing out a bedroom window.
You order your engineer to hook up as you and your firefighter start
pulling lines. If you followed this sequence, you have just lost the
fire! You went from size up directly into tactics. Most candidates
start off on the right foot with a size up of the fire. Then they make
a fatal mistake in going directly into tactics without a plan. They
confuse tactics with a plan.
Once given the fire problem, focus all
your energies on developing a plan. Without a plan, you are out of
control. What was your plan on this fire problem? By just taking a
few
more moments, you would have a plan. When confronted, candidates that
went immediately to tactics would regroup and say, My plan is to
confine and put out the bedroom fire. O.K., but if you
did not say it,you did not have a plan. Size up, plan, then tactics.
The big problems candidates make in taking command at a fire problem is
not separating themselves from their crew (if you involve yourself in
fighting the fire, you have already lost it) ordering enough resources,
losing those resources, and keeping ahead of assigning the resources to
gain control of the fire. They fail to set up the incident command
system. Even if they do, they fail to realize that the IC system
ca not run the fire. It is only there to organize.
Back to the candidate who told me his department doesn't do it that way.
They go right to fighting the fire. When he went for his fire
simulation segment of the assessment center they presented him with an
apartment fire that extended from the garage. He stumbled on his size
up, which threw his timing off. So instead of taking command, he
started fighting the fire. When one of the evaluators, who was from a
department that goes by the IC book, asked him why he had not taken
command, he said, we do not do it that way on our department. He failed
this segment!
The next segment was a possible hazmat on the second floor of a strip
center. Since he didn't think it was a real hazmat situation, just an
odor coming from a hair salon, he didn't set up a hot and cold zone or
decon. Children, if it sounds like a hazmat, it's going to be a hazmat;
otherwise they wouldn't bring it up. If it sounds and walks like a
duck, it's a hazmat duck. He failed this segment too!
In order to pass the assessment center you had to receive at least a 70
percent on each segment of the test. Even though he got the top scores
in the other segments of the assessment center, he only received a 52
and 64 for the fire simulation. As a result, he failed the promotional
test.
We will cover more on this next time.
For more on our promotional program click here:
http://www.eatstress.com/promo.htm
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4. New Badges
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Entry Level
Capt. Bob!!
Well, it is time!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL OF YOUR HELP!!
Your
video,
other info and advice through e mails paid off!! I was testing for my
dream
department. During that time I received phone calls from
3 other departments.(By the way, I have only been testing for 1 1/2
years!)
It seemed like a long wait between each process but it was worth
it!! I received a phone call today offering me the position.
I obviously accepted. I could not believe out of all
of the lateral applicants, I was the only
entry level to be offered a position...guess that makes me #1 or #2.
Can't
beat that!! You are definitely an inspiration!! I couldn't have done it
without your help!! I start the academy on the 28th of Sept. THANK YOU,
AGAIN!!! :) Pat
Captain Bob,
I just wanted to say thank you, I got a call a
couple days ago
from
the Portland Fire Bureau, they offered me a job. I am the one that
called you
for private coaching. I know your tapes and video pack made a difference
though.
This was the third chiefs interview I went to, and PFB was where I
really wanted to
work. I am so stoked. I start the academy on the 27th of Sep. I know I
had good
credentials but you definitely helped me to present them. Thank you....
Ryan
Captain Bob:
Just wanted to thank for the entry level audio/video program. I just
started testing.
On my first test I got the job. Brian
Promotional:
Dear Capt. Bob,
I wanted to thank you for a great web site. I had
scored number 1
on the civil service Lieutenants exam. Which in our department, keeping
with past practice is the next person to get promoted. I was informed
by the chief that he was going to give an oral interview and make his
decisions after that. He said he alone was giving the interview with
the deputys listening in.
This process had started with the previous chief who was an
assessor
for many assessment centers. He had set up this process even though
there isn't a lot of room to skip over someone in our current civil
service system.
I was able to use a lot of the info on your site. I had
practiced my
answers into a tape recorder, reviewed the 30 oral board questions and
prepared answers for them. Like you said the questions were slightly
disguised but I was ready to break them down and understand the true
meaning of the question.
I aced the interview and as of Sept. 1 2001 I was promoted to
Lieutenant.
Thanks again for all your help. I have a recommended your web site to
many people that I know are going for the badge.
Fraternally,Brad
For more on our promotional program click here:
http://www.eatstress.com/promo.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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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! Click here to
check out 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 until 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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5. Remembrance
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Dennis Smith, Firehouse Magazine Founder, Describes His Worst Nightmare
The second tower has just collapsed. I am at Ladder 16, and the
firefighters have commandeered a crowded 67th Street cross-town bus. We
go without stopping from Lexington Avenue to the staging center on
Amsterdam. We do not talk much on the bus, and not a single
passenger complains about missing his or her stop.
At Amsterdam we board another bus, and here the quiet is broken by a
Lieutenant who says, We will see things today we
should not have to see,
and there will be things we might think we should attend to, but listen
up, we will do it together. We will be together, and we will
all come back together boys. He opens a box of dust masks and gives two to each
of us.
It is like approaching a beach as we walk down West Street, passing
hundreds of waiting emergency vehicles. First there is a little concrete
dust, like powdered soft sand, and then suddenly every step kicks up a
cloud. There is paper debris everywhere, strewn between window casings,
air conditioner grates, and large chunks of what had once been the
tallest structures in the world.
We report to the command chief who is standing ankle deep in mud between
the World Trade Center and the World Financial Center. The original
command chief, Peter Ganci, along with the physical command center are
missing, now somewhere beneath these mountains of cracked concrete and
bent steel of the second collapse.
Just before that collapse, a falling woman killed a firefighter, and
Father Judge was giving him the last rites. Bill Feehan, the First
Deputy Commissioner, was standing next to them. And then the building
came down.
Now, several hundred firefighters are milling about. There is not much
for us to do except pull hose from one location to another as a pumper
and a ladder truck are repositioned. It is like the eye of a storm,
eerily quiet, and so unlike the multiple alarm emergencies I am used to.
No sirens. No helicopters. Just the sound of two hose lines, watering
the six stories of the hotel on West Street that are still standing. The
low cackle of the department radios fade into solemn air. The danger is
now presented by the burning 47-story building before us, just to the
north of the World Trade Center. The command chief has ordered the
firefighters from that building, and we are now waiting for it to
collapse.
I want to see the destruction from the Liberty Street side of the
buildings, and I travel through the World Financial Center, the
headquarters of American Express and Merrill Lynch. There has been a
complete evacuation, and I am the only person in the building. It seems
the building has been abandoned for fifty years, for there are several
inches of dust on the floors.
Thelarge and beautiful atrium of the building is in ruins, the east side
wall completely demolished, and the glass canopy above broken through
and hanging in large and threatening pieces.
Because of the pervasive gray dusting, I cannot read the street signs as
I make my way to the other side. Many cars and trucks are overturned.
From here I can see the gaping holes in the side of the Verizon
Building. There is a lone fire company down a narrow street wetting down
a smoldering pile. The mountains of debris in every direction are fifty
and sixty feet high. I am still stunned by the wreckage, and it is only
now that I begin to think of the human toll, of the silent thousands
that are unseen before me in this utter ruin.
I am again on the West Street side, and the chiefs begin to push us back
towards the Hudson. Number 7 is about to fall, and when it does, we all
think to run for cover, into stores, behind ambulances, around a corner.
But, it is an incredible thing to watch a 47-story building fall. The
regality of a high building is transformed in a few seconds to mere
rubble. And, now I think that this building has fallen on those we seek.
No one wants to say a number. We know that entire companies are
unaccounted for. The departments elite squads, Rescue 1, Rescue 2,
Rescue 3, and Rescue 4 are not heard from. Just last week I talked with
a group of Rescue 1 firefighters about the difficult and rigid
prerequisites to get into the rescue companies - the endorsements from
other company commanders and the tests of mechanical and engineering
skills. I remember thinking then that these were truly unusual men,
smart and thoughtful, the kind of men into whose arms I would put the
lives of my children.
I know the captain of Rescue 1, Terry Hatten. He is married to the
Mayors assistant, Beth Patrone, and one of those universally
loved and respected men in the job. I think about Terry, and about Paddy Brown.
Paddy is one of a small cadre of most decorated firefighters in the
history of the department, and in the nineties he was on the front page
of all the newspapers when he lowered one of his men on a rope to pick
up a victim in a Times Square fire.
And I think of Brian Hickey, the Captain of Rescue 4, who just last
month survived the blast of the Astoria fire that killed three
firefighters, including two of his own men. I remember the sadness in
his eyes at the funerals. And, now…. He was working with Rescue 3
today.
And then there is Ray Downey, the Battalion Chief who led the FDNY
collapse specialists to Okalahoma City, a solid and giving man.
I am pulling a heavy six-inch hose through the muck when I see Mike
Carter, the Vice-president of the firefighters union, on the hose just
before me. He is a good friend, and we barely say hello to each
other. I see Kevin Gallagher, the union president, who is looking for his son
who is unaccounted for. Someone calls to me. It is Jimmy Boyle, the retired
president of the union, the man who gave us such great leadership in my time in
the job. I ca not find Michael, he says.
Michael Boyle, his son, was with Engine 33, and the whole company is missing. I
ca not say anything to Jimmy, but just throw my arms around him.
The immediate danger over, the army of construction workers, police
officers, EMTs and firefighters begins to work. People who have never
met begin working side by side as if they have practiced for months.
Cars are lifted, hoses and fire trucks moved, and the heavy equipment is
brought in. As I watch the steelworkers they progress in my mind from
admirable to heroic.
I do not have boots and I am wet to the knees. I will take up as we
say, and go home. At the end of this horrific day I think of
Shakespeares line about evil living forever, and I realize how
most of the good of everything I know about this world is interred beneath the
rubble before me. It will be days before there is a final accounting, and I can
only hope against hope for the people I have mentioned.
They have been friends of mine for many years. It was from their lives
that New Yorks firefighters learned how to keep their chins up in
danger, and how to get down on their knees when help is needed. It is
because of them, and this terrible number of lost firefighters, whatever
number that might be, that inspiration will be found to go on with our
lives.
The last thing I see is Kevin Gallagher kissing another firefighter. It
is his son.
John M. Buckman III Fire Chief
German Township Volunteer Fire Department
http://www.germanfiredept.org
President International Association of Fire Chiefs
http://www.ichiefs.org
Hard work makes reality a success!
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6. Resource Websites for Candidates
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Perfect Firefighter Candidate. Job listing and a complete resource web
site with a community bulletin board.
www.firecareers.com
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.
www.fireprep.com
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:
www.bpad.com
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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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Nothing counts til you have the badge . . . Absolutely Nothing!
==========================================
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