|
Firefighter Applicant
– Frequently Asked Questions
Below are some commonly
asked questions that fire applicants have about the testing process. The top
entry-level authors in the country (Capt Bob Smith, Steve Prziborowski, & Brent Collins from Don McNea Fire School) have offered their insightful to
keep you motivated through every step in the hiring process. The first page lists all topics included;
after scrolling down, you will find each question answered by our
entry-level experts.
Good luck!
TOPICS
1.
Take any test you can
2.
Are there any easy fire
departments to join?
3.
Am I too young to get
hired?
4.
Should I move my family
to an area I want to test for?
5.
How do I prepare for the
CPAT?
6.
What are the
characteristics of a successful firefighter?
7.
What kind of job
security does a firefighter have?
8.
What is a
firefighter’s work schedule like?
9.
What can I expect on a
firefighter written examination?
10.
What is included in the
medical exam?
11.
How do I locate
firefighter exams?
12.
How do I become an EMT?
13.
How do I become a paramedic?
14.
Should I get my
paramedic certificate or my 2-year degree?
15.
Should I become a
paramedic?
16.
Volunteering while in
school
17.
Veterans taking
entry-level tests
18.
Paramedic to fire/medic
19.
Student loans
20.
What is in the heart of
a firefighter?
21.
What’s it like around
the station as a rookie firefighter?
22.
New rookies tips for
success
23.
Station visits –
is it necessary?
24.
Lateral
25.
What if you don’t
pass the medical?
26.
Pre-existing problems
27.
Recommendation letters
28.
Don’t ever say pay
or benefits
29.
Using humor in an
interview
30.
Multiple job offers
31.
Review exams
32.
Need some advice about
joining the military
33.
Background investigators
34.
Background questions
35.
Credit checks during
background checks
36.
Preliminary background
questionnaire
37.
Beware of the
questionnaire
38.
Are corrective lenses
allowed?
39.
Eye surgery
40.
Not a regular job
interview
41.
Oral Board Skills: Are you prepared?
42.
Should I use a tape
recorder?
43.
What are the 5 nuggets
for successful job interviews?
44.
What are the 6 steps in
answering an oral board question?
45.
What do I wear to a job
interview?
46.
Stories make the point
47.
Miracle oral board tool
48.
What can I expect in the
final interview?
49.
Buttoned
50.
Watch out for the free
advice
51.
What do I wear to the
polygraph?
52.
My polygraph rests were
inconclusive
53.
What do I do next after
failing the polygraph test?
54.
Are polygraph tests
lying to us?
55.
Getting passed over
56.
Questions concerning
strengths and weaknesses
57.
I have a Class C
misdemeanor charge. What should I
do?
58.
What if I had a domestic
violence charge?
59.
Reckless driving
citations
60.
Phone messages
61.
I am at a loss of what
to do here
62.
Creating trails
63.
Getting down to the
short strokes
64.
Have you ever?
65.
Can you follow
directions?
1.
Take
Any Test You Can!
You've got to be kidding me!
I've talked to three candidates this week who
had the opportunity to take some killer entry level tests. They didn't take
these tests. When I asked why? They said, I don't want to work there, or
that would require me to move and my wife won't go, or I'm waiting for the
only department I want to work for now, or I only test in this region.
Don't tell me how bad you want this job and then give me one of these
stupid excuses.
I have several candidates who have gone out of state to take tests in
preparation for the "City they really want". Guess what? They get
offered jobs. How difficult would it be for you to turn a badge down? Guess
where they live and work now? And, it's a lot easier to get a job once you
have one. I know one candidate who went all the way to Wyoming to get his
badge. Now he's testing back in his own State of Washington.
Understand the more tests you take, the better you will be at taking
tests. Then, when the one you really want comes along, you're dialed up
ready to nail that badge.
Our thanks go out to Capt Bob Smith for his article and insight. For more information on his book, Becoming
a Firefighter: The Complete Guide to
Your Badge, and his entry level DVD/CD oral interview program
that has helped thousands of individuals to get the job of their
dreams (included in the Ultimate Firefighter Examination
Prep Package), go to our entry level fireman test products page.
Good luck!!
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
2.
Are
there any easy fire departments to join?
There are no easy departments to join; if there were,
there would be people already in those positions. Even the departments in
B.F. Egypt (technical term) parts of the state do not have easy ways to get
on.
Most of the small departments in the state are maybe even more difficult
because they require you to typically have not just EMT, but paramedic and
a state firefighter 1 certificate as well as other requirements. Why?
Because they have to and can't afford to send you to an academy. While they
may get less applicants, they typically have
higher standards. In short, there are no easy departments to get on. Trust
me, if there were, I would know about them, and everybody else would.
Now is a critical time for you if you want to get focused. You are at that
stage where you will either give up or dig your heels in for the long haul.
20 years old is not old, and in some ways, is too young to get hired in
many departments (even though we can't discriminate on age and typically
don't know your birth date or age until you're hired). Now is your chance
to finish your two-year degree and get some more qualifications under your
belt (2 year degree, 4 year degree, paramedic, bilingual, etc.), some
quality volunteer experience in ANY field - even non-fire, and most
importantly - SOME LIFE EXPERIENCE.
Don't take that the wrong way - that is what most oral boards and
departments see in young candidates, that they probably don't have much (if
any) life experience. I mean showing responsibility, having a good solid
track record at work, etc.
How many tests have you taken now? Are you scoring in the top 1%? Are you
getting chief's interviews every test? If you are not, then you really need
to also spend time working on ALL phases, especially your weaker phases of
the hiring process.
Just some thoughts, hope they help. Don't get discouraged - why let someone
else get your badge?
THANKS!
Steve Prziborowski, Captain
www.chabotfire.com
More Helpful Advice
There are no “easy” departments to get hired
on, especially not the small ones. If anything, it is easier to get hired
on the large County and/or city departments as they hire so many
candidates.
People believe they can get all of their fire science education including
the academy, AS degrees etc. and take a job on a rural department until
they get hired on their dream department. Good idea, however, these
departments have already hired out of the area candidates who took a job
from a local who was perhaps less qualified but would have stayed.
Departments are wise to this tactics, as they have lost “qualified”
candidates back to their home cities.
There is no easy way to get hired on a fire department. While a rare few
may “luck” into a job, the vast majority of candidates spend
years pursuing their goals. While
some go about it in the wrong fashion (my opinion), most take years and a
tremendous amount of sacrifice to get hired.
Many of these candidates could get hired much sooner if they understood the
testing process. Many focus more on going through the motions of getting
qualifications and certifications instead of learning about the testing
process. By default they stack so much stuff on their resume they
ultimately get hired. Ironically, the person sitting next to him in the
academy doesn’t have half of the “qualifications” and
didn’t make half of the sacrifices that said candidate did. He worked
smarter, not harder!
Bad stuff on applications
If you do not include information that is asked on an
application and it is found out later, you are out of the process!
Almost everyone at sometime has problems.
It's how you put them on the application, background forms, and
present them in an oral that makes the difference. A reasonable explanation
is what's important.
Many candidates strain their relationships, marriages and finances and do
various jobs trying to get the badge. This is understandable with the right
explanation. The oral board seldom
knows this information (this is usually covered in background), unless it
is an area that is listed on the application, i.e. driving record, arrests,
etc.
I served 5 days in Santa Rita Prison for drag racing at age 18. Yes, I put
it on my application. Because if you don't and they find out, you're gone.
In my oral board, I was asked about this. I told the panel, "Since
that incident, I have been in the army, married, have children, and have
been on my job for 9 years. I was a stupid kid. The situation hasn't
occurred again. It's hard to believe this really had happened. One of the
captains asked, "Mr. Smith are you trying to get go around this
problem and ignore it?" Here's the Nugget answer: I said, "No. If
I was trying to do that I would have never put it done on the
application." He was done with that question.
When I got my results for that test, the number placement wasn't on the
notice. When I called, personnel
told me, "Well, Mr. Smith, you're number one. Not only are you number
one, you're five full points ahead of number two!" It was having a
reasonable explanation prepared in advance that becomes your
"Nugget" answers
that makes the difference.
That question and the "Nugget" answer helped me, not hurt me. It
catapulted me past the other candidates at light speed, and did indeed help
me get my badge!
Our thanks go out to Capt Bob Smith for his article and insight. For more information on his book, Becoming
a Firefighter: The Complete Guide to
Your Badge, and his entry level DVD/CD oral interview program
that has helped thousands of individuals to get the job of their
dreams (included in the Ultimate Firefighter Examination
Prep Package), go to our entry level fireman test products page.
Good luck!!
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
3.
Am I too young to get hired??
Getting Hired
DOES Happen!
David wrote:
To all of you out there who think you're too young to get hired, guess
again. My Dept. is in the process of hiring a candidate who is 20 yrs. old.
This individual has a FF Academy and an EMT-B card and that's pretty much
it. Mo medic cert., volunteer time, reserve time, nothing! However, I had
the pleasure of sitting on the oral board for this candidate and I must say
I was truly blown away.
We were handed a very simple one-page resume which was easy to read and not
time consuming. I was very impressed by the maturity, honesty, and
basically just the overall likeability that this candidate was able to show
us. The candidate had definitely practiced and been coached on the oral
board portion of the hiring process which is the reason this person will
soon be wearing a badge. It was also obvious that the candidate took
everything very seriously and had well prepared for every aspect of the
oral interview. Even though the only work experience this candidate spoke
of was a part time restaurant job, he was able to use that to his advantage
during the interview.
The candidate moved on to the Chief's interview and must have done
incredibly well because he is soon to start our academy. This is not a
fluke or a one-time thing, it happens all the time! Great mentors in this
forum such as Captain Bob continually pound into you guys that the interview
is everything and he is absolutely right! Don't sell yourself short when it
comes time to take advantage of a golden opportunity. Visit the stations,
research the city and the dept., get a nice suit, do mock orals, ask for
help, or whatever it takes. I hope you guys feel some inspiration from this
because it is true and it does happen. Good Luck!!
Our thanks go out to Capt Bob Smith for his article and insight. For more information on his book, Becoming
a Firefighter: The Complete Guide to
Your Badge, and his entry level DVD/CD oral interview program
that has helped thousands of individuals to get the job of their
dreams (included in the Ultimate Firefighter Examination
Prep Package), go to our entry level fireman test products page.
Good luck!!
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
4.
Should I move my family to an area I want to
test for?
Do yourself and your family a big favor. Don’t
even think about moving until you get the invitation in writing that you
have the job. Never move away from family, friends, support and established
connections thinking that will improve your chances of getting a
badge. If you need an academy check
out the home study program at www.trainingdivision.com
This is not the first time I've seen this question. A candidate is invited
to the chief’s oral. He just knows they want him. He gives notice at
his job, his apartment and finds a new apartment for the city he is being
considered for. He starts packing. After the chief’s interview he is
notified to complete the medical, given the date for the academy, uniform
fitting and then the psych. He flies down to complete these items in two
days. He goes by with his wife to check on the new apartment, flies home
and waits for the mover to show up the next day.
Don’t touch that dial. There is something wrong with the psych
interview. It comes back inconclusive. They want him to retake the psych.
But the movers are on their way. I can taste that badge. I know they want
me.
A medic candidate moved his family from southern California to Seattle, so
he could be in position for the next test. Although he made the list, he
was going to have to wait until they got down to him. In the mean time the
pressures built up at home, he lost his house in California to foreclosure,
and got in a heated argument with his wife. The police arrived and arrested
him for domestic violence. This at a time when he was in background for the
next academy. Everything came to a full halt. Fortunately, in the state of
Washington, if you complete the counseling and probation program and
it’s your first offense, you can appeal the court to remove the
charge. Now a year later, this has been done. The Seattle list he was on
expired. Now it’s back to square one.
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
5.
How do
I prepare for the CPAT?
CPAT
Here are some valuable tips for CPAT from Tom Dominguez and Reed Norwood:
The secret to passing the CPAT is to be in shape with a high cardiovascular
fitness level and to know the techniques. The average time is between nine
minutes and ten minutes, twenty seconds. Try to think of the CPAT (or any
agility) as a marathon where you are trying to complete the event instead
of going for the record time. You can burn out if you are going for time no
matter how well in shape you are.
Most people who fail the CPAT fail the first event (Stair Climb/Stair
Stepper), or run out of time during the last event (Ceiling Breach). People
who run out of time at the breach and pull lost a few seconds at all the
prior event stations because they PAUSED to THINK of how to do the event or
PAUSED or SLOWED down to catch their breath.
#1 Stair Climb: No matter how hard you train for the stair stepper, your
legs are going to be like rubber after you get off the machine and start
pulling hose. The recovery time for rubber legs depends on your fitness.
Even still, rubber legs or not, you have to get moving and keep moving, and
stay moving! If you stop at anytime during the events, the clock is ticking
and you are losing time.
The tendency is that as you start wearing down on the stair stepper
machine, your pace and stride will change and that will affect your
balance. As you lose your balance, you start to wobble and the momentum of
the weight on your body increases the swaying. As the distance of the sway
increases, you will make a natural grab for the handrails. Grab the rail
(more than twice?) to many times and you are disqualified. Instead of
“grabbing the rail”, use the back of your hand and push your
self back. Adjusting your stance and concentrating will help you avoid the
“wobble”. Just like wearing a SCBA, you also have to
concentrate on your breathing.
#2 Hose Drag: As soon as you step off the stair machine, turn and face the
line that takes you to the hose pull. As soon as the proctor takes the two
sandbags off your shoulders, get moving! Pick up the nozzle and shoulder
the hose and GO! This is not the time to worry about those rubber legs or
try to catch your breath. MOVE! Go as fast as you can. Step into the box,
turn around, get down on one knee (being careful not to come down too hard
and injuring your knee) and PULL the hose, hand-over-hand as fast as you
can. That drum will give you some resistance when you turn the corner but
if you’re going at a good clip it won’t be too difficult. You
can breathe while hand pulling the hose.
#3 Equipment Carry: When you get to the saw carry, just do it! Face the
cabinet and remove each saw one at a time. Now, turn around and pick up
both saws. This will ensure that you have both saws touching the ground
before you begin moving down the line.
#4 Ladder Raise and Extension: When you arrive at the ladder raise, get
down, grab the rung and raise the ladder. You have to push the ladder up,
rung-by-rung as fast as you can. Move over to the fly extension and just do
it.
#5 Forcible Entry: Breathe, as you follow the line
and pick up the sledgehammer. Start swinging as soon as you can in short
choppy strokes. Departments may set the forced entry device at a level that
fits their needs. When the alarm sounds, let go of the sledgehammer and
move to the tunnel crawl.
#6 Search: Get in and get out! You may not move like a greased pig at the
fair but you do need to move. One candidate wrote: Here is where I lost
about 15-20 seconds. The event itself is pretty fun if you are not
claustrophobic. Be aware of the obstacles inside. I could not figure one
out, and I got disoriented and lost precious time figuring it out. Crawl
fast as there are no abrupt edges that you’ll run into. All the walls
are tapered so as long as you keep your head down you can fly through.
Doing the practice “run-throughs” will take away all doubt of
what and where the obstructions are in tunnel crawl. Always remember to stay right, and come
back to your right after an obstacle. The event is shaped in a horseshoe,
so there are two right turns. This can be a good time to catch your breath
as well in preparation for the dummy drag.
#7 Rescue: At the dummy pull, size up where the handles are before you get
there. Grab them and get going. You may feel the burn in your legs but
don’t stop. It saps your strength to have to get the dummy moving
again each time you stop. When you reach the barrel, do not make the turn
until the dummy’s knees are even with farthest side of the barrel. If
you try to pull the dummy around the barrel any sooner, it takes more
energy and it will take more time. Get over the line and let go of the
dummy and get to the ceiling Breach and Pull.
#8 Ceiling Breach and Pull: This is the event where folks run out of time
and fail the CPAT. Grab the pike pole and step in. Start pushing and
pulling with all you got! If there’s a D-handle on the pike pole put
a hand under it for increased leverage. Get a rhythm/fast pace going. An
object at rest requires energy to get it moving. An object that is moving
requires less energy to keep it moving. If those ceiling hatches are not
making lots of loud noise, you are not working very hard. You can buy
yourself some time here that you may need to finish the CPAT in time.
Follow the instructions of the proctor! The proctor will either tell you
where the line is or point to the line you are to follow. People have been
failed for not following the right line to the next event. If you were to pause five seconds at the
start and stop of every event, or to stop and breathe or think about each
event, you can lose about a minute and a half of precious time. Once this
time is gone, you cannot get it back.
You can over train by carrying extra weight in your backpack while you
train for the stair stepper. Seventy-five pounds on your back places a
tremendous amount of stress on your ankles, knees, hips and back. Practice
the event as you are actually going to do it. Work out at the same pace and
distance as the actual stair event. The stair stepper event (as are most of
the CPAT events) is based on cardiovascular fitness and endurance. It is
expected that you will be anaerobic and that is what the CPAT is attempting
to do. While strength is required, you don’t need to be an Olympic
weight lifter.
CPAT
Here are two link resources to gain information on the CPAT:
http://www.phoenix.gov/FIRE/recruit.html
http://firepat.mtsac.edu
Our thanks go out to Capt Bob Smith for his article
and insight. For more information on
his book, Becoming a Firefighter:
The Complete Guide to Your Badge, and his entry level
DVD/CD oral interview program that has helped thousands of individuals
to get the job of their dreams (included in the Ultimate
Firefighter Examination Prep Package), go to our entry level
fireman test products page. Good luck!!
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
6.
What
are the characteristics of a successful firefighter?
·
maintain effective working relationships
with superiors and subordinates
·
get along with others
·
stay calm; handle stress
·
use common sense
·
listen to others
·
be flexible
·
be self-motivated
·
be decisive
·
counsel, support and be empathic toward
others
·
work under stressful conditions
·
maintain emotional control
·
do repetitive tasks
·
work with little or no supervision
·
take charge when needed
·
determine priorities
·
have a good sense of humor
·
accept constructive criticism from others
·
be resourceful
·
handle critical decision-making under
life-threatening conditions
·
perform complex tasks under life-threatening
conditions
·
work under tight time frames
·
deal with critically injured/ill people
·
perform tasks requiring log periods of
intense concentration
·
perform under unpleasant circumstances or in
traumatic situations
·
work as a team member
·
maintain a positive attitude
·
enthusiasm
·
honesty
·
initiative
·
innovativeness
·
judgment and common sense
·
stability
·
willingness to be patient, non-judgmental
and accepting of other people
·
desire to serve and help people regardless
of who they are, where they are and what their beliefs are
·
demonstrate a genuine caring attitude toward
all people
·
must have an awareness and understanding of
differences between different cultures
·
have an optimistic attitude and believe that
the best outcome will occur in emergency situations
·
driven by strong values and ethics along
with an awareness to act upon those values and ethics
·
willing to put the best interests of the
organization above personal interests or differences
·
be able to function as a member of a team
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
7.
What
kind of job security does a firefighter have?
One of the things that we discuss in our seminars and talks
to prospective firefighters is the job security the position of a
firefighter offers for yourself and your family. Did you know that
99.7% of all firefighters ever hired are never laid off? In today's
changing economic situation, how many jobs can boast that statistic?
How many people do you know that have been working for a company for 10, 15
or 20 years and suddenly the company is bought out and their job is
eliminated? Once you have worked hard to obtain this job, it is yours
for a lifetime. You have financial security, medical benefits for you
and your family, an early retirement plan – these are all benefits
that not many jobs today can offer. The average firefighter salary
range is $50,000-$65,000 with hospitalization and a retirement plan after
25 years of service or the age of 48. How many people do you know who
can retire at the age of 48? Most people have to wait until they are
in their 60's before they can think about retiring comfortably.
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
8.
What
is a firefighter’s work schedule like?
The work schedule of a firefighter consists of two 24-hour days per
week, for an average of 8 days per month. With this schedule, a
firefighter has an average of 5 days off per week. Listed below you
will find an average month's schedule for a firefighter, with the days in
red being scheduled workdays and the other days representing days you have
off during the month.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1
|
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
|
9
|
10
|
11
|
12
|
13
|
14
|
15
|
|
16
|
17
|
18
|
19
|
20
|
21
|
22
|
|
23
|
24
|
25
|
26
|
27
|
28
|
|
|
Normally every 3 weeks, a firefighter is given an additional day
off. We use Thursday, the 13th ,
as an example for this month's schedule.
Because of the many days firefighters
normally have off during a month, many firefighters maintain a second job
to supplement their income. Many firefighters easily can make as much
money on their day off as they do on the job as a firefighter. These
second careers consist of salesmen, ambulance drivers, accountants,
landscapers, contractors, attorneys – you name it, a firefighter does
it on their day off.
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
9.
What
can I expect on a firefighter written examination?
Today's written examination commonly consists of approximately 150-200
multiple-choice questions. The subjects for the written examinations
could include any of the testing subjects listed below:
·
Reading Comprehension
·
Human Relations
·
Problem Solving
·
Judgment
·
Math
·
Memory
·
Charts
·
Inductive Reasoning
·
Deductive Reasoning
·
Visualization
·
Verbal & Listening Comprehension
·
Spelling
·
Verbal Reasoning
·
Oral and Written Communication Information
The key to scoring well on the written examination is preparation.
There are not many candidates who can walk into a written examination and
score high on their first attempts without adequate preparation. You
need to practice. What do we mean by practice? By taking
practice examinations. It is like studying for any other test you
have taken – you need to adequately study and prepare. The
competition for a firefighter position is intense.
When you take a firefighter examination, you are ranked on the
eligibility list from the higher score to the lowest score.
Obviously, you want to be at the top to dramatically increase your chances
of moving onto the other parts of the testing process. The more you
study and prepare, the better your score. Like we said before, you
have to want it, and wanting it means you will put the required time in to
adequately studying and preparing. During your preparation, you need
to fine tune the areas where you are consistently weak until you feel
confident walking into an examination knowing that no one can beat you.
The key to your success on this portion of the hiring process will be
how much time you put into preparing for this important first step.
You can do it – you just have to want it!
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
10.
What
is included in the medical exam?
The medical exam itself is nothing to be afraid of. It will be
just like any other thorough physical exam. The doctor may be on the
staff of the hiring agency or someone outside the department with his or
her own practice, just like your own doctor. Your blood pressure,
temperature, weight, and so on will be measured; your heart and lungs will
be listened to and your limbs examined. The doctor will peer into
your eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, and conduct a thorough medical
exam. You'll also have to donate some blood and urine. Because
of these tests, you won't know the results of the physical exam right
away. You'll probably be notified in writing in a few weeks, after
the test results come in.
Drug Testing
A test for use of illegal drugs can be administered before a conditional
offer of employment. Because firefighters have to be in tiptop
physical shape, and because they are in a position of public trust, the
fire department expects you to be drug-free. Indeed, you may have to
undergo drug testing periodically throughout your career as a firefighter.
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
11.
How do
I locate firefighter exams?
·
We suggest you subscribe to your local
newspaper – even if it means subscribing to more than one if you city
has several major papers. The Sunday edition's
help wanted ads is the most important – it will usually include
examination test dates and information. In addition, the sports
section sometimes carries examination information. Your local library
will also carry the current newspapers.
·
There are also Internet subscription
services that will provide information on examinations given across the
country. Your investment in this type of service can be from
$3.00-$9.00/month. Both www.firehouse.com
and www.firecareers.com are
excellent sources of information on firefighter examinations.
·
Try to keep a current list of cities giving
examinations. Once a municipality gives an examination, an
eligibility list is established and remains current for 1-2 years. If
you know an examination is given annually, make a note on your calendar so
that you make sure you don't miss an application deadline.
·
Many major municipalities have a recruitment
unit. Click on the link below for a list of 150 major fire
departments across the country, along with their addresses and phone
numbers. You should contact these departments and ask to have your
name placed on their recruitment list to be notified of examination
dates. You will usually be notified at least 2-3 weeks before the
application process.
·
Some departments have a volunteer
program. We strongly suggest that you join this group if it is
available in your community. This will give you valuable insight into
the department and personnel. Most volunteer problems are part of
smaller departments – no major departments have volunteer programs.
·
Many times, colleges that offer EMT and paramedic
certification programs will post examination announcements on their
bulletin boards. If you are enrolled in such a program, make note of
this information. If not, visiting colleges and locating these
bulletin boards will help you obtain as much information as possible.
·
If you have the time and resources, we
suggest that you make telephone calls to various departments. Ask
them when their last examination was given and when the next examination is
anticipated and make note of this information. A municipality may
tell you that an examination will be given in September, but it may
actually be given in July or August. You need to follow up with the
Personnel Department to find out the current information on an
examination. Departments with Fire Training Academies may also have
examination information available.
·
There are also numerous fire magazines that
will publish entry-level examinations given across the country. You
may subscribe to these magazines or you may find them at your local library.
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
12.
How do
I become an EMT?
Emergency Medical Technicians (known as EMTs)
are trained to provide emergency care, including ambulance services.
Peoples’ lives often depend on the quick reaction and competent care
of EMTs. Incidents as varied as automobile
accidents, heart attacks, drownings,
childbirth, and gunshot wounds all require immediate medical
attention. EMTs provide the vital attention
as they care for and transport the sick and injured to a medical facility.
In an emergency, EMTs are typically dispatched
to the scene by a 911 operator and often work with police and fire
department personnel. Once they arrive, they determine the nature and
extent of a patient’s condition while trying to ascertain whether the
patient has preexisting medical problems. Following strict rules and
guidelines, they give appropriate emergency care and, when necessary,
transport the patients.
At the medical facility, EMTs help transfer
patients to the emergency department, report their observations and actions
to emergency room staff, and provide additional medical treatment.
EMT Basic (also known as EMT I) represents the first component of the
Emergency Medical Technician system. An EMT I is trained to care for
patients at the scene of an accident while transporting patients by
ambulance to the hospital under medical direction. An EMT I has the emergency skills to assess a patient’s
condition and manage respiratory, cardiac and trauma emergencies.
The EMT Intermediate (EMT II and III) have more advanced training that allows
the administration of intravenous fluids, the use of manual defibrillators
to give life-saving shocks to stopped hearts, and the applications of
advanced airway techniques and equipment to assist patients experiencing
respiratory emergency.
Working conditions: EMTs work both
indoors and outdoors in all types of weather. They are required to do
considerable kneeling, bending, and heavy lifting. Many people find
the work of an EMT exciting and challenging and enjoy the opportunity to
help others. EMTs employed by fire
departments work 40-50 hours per week; those employed by hospitals
frequently work between 40-60 hours per week; and those employed by private
ambulance services work between 45-50 hours per week.
Training and other qualifications and advancement: Formal
training and certification is needed to become an EMT. All 50 states have a
certification procedure. To maintain certification, EMTs must register usually every 2 years. In order to
register, an individual must be working as an EMT and meet continuing
education requirements. Basic coursework typically emphasizes emergency
skills such as managing respiratory trauma and cardiac emergency and
patient assessment. Formal courses are often combined with time in an
emergency room or ambulance. The program also provides for instruction and
practice dealing with bleeding, fractures, airway obstruction, cardiac
arrest, and emergency childbirth. Students learn how to use and
maintain common emergency equipment such as backboards, suction devices, splints,
oxygen delivery systems, and stretchers. Graduates of an approved EMT
training program who pass a written and practical examination administered
by the state certifying them with the title of Registered EMT Basic.
This course is also a prerequisite for EMT Intermediate and EMT Paramedic
Training.
EMT Intermediate training requirements vary from state to state.
Training commonly includes 35-55 hours of additional instruction beyond EMT
Basic coursework.
Job opportunities: Employment needs for EMT is expected to grow
faster than the average of all other occupations through 2012. Population
growth and urbanization will increase the demand for full-time paid EMTs, rather than for volunteers in a department.
In addition, a large segment of the population – the aging baby
boomers – will further spur the demand for EMT services as they
become more likely to have medical emergencies.
Opportunities for individuals will be best for those who have advanced
certification such as EMT Intermediate and EMT Paramedic as clients and
patients demand higher levels of care before arriving at the hospital.
Where can you find training to become an EMT? Almost all community
colleges and some state colleges and hospitals offer training for Emergency
Medical Technicians. This is usually a 3-month course that can be completed
as part of other curriculum at a college.
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
13.
How do
I become a paramedic?
Peoples’ lives often depend on the quick reaction and competent
care of Paramedics. Incidents as varied as automobile accidents, heart
attacks, drownings,
childbirth, and gunshot wounds all require immediate medical
attention. Paramedics provide the vital attention as they care for
and transport the sick and injured to a medical facility.
In an emergency, Paramedics are typically dispatched to the scene by a
911 operator and often work with police and fire department
personnel. Once they arrive, they determine the nature and extent of
a patient’s condition while trying to ascertain whether the patient
has preexisting medical problems. Following strict rules and
guidelines, they give appropriate emergency care and, when necessary,
transport the patients.
Some paramedics are trained to treat patients with minor injuries on the
scene of an accident or at their home without transporting to a medical
facility. Emergency treatment for more complicated problems is
carried out under the direction of medical doctors by radio, preceding or
during transport.
Paramedics provide the most extensive pre-hospital care. In addition to
carrying out the procedures described above, paramedics may administer
drugs orally or intravenously, interpret electro cardiograms (EKGs),
perform endotracheal intubulations,
and use monitors and other complex equipment.
Working conditions: Paramedics work both indoors and
outdoors in all types of weather. They are required to do
considerable kneeling, bending, and heavy lifting. Many people find the
work of an EMT exciting and challenging and enjoy the opportunity to help
others. Paramedics employed by fire departments work 40-50 hours per
week; those employed by hospitals frequently work between 40-60 hours per
week; and those employed by private ambulance services work between 45-50
hours per week.
Paramedics held about 265,000 jobs in 2004. Most career Paramedics
work in metropolitan areas; there are many more EMTs
and Paramedics especially in smaller cities, towns, and rural areas.
Training and other qualifications and advancement: At the
Paramedic level, the caregiver gives additional training in body function
and learns more advanced skills than an EMT. Education for a
Paramedic requires the individual to graduate from a school and take the
National Registry EMT Examination to become a certified EMT/Paramedic.
Extensive related coursework and clinical and field experience is
required. Due to the longer training requirement, almost
EMT/Paramedics are in paid positions rather than being volunteers.
Refresher courses and continuing education are available for Paramedics at
all levels.
Job Opportunities: Employment for Paramedics is expected to grow
faster than the average of all other occupations through 2012. Population
growth and urbanization will increase the demand for full-time paid
Paramedics, rather than for volunteers. In addition, a large segment
of the population – the aging baby boomers – will further spur
the demand for Paramedic services as they become more likely to have
medical emergencies.
Where can you find training to become a Paramedic? Almost all
community colleges and some state colleges and hospitals offer training and
certification to become a Paramedic. This training usually consists
of between 750-1,500 hours of classroom and field instruction. Reaching
this level will require a lot of sacrifice and studying on your part, but
becoming a Paramedic will increase your chances of becoming a firefighter.
Approximately 10-20% of all fire departments across the country now
require their fire applicants to become Paramedics even before they take
the examination. Remember – you must first become an EMT before you
can go on to become a Paramedic.
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
14.
Should
I get my paramedic certification or my two-year degree first?
I’m interested in becoming a firefighter and I happened to read
the letter, “You Want To Become A Firefighter, Should You become a
Paramedic?” Should I get my two-year degree in Fire Technology
first before becoming a paramedic? Should I get my EMT certificate
before getting into a paramedic program?
We strongly recommend that if you are deciding between a 2-year degree
and your paramedic certificate, that you work
towards your paramedic certification.
Many municipalities are currently requiring applicants to either be
certified paramedics or to be in paramedic school to take the exam. Your goal is to have the credentials that
cities are requiring to be able to take the examination and to put yourself
in a position to be hired. Less than
1% of municipalities across the country require you to have a 2 or 4-year
degree to take a firefighter examination.
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
15.
Should I become a Paramedic?
I am currently in paramedic
school but not enjoying myself at all. I want to become a firefighter and
everyone says the easiest way is to be a medic first. My concern is that,
while I enjoy the idea of saving lives through my knowledge of paramedicine, I don't really want to be a medic. Am I
wasting my time? Should I put my effort into getting into a fire academy
and looking for jobs? (I'm 33 and have a BA and a Masters Degree, so it's
not like I am an 18 year old with no life/work experience.)
Answer:
Firefighter or Fire/medic? Should you become a paramedic to get a
firefighter job?
No, it's not a day at the beach to become a medic.
You do understand that there are up to 800 candidates for each firefighter
job, know you would have to spend about a year getting certified and it
will be the toughest thing you have ever done.
Know that 80% of the job offerings now are for fire medics and up to 75% of
our calls are EMS related anyway.
You’re the energizer bunny who will keep going and going and going
when others would stop. Know that if you are a medic taking a regular
firefighter entrance test you will probably get a better shot. You
won’t be happy until you can puff your chest out with a badge and
have people wave at you in the jump seats, carrying on a family tradition.
You want that shift work with great benefits that go way into retirement, a
career position with chances of advancement.
You will have the opportunity to use the education and experience you
have acquired. To work for a department that offers you everything a
firefighter hopes for. Calls that cover anything from air, land and sea. A
place where you can’t wait to get back from your days off. You will
be able to go from one call to another to another on a busy rig. Riding big
red! Believe me there is nothing like it.
I know you will hear that if you really don’t want to be a medic
don’t just do it to get the job. That all you really need is your EMT
to get hired. But, if you answered yes to the majority of the above there
is no doubt where you will be the happiest.
Because unlike a regular entry level test where there are up to 800
candidates for each job, there are only 20 candidates for every fire medic
job. It is by far your fastest way to the badge.
Your degrees might never place you in a better position than gaining that
medic cert.
Our thanks go out to Capt Bob Smith for his article and insight. For more information on his book, Becoming
a Firefighter: The Complete Guide to
Your Badge, and his entry level DVD/CD oral interview program
that has helped thousands of individuals to get the job of their
dreams (included in the Ultimate Firefighter Examination
Prep Package), go to our entry level fireman test products page.
Good luck!!
More helpful insight…
The main reasons a paramedic license will help you are:
1. Supply versus demand. There
are not that many medics compared to EMTs. If a
department holds a test and just requires an EMT certificate, they may get
over 1,000 applicants. If they instead require paramedic (not in medic
school), they'll probably get less than 100.
2. Many departments
(especially in the S.F. Bay Area) went ALS about 10 years ago; this is
requiring them to hire paramedics on a continuous basis, especially since
many departments don't allow (or require) medics to stay medics once they
promote to Engineer or Captain or BC.
3. Some departments prefer to
hire medics, even if they only have EMT vacancies. Why not? I bet you if I
were a fire chief and I offered a medic a job as a FF, but told them I only
had an EMT position available, I bet most would take it. Why? Many folks
who go to medic school (right or wrong) only go to become firefighters and
would probably drop the medic license in a heartbeat. Now, take it a step
further. I the Fire Chief offer the medic a job as an FF/EMT, agree to pay
your medic CE costs and tell you I will pay you the 10% medic bonus when I
use you as a medic (vacation, sick days, etc.), I bet medics will jump on
that.
4. It is cheaper for a
department to hire a medic than put you through medic school. Put the
school costs aside, that is minimal. Now I hire you as a FF and I have to
put you through medic school. You're probably not working as a FF for 6
months to 1 year. That whole time I'm paying time-and-a-half to cover your
spot. That's where the cost comes in. Most Northern California Departments
do it this way. My understanding of many Southern California Departments is
that they will put you through medic school after probation (LA County,
Long Beach, etc.). Just all depends on the labor-management agreement that
was worked out.
5. There are still many
departments, especially in CA that are still BLS. Eventually, there is a
good chance they will go ALS. Even if they don't go ALS, I bet they still
would like to hire medics, just to have the level of training if they do go
ALS, to have someone with a higher level of skills to do EMT
recertification, coordinate their EMS program, etc.
Just some ideas off the top of my head.
Beyond the above, don't go to medic school just to get a FF job. The
citizens and the department deserve much better than that. They deserve
folks that want to be medics and have their heart in it. If you go to medic
school, have the thought and intention that you may have to be a medic for
your whole career (some departments require you to sign 5 year or longer
contracts to stay as a medic once they hire you).
If you don't want to go medic, so be it. Good for you. You can still get
hired as a firefighter, without a doubt. Instead, make sure you get your
2-year degree in fire technology, your EMT (that is just the bare minimum
to stand equal to your competition). Then look at maybe becoming bilingual,
having an awesome track record at volunteering, getting a 4 year degree,
and just being so unique that you stand above the crowd. Obviously it is
the oral board that typically gets you hired, so make sure you have that
portion dialed. You don't need the best resume to get hired, you just need
excellent oral board skills (problem solving ability, oral communications,
decision making, interpersonal skills, etc.).
Steve Prziborowski, Captain
www.chabotfire.com
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
16.
Volunteering
while in school
Being a
volunteer can help or destroy you! Candidates want the opportunity to be a
volunteer as a way of showing interest, gain hands on
experience, have something to put on their resume and can say in
their oral they have been a volunteer. Often they don’t know the
culture, politics and etiquette.
You will make and impression becoming a volunteer. Good or bad. Because of
the politics something could happen that could ruin any chances you will
ever have as a firefighter. And the big problem is you will never know what
or who badmouthed you.
I’ve seen this happen far too much. Candidates wait years trying to
become a paid member of their volunteer department or candidates like
yourself want to be a volunteer as a stepping stone to a full time position
and they have been marked because of some incident they don’t even
know about that will keep them badge less.
Have you ever
listened to wind chimes? One hangs in our back yard. It contains 6 chimes.
When there is not much breeze, only one chime is heard. It’s a
constant monotone gong, gong, gong, gong. When the
wind changes direction ever so slightly all-6 chimes begin to play a
melody.
It would only take you a short time as an oral board rater to hear the same
constant drone when too many candidates use a flat monotone voice. It
sounds like they were giving a patient assessment, sounding like the gong,
gong, gong, blah, blah, blah of the one lone wind chime.
Then a candidate, who knows what the panel is going to hear out of his
mouth, because he has prepared with a tape recorder, sits down in the hot
seat and comes out swinging. Hitting all the notes, with the necessary
timing, inflection, enthusiasm and volume polished. Just like the slight
increase in a breeze to activate all the notes on the wind chimes, if
candidates only knew it would only take a few minor changes to orchestrate
their interviews closer to their badges.
It doesn’t take long on a phone conversation with a candidate to
realize why they are having problems.
A recent candidate had such a monotone voice I asked if he knew? He said yea, but that’s just my voice. I
told him I didn’t believe that for a second. What can I do about it?
I’ve been testing where I can for four years, going to school and
work as a federal firefighter.
Trying to get on his turf, I asked him during a coaching session what do
you do with your time off? What are your interest,
hobbies? What really rings your bell? Nothing seemed to work to break his
monotone voice.
That was until a few days later I get a call from an energized candidate. I
didn’t recognize the voice. Yes, it was Mr. Monotone. He told me he
didn’t realize how bad it was until he listened to the tape recording
of his coaching session. He said, “Man I sounded retarded. I
can’t believe how much stuff I left out. How many times I said “What
Ever” and other stupid pause fillers I didn’t know I was
using."
The mystery of why this super qualified candidate could not get hired was
solved by listening to a tape of what the panel had been hearing for four
years.
You too can create the winds of change that can turn things around and ring
all the chimes; coming out of the fog with the chimes that turn into tones
dropping and you’re moving towards the rig on another call. The fifth
call in a row. It started at shift change. You haven’t had a chance to
stop for anything more than to restock and get the rig ready for another
run and not getting anything to eat. You’re not hungry anyway.
Because you’re working with a crew where the red-hot captain tells
dispatch you’re available from the scene you are on so you
won’t miss any calls. You’re living the dream of a lifetime.
Riding big red. The monotone voice a distant
memory.
Our thanks go out to Capt Bob Smith for his article and insight. For more information on his book, Becoming
a Firefighter: The Complete Guide to
Your Badge, and his entry level DVD/CD oral interview program
that has helped thousands of individuals to get the job of their
dreams (included in the Ultimate Firefighter Examination
Prep Package), go to our entry level fireman test products page.
Good luck!!
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
17.
Veterans
Taking Entry Level Tests
I often hear comments like this one where seasoned firefighters test
for entry-level positions for another or larger department:
I have been in the fire service for 20 years both volunteer and full
time. Last year I had to relocate across the state, leaving my full time
ff/pm position. It took me 10 years to get that job as a white male - Now
I'm looking over here and have been passed over several times for the
younger people. I have all the credentials and the certs
and still - I've been passed over! I think the testing should be thrown out
if you have been working in this career for over 5 years, let's look at the
resume and past employers!
The biggest problem I've seen on oral boards with these seasoned
veterans is they can't place themselves in the position they are applying
for; that of being a snotty nose rookie. They try to hammer the oral board
with their credentials thinking the board will just hand them the job.
Their oral board's skills are rusty and antiquated. It's hard for them to
remember how it was to be a rookie.
It's not the younger candidates that are keeping them from getting
the job. It's them! Presented correctly, there is no way a younger
candidate can match their personal life and firefighting experience. This
is a delicate balance here. You must be humble, place yourself in the
rookie position and build a natural bridge to the oral board panel. Without
this bridge, you're dead meat. This is not easy for many seasoned candidates.
An attitude adjustment is needed. Attitude is a small thing that can make
the big difference. Remember the position you're applying.
The seasoned veteran candidate can roar past any of the other
candidates if his attitude and game plan is in place.
Our thanks go out to Capt Bob Smith for his article and insight. For more information on his book, Becoming
a Firefighter: The Complete Guide to
Your Badge, and his entry level DVD/CD oral interview program
that has helped thousands of individuals to get the job of their
dreams (included in the Ultimate Firefighter Examination
Prep Package), go to our entry level fireman test products page.
Good luck!!
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
18.
Paramedic
to Fire/Medic
If you're taking a firefighter/paramedic interview understand we are
looking for firefighters first! You can hurt your chances if you don't let
them know your first love is to be a firefighter. Too many paramedic
candidates push their desire for the medic end of the job. Who's sitting on
the board? Mostly Fire officers.
Understand that the burn out period for a paramedic is five years.
Then, many medics try to get on fire departments. This has caused problems
in the fire service because the paramedics come from a position of doing
things on their own in the field. They have problems with the chain of
command system on the fire job. Not wanting any more of these problem
children, departments try to determine in the oral if the candidate has the
heart of a firefighter first.
A way to approach this is to convey your first love is to be a firefighter,
but because 80% of the job offerings are for fire/medic it was a career
path that offered the best change to become a firefighter.
Our thanks go out to Capt Bob Smith for his article and insight. For more information on his book, Becoming
a Firefighter: The Complete Guide to
Your Badge, and his entry level DVD/CD oral interview program
that has helped thousands of individuals to get the job of their
dreams (included in the Ultimate Firefighter Examination
Prep Package), go to our entry level fireman test products page.
Good luck!!
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
19.
Student Loans
Many institutions don’t list or qualify as eligible education
institutions when it comes to federal financial aid or financially eligible/accredited
programs or vocational schools (let them tell you no before making
assumptions).
Most private institutions do have a particular bank that is utilized
by their students; you may want to get in contact with them. Although
student loans though banks can be at a higher interest rate, they’re
still at a lower rate than credit cards.
One candidate wrote: I went through Wells Fargo PLATO loans. . I got
a great rate and it was very east and quick to get the money. Of
course, it all depends on your credit history. It’s also good
to have your credit cards just in case since there are so many things you
get nickel and dimed by in school.
http://www.wellsfargo.com/student/loans/undergrad/career.jhtml
Another candidate wrote: I highly recommend trying FAFSA first
it’s the cheapest route. By utilizing FAFSA I was able to get Pell
grants, the BOG (waives tuition) and still use my GI Bill.
Still more: If I had attended an eligible program, and received the
appropriate 1098-T form at year's end, I could have deducted up to $4000
off of my 2005 Adjusted Gross Income tax filing.
Another way to get in an academy is through http://www.trainingdivision.com
This is a home study program that you can complete on line at your time
schedule and then go to Texas for the hands on 2-3 week completion to
obtain your certificate. Cost? About $2,800.
Our thanks go out to Capt Bob Smith for his article and insight. For more information on his book, Becoming
a Firefighter: The Complete Guide to
Your Badge, and his entry level DVD/CD oral interview program
that has helped thousands of individuals to get the job of their
dreams (included in the Ultimate Firefighter Examination
Prep Package), go to our entry level fireman test products page.
Good luck!!
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
20.
What is in the heart of a firefighter?
What is at the heart of a firefighter?
What sets the firefighter apart from all others? And what brings us
together this evening?
A firefighter's heart is the heart of compassion. It is a heart of giving.
But Peace Corps workers are compassionate and giving.
It is a heart that wants to save lives. But surgeons do, too.
It is a heart with a yearning to produce meaningful acts on behalf of
society. And yet, social workers want this, too.
The firefighter's heart fills itself with raw courage at the very moment
when courage is most needed, a heart that will make the ultimate sacrifice
to do the right thing. But so, too, is it with our bravest soldiers.
It is a heart that accepts the burden of an entire community in its worst
moments, a heart that says, Yes, I will take your burden on my shoulders-I
will, in all humility, be your hero. But heroes come from the unlikeliest
of places, sometimes from outside the fire service.
The firefighter's heart is willing to place on the body incredible physical
demands, but surely no more so than an Olympic athlete.
So what is it? What makes the firefighter heart different?
It's hard to crystallize a metaphor that approximates true
"firefighter-ness" in the barest terms, but I think maybe we know
what it is deep down, and that is why we share these moments this evening,
not just to congratulate the new crop of leaders in the fire service - you
- but to share, in a show of solidarity, what really binds us together,
what links the souls of firefighters gone before us with the firefighters
present and firefighters yet to come.
This is not some editor's exercise in words. This is not Fire Philosophy
101. This is about the center.
We must find the center, all of us. In this self-discovery, we find the
energy for future actions of greatness. And it is in our future actions,
true to the center of this business, that we do the greatest honor to the
brave people of the fire service who sacrificed their lives doing what you
are about to do. We must honor them through our own daily actions. To do
otherwise would be to diminish the greatest of traditions, gained from the
blood, sweat, and tears of your predecessors.
You respond to all types of emergencies. You are Joe Citizen's
24-hour-a-day, seven-days-a-week emergency store. Your sirens will wail in
the day and in the night. You are the ever-present community security
blanket.
But even beyond this, what sets you at the highest level of giving and
self-sacrifice and courage and duty and lifesaving is the fact that you
perform your duty in the most uncontrolled environments known to man, where
lives, including your own, are in the balance and time is of the essence.
What sets you beyond law enforcement and the military and the social worker
in this regard is the simple fact that you can't talk down, or negotiate
with, or smother with kindness, a fire. You are dealing with an enemy that
cannot reason and has no conscience. You are dealing with an enemy that
only you and no other group-no other group-can deal with.
And the public expects it of you. The citizens expect you to control the
uncontrollable, this terrible thing that has no reason, no soul, no conscience. They are counting on you--and no one
else--in their darkest hours. This is the sacred trust. This is from where
your essence springs.
We are all just passing through this life. We are hearts and minds on a
huge and unfathomable continuum. How will you leave this for future
generations? In this life, as you graduate today, you become caretakers of
the sacred trust. And that is immensely important to the world.
By becoming a firefighter, you have assumed your place as a caretaker of
the noblest of traditions. You are the new caretakers.
This unspoken understanding transcends all geographic and natural
boundaries. It transcends all personal differences. It is our uniting
force. It is what makes a firefighter call another "brother" or
"sister" and why those words mean something different-something
more-when spoken from firefighter to firefighter than is the case with
anybody else in society.
It is what makes duty, honor, and self-sacrifice not the esoteric concepts
of an idealized yesterday but, rather, an unchangeable way of life, today.
And so we honor you, the graduates, this evening, not just because you
passed a curriculum but because it is now your honor and privilege and
responsibility to live out the sacred trust and, in doing so, do your part
to preserve and move forward the great fire service.
But it is not easy. Nothing good ever is. To be a caretaker is a great
responsibility. You can't take a break from it. You can't go on vacation
from it. Tonight, you enter the ranks of a service that will define you, and you it. Now it is part of you-forever. How will
you accept the challenge that lies ahead? How will you fulfill your role as
caretaker of the sacred trust?
Yes, tonight formalizes your acceptance of the responsibilities that come
with being a caretaker. Now you are responsible for doing everything
humanly possible to see to it that, while exercising your sworn duty, not
only you come home after shift but so, too, your brothers and sisters come
home with you.
You have accepted the responsibility to be the best firefighter you can be.
Anything less is a betrayal of yourself and, more importantly, this
service. This is not a job. It is a calling. Act like it.
You have accepted the responsibility of making your new organization better
because you're in it. That requires character. Character matters. Virtue
matters. Vows matter. Honor and integrity matter. It comes with the
territory, comes with being a caretaker of the trust.
But your responsibility is also a great gift. You have the future in your
hands. You have in your hands the ability to strengthen the future of the
greatest and noblest profession in the world. A great gift.
So I ask you, as you are here to celebrate your new beginning, never be
deterred in your commitment to the sacred trust. There will be forces
outside and even inside the fire service working against you. Be guided by
what is right. Be guided by what it means to live the sacred trust.
Be a leader. Leadership is not a function of gold horns or silver bars. It
is not won by promotion, but by development of character. Lead, but when
you follow, follow in the footsteps of those who carry the torch of the
sacred trust.
Train as if your life depends on it, because it does. Train for fire, your
greatest enemy. Talk fire. Think fire. Live fire. Never become complacent,
because there is not such thing as a routine incident until you're back in
the firehouse, safe.
Become a thinking firefighter, remembering that safety is not a word, not a
board or a tag or an OSHA regulation or an NFPA standard or a good
intention-safety is a learned behavior, an action that springs from
thinking firefighters who hold "the basics" close to them at all
times.
Let us learn the lessons of those who have gone before us. They speak to us
from beyond. And after we bow our heads for the 100 firefighters who die
each year in the line of duty, after our prayers, let us come up swinging,
aggressive in our pursuit of avenues that will support must be the first
order of business in this fire service: to increase response effectiveness
and make us operationally safer on the fireground.
It is incumbent upon us to do so, as caretakers of the trust.
Having assumed the responsibility of caretaker, make it count. You can do
no more, but you must do no less.
As an adopted son of the fire service, as a journalist fortunate enough to
have been given the opportunity to study this business from the inside, I
must tell you how proud and privileged I am to be associated with you, and
how much I admire you. The heart of a true firefighter is the heart of
greatness. A heart of greatness pumps within you, else you would not be
here tonight, accepting your role as caretakers.
Welcome to the greatest service on earth. I welcome you, the new caretakers
of the sacred trust. I wish you great success and happiness. God bless,
stay low, and be safe.
Thank you.
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
21.
What’s
it like around the station as a rookie firefighter?
Life around the
station as a rookie
My typical day as a rookie starts off at 4:30 am waking up before the sun
comes out. I rehearse my drill for the day prior to me leaving for
work. I arrive at the gate of my station at 5:10 Am and open
the gate, by 5:15 I enter the station and put up the 1st pot of coffee and
proceed to the bathroom to change over into uniform, from there I go back
to the kitchen put up the 2nd pot of coffee and proceed to the apparatus
floor to get my PPE in line, from there I go to the front office where I
check the journal to see yesterdays activities as well as check the
“new material” folder and the roster for the
day. Now its about 5:35 and I go put up
the flag and gather the newspaper and return to the kitchen and spread out
the newspaper in sections on the table. I then empty the dishes
from the washer and proceed back to the apparatus floor to check inventory
on all 4 apparatus (truck/engine/pump/RA). Now it’s around
6:15 and Members on my shift are arriving as well as members of the off
going shift are waking up. I make it a point to say good morning
to every member on coming and off going. Now its
around 6:25 and I go grab the other rookie so we can practice throwing
every single ladder as well as donning our SCBA for
time. Periodically between ladders I will go back into the
kitchen to put up more pots of coffee. 7:15 a.m. I practice my
daily drill with one of the senior firemen. 7:45 a.m. I proceed
to the kitchen to prepare for lineup which entails cleaning up the mess
that the senior firemen made from making breakfast. 8:00 a.m.
lineup in the kitchen with all members of my shift to go over the itinerary
for the day and discuss new material. 8:30 proceed to start
housework; I always make it a point to be the first one in the bathrooms
with my scrubber/bleach-water mix/comet etc. TIP: WHEN CLEANING
THE TOILETS INSTEAD OF FLUSHING THE SOAPY WATER DOWN THE TOILET ONCE
THEY’RE CLEAN, LEAVE THE SOAPY WATER IN THE BOWL, IT WILL SHOW THE
MEMBERS OF YOUR CREW THAT YOU DID THE TOILETS. 9:30 a.m. members
of my crew begin their daily exercise regiment, I
on the other hand am throwing ladders, doing daily/weekly/monthly checks of
our equipment or practicing for my drill. 10:30 a.m. off to the
store to gather materials for lunch/dinner. While at the store I
will be throwing ladder, giving mini drills on equipment, walking the roof,
or something practical. 11:30 a.m. help setup for
lunch. 12:00 p.m. lunch time, I am always the last to gather my
plate unless ordered otherwise and I usually take the smallest
portion. Even though I’m the last to sit down and eat,
I’m always the 1st to get up and get in the suds. Do I eat
so fast that I don’t even taste the food most of the time, answer is probably. I do dishes till the cook for the
day calls for a “game for dishes” which entails some card or
dice game where I will intentionally lose because at the end of the game do
you think its good to see the rookie at the table while his captains are in
the suds…HELL NO….After lunch I will help the A/O or other
senior firefighters with projects that need to be completed around the
station/apparatus. Around 2 p.m. I will give my drill in front
of all 12 members of my station at once (this is the most nerve wracking
part). Around 3 p.m. I will pull out
the tool that I will have to give a drill on next shift and start playing
around with it. 4:30 p.m. I will clean up the kitchen and help
the cook if he needs it to prepare the meal for the night. 6:00
p.m. same routine as lunch, I’m the last to get my portion of food
and the first to get done and then automatic in the suds. 7:00
p.m. I will help the A/O wipe down the truck and then help the both
engineers wipe down both engines. 8:00 p.m. I will either pull
out another tool to learn, throw some ladders, read the volumes, or prepare
for my next shifts drill. 10:00 do a final cleanup of the station picking
up any residual trash, doing the dishes again, inventory of the
truck. 1:00 a.m. – 1:30 a.m. I finally go to sleep when
the last member of my crew has gone to sleep. 5:30 a.m. the next
morning I am up putting up the coffee, cleaning up, throwing ladders with
the oncoming shift rookie. 8:00 a.m. I finally leave the
station.
This is just a “rough base” of what to expect as a rookie
around the station. Remember this daily routine doesn’t
include all of the calls you run and the questions/tasks you are expected
to know or perform when asked to about SOP’s or TOOL knowledge.
Oh yeah in addition the “GAMES” that the senior firefighters
like to play with the rookie at whatever time of the day/night they
please.
More advice
What you do when
you first start out will set your reputation and follow you throughout your
career. If you don’t start out on the right foot, they will show you
the door. The crew already knows more about you before you show up than you
think.
Use these standards during station visits, your interview process, and as a
new rookie to demonstrate you already know what to do when hired:
You’re a snotty nose rookie. Keep your mouth shut. Be cordial,
friendly and humble. You have no time or opinion until you earn it. You
can’t force it. That will come with a lot of calls and a few fires.
Cell phones are causing problems for candidates and rookies. I can’t
believe the stories I’m hearing. Candidates are carrying their cell
phones and pagers to written tests. A candidate was in a department academy
and his cell phone starts to ring. He told the training officer, can you
hold on a minute, I have a call. Yeah, right. The training officer told the
class the next time he hears a cell phone go off, they were going to play
who can throw the cell phone the furthest.
On an emergency call, the BC was trying to raise dispatch without success
on the radio. The rookie took his cell phone, speed dialed dispatch and
handed his cell phone to the BC. Cute? Smart? Innovative? That’s not
the reception he received.
Rookies are carrying their cell phones and pagers on duty. Their phone
rings, they answer it and go right into cell yell with their friends and
relatives. Wives, girl friends and dysfunctional others call all day long
with important stuff and to do pillow talk.
Cell phones are ringing in locker rooms. Some try to be cool by putting
their cell phones and pagers on vibrate or stun. Even though they might not
answer them when they go off, they still pick them up to check the caller
ID or the text message. Then when they think no one is looking, they slip
off and return the call. THIS IS DUMB! These are not part of your emergency
issue.
This will not get you off on the right foot. Big clue here. Leave the
electronic leashes off and in your vehicle, along with your piercings, until a time where all your duties are
complete. No matter what you might think and how friendly everyone seems to
be, you are being watched! It could hurt you big time. If you have an emergency situation, ask
your officer if you can carry your phone because you are expecting an
emergency call.
Call your new captain before your first shift and ask if he wants you to
bring anything in. Bring a peace offering of donuts and desert your first
day. Homemade is best. Arrive early and ask the off-going firefighter what
you should know at that station. Your new captain should meet with you to
outline his expectations. If not, ask him.
Unless you’re told differently, put up and don’t forget to take
down the flag. If the phone or the doorbell rings,
make sure you’re the first one running to answer it. There will be
certain duties on each day of the week. Tuesday could be laundry day,
Saturday yards. Keep track. Stay busy around the station. Always be in a
clean proper uniform. Always be ready to get on the rig and respond.
Check out the gear on the rig each morning. Make sure the O2 gauge and the
reserve bottle shows enough to handle a long EMS call.
Firefighters usually have “their” place to sit at the table and
in front of the TV. Don’t hog the newspaper. The off-going shift has
the first crack at the newspaper. You probably have probation tests.
Don’t park yourself in front of the TV; you have a test coming up.
Stay busy. No matter what the atmosphere, you’re being watched.
Although you might be a good cook, don’t volunteer to cook until
asked or rotated in. Make sure your meals are on time. The old adage
“Keep them waiting long enough and they will eat anything”
doesn’t apply here. Be the last one to serve your plate. Don’t
load up your plate the first time around. Wait to go for seconds.
Always have your hands in the sink doing the dishes after a meal. Be moving
out with the garbage and mopping the kitchen floor after each meal. Learn how to help the officer complete
response reports.
Don’t tell jokes until you’re accepted.
Don’t gossip.
Don’t play “your” music on the radio. Don’t be a
stupid generation X’er or Y’er and always ask why when told to do
something. Help others with their assignments when you finish yours.
Ask how you’re doing. Volunteer for assignments. Keep track of these
to present at your evaluations.
Don’t start pulling hose and other equipment at a scene until
the captain tells you.
Always get off the rig before it backs up. Stand to the rear side to guide
the rig. Never turn your back on the backing up rig.
It’s not uncommon to move to one or more stations during your
probation. At your new station, don’t act like you already have time.
Unfortunately, you have to start all over again as the new rookie.
You will have an elated feeling rolling out on your first calls. There is
nothing like it. It could last your whole career. Enjoy and savor it. You
earned it. You’re the last of America’s Heroes.
I miss it.
Our thanks go out to Capt Bob Smith for his article and insight. For more information on his book, Becoming
a Firefighter: The Complete Guide to
Your Badge, and his entry level DVD/CD oral interview program
that has helped thousands of individuals to get the job of their dreams (included
in the Ultimate Firefighter Examination Prep Package), go to our
entry level fireman test products page. Good luck!!
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
22.
New Rookies tips for success
Just some ideas
/ thoughts to help a probationary firefighter succeed once they get accepted
into the recruit academy:
1. Always have at least one
pen on you at all times. You can't go wrong getting on of the pens and
clipping it to your t-shirt collar. You'll need a pen for writing down
information on calls and for taking notes. Nothing more embarrassing than
having to ask someone to borrow a pen.
2. Always have a watch with a
second hand and one that glows in the dark. Besides needing it for taking
vital signs once you're on the line, it is not a nice-to-have, but a
need-to-have. You'll never know when you will need it, but if you don't
have one, it is pretty embarrassing having to tell the person asking you to
time something or what time is it, "I don't have a watch." Go to
Costco (or a similar store) and buy a heavy duty, waterproof watch. I still
have the same one that I bought in my academy 10 years ago, it works great.
3. Don't rely on your PERS (or
other similar government retirement plan) to cover your retirement costs.
As we are seeing now, our governor is attempting to alter/modify/delete our
current plan. What we see today may not be the same when it comes time to
retire. Continue to save, save, save for that rainy day.
4. Going with number 3 above,
max out your deferred compensation plan from the first day you get hired.
Once again, your government pension that you are promised upon retirement
(which can be 90 to 100% of your last year's salary, depending on where you
work), will look great the first five or so years after retirement, but it
will not take long for that retirement paycheck to not look so good because
of inflation, medical costs, and other related costs you will incur as you
get older. Maxing out your deferred comp from day one is the smartest idea
because you get used to not seeing the money. Trying to do it after you've
been accustomed to a certain salary and way of life is almost impossible.
Plus, understanding about how money and interest compounds/multiplies will make you want to do so as early as possible
in your career.
I hear the same old complaints from our probies
"I can't afford to put any money in deferred comp,
I'll get to it later." Yeah right, you will. Denial is not a river in
Egypt......
5. Be nice to EVERY ONE you
meet, whether they are in uniform or not. You never know who they might be
and it is just the right thing to do.
6. Start learning the names
and positions/assignments of all of the chiefs, all of the officers, and
all of the firefighters that work in your new department. Why? Because it
is the right thing to do and because you'll need to know them at some point
anyway, why not start now? The sooner you start, the easier it will be,
especially in larger departments. If you get hired by, say LAFD, with over
3,000 members, good luck. Do the best you can. Also start learning the
names of the administrative personnel (secretaries, etc.) that you come in
contact with during training, the hiring process, etc. They will assist you
at some point in your career, start learning who
they are, what they do, and how they can help you.
7. A good way to do number 6
above is to get a hold of a fire department yearbook (if that department
has produced one) or some other document with pictures on it.
8. If you meet someone new for
the first time (and there will be a lot of first times - you'll feel like
an Alzheimer's patient for a while), take the time to extend your hand,
shake their hand, and say something to the effect of "hello, my name
is John Smith, I am one of the new probationary firefighters (or whatever
your dept. calls you), I am pleased to meet you." Hopefully they will
provide their name, if they don't, try to tactfully ask that question and
then throw in something to the effect of "where do you work and what
is your assignment." Some people might call that kissing butt, I think it is just common courtesy. Realize every
department is different and this may not be accepted practice in some
departments.
9. Realize that you will not
have much (if any) available sick or vacation time. That said,
try to keep the hobbies to a minimum that might injure you (skiing,
motorcycling, snowboarding, etc.). If you don't have the time to use as
sick leave, there is no requirement they have to keep your
job. Wait the 12 to 18 months for probation to finish if you do
something that has a high risk of injury.
Also, try not to plan any big trips. You won't have much vacation and some
departments don't even allow trades or minimize trades for probies. In some departments, it is frowned upon for probies to take trades. Know your department’s
culture.
10. Learn as much as you can
about your new department. Besides learning the names and ranks of
personnel, learn about the history and about every possible thing you can.
This information can be found out primarily just by showing interest and
talking with the firefighters you work with. Most will love to talk about
the history with you. Other good sources include department history books,
yearbooks, the internet, a fire dept. museum (if they have one), each fire
station itself, etc.
It seems to me that many probies don't seem to
care about the history (or at least they don't seem aggressive in learning
about the history) of a dept. these days. History is there for a reason -
we can learn from history and it also helps you talk with and understand people since history is contained every day in our
conversations in some form or fashion.
11. If it is appropriate in your
dept., try to attend EVERY department function. These can include: Holiday
parties, union meetings, barbeques, recognition dinners, retirement
dinners, etc. This is a great way to meet more of the personnel you have
not yet met, to meet some of the retirees, to learn more about how the
department operates, and to just be more involved to your department.
12. When appropriate, get
involved. Many departments don't allow (or like) probies
to get involved on committees, etc., but that doesn't mean you can't start
learning about the different committees so you can start planting the seeds
for when you get off probation. We are all looking for our members to get
involved in some form or fashion.
13. Always have a full set of
spare street clothes in your car, as well as numerous pieces of dept.
clothing. When I got hired, I purchased 10 t-shirts and 2 to 3 each of
sweatshirts, sweat pants, sweat shorts, etc. You're going to get stinky and
dirty, and you'll want a clean change of clothes since you might not be
able to launder your clothes every night after the academy.
14. While you're driving to the
academy each day, and going to lunch with your classmates (assuming your
dept. allows that), don't drive with your blinders on. Start learning the
streets, the target hazards, etc. What a great way to start learning your
way around town. On that note, try to spend your money (food, gas, snacks,
etc.) in the dept.'s jurisdiction. Besides having the money go back to the
city (that you'll indirectly benefit from in the long run), you'll get to
learn the areas. This will come in handy.
15. On the same lines of number
14, buy a street map of your new dept.'s jurisdictional boundaries. Mark
each fire station on the map and include the assigned apparatus. What a
great way to learn where each fire station is and what units are assigned
to each station. This will be a necessity. The last thing you want to do is
get your station assignment and say "can you tell me how to get
there?" That doesn't make you look to good.
Also, take the time to highlight each main target hazard (schools,
hospitals, shopping centers, large companies, major transit centers, city
buildings, etc.). Besides having to respond to them on calls, you'll
probably be tested on them as well.
Additionally, highlight the primary streets so you can
start memorizing them. Then do the secondary streets, etc.
Keep this map with you at all times and then with you when you work at the
stations to study.
16. Learn the address of each
station (if you're hired by LAFD, good luck). This will teach you basic
address schemes (such as odd numbers are on the north and east side of the
street and even numbers are on the south and the west side of the street)
of the city and will start you learning your streets (which most
departments require and test you on). Once you learn the street name, learn
the cross street as well. And then which way the numbers progress on the
street.
Remember that it is tough to learn everything all at once. However, if you
start small, at the time you get hired, and then think of it as
"building blocks," you'll be surprised at how much you will learn
and retain.
17. Always have spare money with
you in case you forget your wallet. Try to keep a bunch of coins in your
car, and also some small bills (in case you forget your wallet and need
food, bridge toll, etc.). Go a step further and put some coins and money in
a water tight container and carry it on your turnouts. This will be good
once you get on line and are coming back from a 5 am run and you have just
had your first trash fire and the captain tells you, "oh, your first
trash fire? Perfect, you can buy us donuts." Instead of saying
"can I borrow some money, my wallet is at the station?" You can
say, no problem, I have money in my turnouts.
18. If you have extra uniforms,
keep at least one shirt/pants in your vehicle in a secure space. Chances
are you'll get the one you're wearing dirty at some point and need a clean
set. Don't keep them visible because some thief would love to get their
hands on it....
19. Always have a toiletries kit
in your vehicle. I remember one probie asking me
(when he was working at the station), "Cap, can I borrow your
deodorant since I forgot mine?" I prefer the roll on deodorant and
what do you think my answer was? NO!!! That's almost as bad as
asking to borrow a toothbrush or towels. Oof.
20. Last, but not least (at
least for now), if you are issued a probie binder
to get things signed off in, make copies of it on a regular basis. One of
our probies lost (actually his car was broken
into and they took the book and some turnouts) his book a couple of years
ago - the one that had almost 18 months of probie
sign-offs completed. He did not have a copy in a secure location. He was
dancing around for a while and quite nervous until he was told it was ok.
This could have easily gone against him.
Hope that helps you be successful. I have plenty
more ideas and I'll post them here as I get the time.
Steve Prziborowski, Captain
www.chabotfire.com
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
23.
Station Visits - Is It Necessary?
Question:
I said that I would always
visit a station when I heard a story of a guy who entered an interview and
was ask did you visit any of our stations and get the information packet
that admin made up? This sounded like a sure fire
way to NOT be successful. But after testing a lot it becomes a serious pain
in the butt.
I know I will catch a lot of flack for saying that. But think about
it, if you take all the tests you can because you really want the job, you
could potentially have to visit like 3 or 4 different departments in a
month. And it is the same routine over time. Call admin for a stations #,
then call the station and explain you would like to visit to ask questions
on the dept/personnel/training/equipment.
And, you must not show up empty handed (unwritten rule). At my dept
last time we tested we had people showing up left and right. Some brought
stuff, some didn't. It really did not seem to bother anyone. This one guy
in particular who sat down with us and really gave me a good feeling did
not get hired. I doubt the oral board even had a clue that he visited the
station and all the information he gathered did not benefit him because I
saw the interview questions. So my question is this. Are we just like the
Mayor running for office and trying to show our faces around and
campaign??? What about the buddy system when visiting stations?? Is this
looked upon poorly?? Thanks in advance.
Captain Bob's Reply:
Good Points
Yea, it's not a day at the beach. But, it can be used in part of your
answer on what you have done to prepare for the position; that you have
been by some of the stations and what you observed; enthusiasm, skills,
dedication, willingness to be of service to those trying to become
firefighters.
You can also learn something unique about the department that few if
any of the other candidates can say in their oral i.e. did you know that
San Jose has dry drum hydrants?
More than one candidate was stumped in their oral when they were
asked, "Did you get by any of our stations and pick up the oral board
packet?"
Our thanks go out to Capt Bob Smith for his article and insight. For more information on his book, Becoming
a Firefighter: The Complete Guide to
Your Badge, and his entry level DVD/CD oral interview program
that has helped thousands of individuals to get the job of their
dreams (included in the Ultimate Firefighter Examination
Prep Package), go to our entry level fireman test products page.
Good luck!!
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
24.
Lateral
The biggest problem I've seen on oral boards with seasoned veterans
taking entry level or lateral tests is they can't place themselves in the
position they are applying for; that of being a snotty nose rookie. They
try to hammer the oral board with their credentials thinking the board will
just hand them the job. Their oral board's skills are rusty and antiquated.
It's hard for them to remember how it was to be a rookie.
This is a delicate balance here. Leave your time and rank in your
locker. You must be humble, place yourself in the rookie position and build
a natural bridge to present your education, experience and integrity to the
oral board panel. Without this bridge, you're dead meat. This is not easy
for many seasoned candidates. An attitude adjustment is needed. Attitude is
a small thing that can make the big difference. Remember the position you're
applying.
The seasoned veteran candidate can roar past any of the other candidates
if his attitude and game plan is in place.
I think this says it all:
It was five years ago that I first visited www.Firecareers.com It
was how I found and landed my first job at a small career department, and
served for four and a half years. The entire time I wanted to
make the lateral move to my hometown dept.--a larger city, more opportunities,
Paramedic and tech. rescue opportunities...But I was a bone
head. I thought because I was already on the job elsewhere, I
could waltz through the process, and to some extent I did--all the way to
the Chief's interview twice, but never got the call. Laterals, my advice to you is this: we are our own worst
enemies...you think you are a good judge of your interview skills, trust me
you're not. Don't be a bonehead like me and go
through the process twice before getting help from professionals like
Captain Rob and Captain Bob at www.eatstress.com
Think this is some baloney sell-out
advertisement? Well, all I can say is after five years of trying, my recruit academy starts in two
weeks. You be the judge.
Our thanks go out to Capt Bob Smith for his article and insight. For more information on his book, Becoming
a Firefighter: The Complete Guide to
Your Badge, and his entry level DVD/CD oral interview program
that has helped thousands of individuals to get the job of their
dreams (included in the Ultimate Firefighter Examination
Prep Package), go to our entry level fireman test products page.
Good luck!!
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
25.
What
if you don't Pass the Medical?
Pre-employment medical examinations must comply with the Federal
Americans with Disabilities Act and in California with the California Fair
Employment Act Section 7294.0(d) of title 2 of the California Code of
Regulations states:
(2) Where the results of such medical examination would result
in disqualification, an applicant or employee may submit independent
medical opinions for consideration before a final determination on
disqualification is made.
What this states is that if you have not passed a medical or
psychological test that was part of a medical, you should be given the
chance to obtain a second opinion. Cities and agencies might not be aware
of this law. Most people are unaware that they can appeal the decision.
Candidates will say they don’t want to pursue this option
because it might ruin any chance that this city might call them back in the
future, or will cause problems applying to other agencies. Although the way
to law is written, you can qualify for a list on an agency over and over
again, UNDERSTAND that if you are eliminated from the process because of a
medical or psychological test this agency will NEVER consider you again!
The time to act is now! And, there are no black lists out there of those
candidates who try to get a position that is rightfully theirs.
If you take advantage of the law and have a qualified attorney
represent you in obtaining a favorable second medical or psychological
opinion you could be reinstated. Do not attempt this without an attorney.
Attorney Claudia Baldwin 510-536-3500 has helped several candidates who
have had problems in this area.
If you are trying to get a second opinion on a medical, get a
recognized expert in the field you are contesting. When my Son Rob was
taking his medical, the blood work turned up some questionable numbers. We
obtain an appointment with the leading blood specialist in the San
Francisco area. He determined that the numbers were caused by a recent flu
episode. He wrote a letter that cleared up the issue and Rob went on to get
his badge.
This is how this process can work. A psychologist just re-evaluated a
candidate for an agency that did not pass his first psychological test.
This doctor found him suitable for the position.
If you were conditionally offered the position on passing the medical
and your second opinion fulfills that requirement then you are entitled to
the job. Not just to be put back on the list. They have to give you your
badge! Several of our candidates have done just that.
The defense rests!
Getting the job of your dreams is like winning the lottery!
Our thanks go out to Capt Bob Smith for his article and insight. For more information on his book, Becoming
a Firefighter: The Complete Guide to
Your Badge, and his entry level DVD/CD oral interview program
that has helped thousands of individuals to get the job of their
dreams (included in the Ultimate Firefighter Examination
Prep Package), go to our entry level fireman test products page.
Good luck!!
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
26.
Pre-Existing
Problems
If you have a pre-existing medical problem or a
serious issue in your background, do yourself a favor and find out early if
it will interfere with getting a firefighter job.
All to often I receive calls asking "What do
I do now?" These candidates have spent time and money gaining
education, experience and put their life's on hold
trying to get this job; when they have an pre-existing medical problem or
traceable background problem that would keep them badge less.
Situations like not just one but two DUI's.
Knee surgery with scars. Back surgery that would
show in an X-ray (yes, they are going to X-ray your back) and/or be part of
your records with your doctor and insurance company.
Take the poison early. If you have the slightest concern for a medical
problem, have the leading expert in this field of medicine (no, not your
family doctor) evaluate your condition. If they feel you're fit for duty,
have them give you a letter.
If you have a DUI, an arrest or other black mark on your record, see if it
can be expunged (Sealed). For other potential problems in your background,
have a brief reasonable explanation of the situation.
You don't want to be like a candidate who called last week who had a
pre-existing medical problem. They called him Friday for a medical Tuesday.
Monday was a holiday. He had kept his head in the sand in denial when he
knew the medical call was the next step. He didn't have many options prior
to his medical.
The time to find out is now; before you're going for all the marbles.
Author: futureff
Subject: re: expungement
Capt. Bob is right. I had a DUI, had it expunged and am going through
backgrounds right now. My background
packets states list all convictions, however, do
not include convictions which have been expunged. So it pays to do the leg
work and clean up your history. Good luck to you all.
P.S. When records are expunged, they are not sealed. The only way one can
have his/her conviction(s) sealed is if the conviction(s) happened when
that person was under the age of 18 when the conviction occurred. Even when
the conviction is expunged, you still have to disclose the conviction;
however, you need not disclose it if the application/form/packet
specifically states expunged convictions need not be listed. Trust me, I have done a lot of research on this issue.
Our thanks go out to Capt Bob Smith for his article and insight. For more information on his book, Becoming
a Firefighter: The Complete Guide to
Your Badge, and his entry level DVD/CD oral interview program
that has helped thousands of individuals to get the job of their
dreams (included in the Ultimate Firefighter Examination
Prep Package), go to our entry level fireman test products page.
Good luck!!
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
27.
Recommendation
Letters
Question: Will it help to present letters of recommendations from
prominent people, such as a former police chief or my Priest or other
firemen in the area? Will it carry any weight at all?
Reply: On most oral boards, the raters are from other
departments. It is my experience that although the raters might
thumb through and glance at any attached documents they seldom if ever read
them. And come on, if you're going to attach a letter of
recommendation, its not going to say anything bad but only glowing words about you. Save a tree, the raters will
not read these volumes. Don’t send us on a treasure hunt to find your
great stuff.
I'm a one-page resume guy for entry level without a cover letter, not in a
binder or folder. Do not give us a book. We will not read it. Write it
believing the raters won’t go past the first page. You can put any
supporting details, documents, certificates and if it will help you sleep
better and letters of recommendation following the first page. Keep it
simple.
Question: If you are going to attach any letters of recommendation
following the first page how many is appropriate. I am thinking
maybe two. I realize that there is a very good chance they won't
read it but wouldn't it still look just a little better to have a couple of
them?
Reply: How about none! Again, I'm a one page stand
alone resume guy. Don't give me a book. And, if you
have already listed your education, experience and certs
on your application and resume, why do you need to attached
them; unless they were requested or you're going to a chiefs interview
where there is more time with each candidate.
Many entry level and promotional candidates have told me they were
complemented on having just one, as in one page only, resume.
As you know everyone becomes an expert on these issues. They will fill you
head with all these crazy ideas and stuff. And because "They Said"
(I've been trying to find "they" for 30 years) you needed to have
all that extra stuff or the other candidates are going to get ahead of
you. So, how is all this extra stuff going to help you,
really? Keep it Simple.
From interview rater Captain Steve Prziborowski:
I'm with Captain Bob on this one - leave them at
home! Personally, letters of recommendation really aren't worth
much because it is very easy to get them (in my opinion and experience) and
they're like a verbal recommendation of someone. Many times,
people will say how great you are either to get rid of you or because they
really don't know the true you.
On an oral panel, they don't have the time to look at them
either. Every oral panel I have been on (on either side), there
has usually not been much room for the rater's to utilize. There
is usually a cramped table space with enough room for a rating sheet, and
then maybe your application and/or resume, that's it.
You're getting graded at the oral for things you say, not for things that
are written down. Remember if you don't say it, you probably
won't get full credit for it. Dimensions you're getting graded
on during oral interviews include oral communication, NOT written
communication.
If the rater's are reading your paperwork, they're not listening to you -
and that can be bad (remember if you didn't say it in the oral, you're not
going to get full credit for it, even if it is on your resume). Having to
read your resume and application while trying to make notes and comments on
your rating sheet and keep their ears open to make sure you say all of the
key phrases, buzz words, etc. is challenging enough. Throwing more
paperwork in front of them (letters of recommendations, certifications,
etc.) just convolutes the issue.
About the only time to include a letter of recommendation might be during
the chief's oral (even that is an iffy time). Personally, if I
was a chief, I really wouldn't put much weight on a letter of
recommendation (and I know many chiefs that agree with me).
In my opinion, letters are letters. Whether they are from your boss, a
friend, an acquaintance, etc. Whether they are saying how awesome you
supposedly are, how great you performed at an event, etc.
Extra, unnecessary paperwork, that just takes away from what you're being
graded for. During a background investigation, unless they ask
for it, I wouldn't provide it. The background investigator has
enough to deal with than have more paperwork.
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
28.
Don't
Ever Say Pay or Benefits!
Most of us, if not all of us want to become firefighters for the same
reasons: good money, good benefits, good work schedule, job security,
etc.....
To those of you that have scored a 95+ on an oral: Have you ever
answered the above to the famous oral question: "Why do you want to become
a Firefighter" and actually receive a good oral score using an answer
of pay or benefits?
For a lot of us this is the number one reason, however we might not
feel comfortable saying this.
Anyone who has the nerve to give any answer of pay, benefits or work
schedule is committing instant suicide!
It's an unwritten law. We know it on the oral board, but don't tell
us. Sitting on a board, I can't believe candidates would still say those
things. You're stepping on a land mine here. If anyone has received a good
score from that answer, it was a fluke.
It's better to use your own signature story of what sparked interest
to be a firefighter. That is an answer they have never heard.
One of our candidates gave that answer about pay and benefits during
coaching. He had great credentials; had taken over thirty tests. We
suggested he not use that answer and some others. Three days later, he took
his oral on the last Stockton test. He got his best score and position
ever. Guess where he works?
Our thanks go out to Capt Bob Smith for his article and insight. For more information on his book, Becoming
a Firefighter: The Complete Guide to
Your Badge, and his entry level DVD/CD oral interview program
that has helped thousands of individuals to get the job of their dreams (included
in the Ultimate Firefighter Examination Prep Package), go to our
entry level fireman test products page. Good luck!!
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
29.
Using
Humor in an Interview
Unless you’re a humorous person, don’t plan on laying
something funny on the panel. I’ve seen people that weren’t
funny to begin with try to include humor in a presentation. It bombed. How
would you feel in that situation if the room went dead silent and everyone
just stared at you? What if this humor was your opening statement?
This happened to Ted. He said it threw off his timing and confidence
and he really never recovered. If something funny happens naturally during
your interview or presentation, that’s a gift. Don’t plan on it
happening.
You sure
don’t want to have this happen in your interview.
Along with answering the questions correctly and having enthusiasm,
it is important to keep a smooth flow during your interview. We
have all been at a party where a group of guys are standing around telling
jokes and laughing. Then somebody says something that
doesn’t quite fit and the mood is gone, there is that uncomfortable
silence.
One of the places I have seen this is when someone is asked a question
like, "What if you are on duty and a co-worker smells like marijuana
smoke?" The candidate, thinking he will get extra points
for being innocent, says, "Well, I don’t know what marijuana
smells like." Then there is that uncomfortable
silence. You see, the oral board wanted to find out how the
candidate would handle a drug problem in the work place. Now they have to
explain that he does know what it smells like, and pick back up with the
interview. But he never regains the smooth flow.
Another candidate, when asked if he had anything to add, or any questions
for the panel, said "I just wanted to know if you could think of any
mistakes I might make in training, after I get hired, so I can avoid
them?" This was met with the opened mouths of the interview
panel, they didn’t know what to
say. He had taken an excellent interview and just flushed it. The
last impression they had of him was that he might be kind of goofy.
In both of these situations, the person had done something they thought
would make them stand out. Well it did, but not the way any of
us would want. Don’t try any funny stuff in the interview.
It is just too hard to recover if it goes bad.
The best way to keep a smooth, steady flow is to practice, talk into a tape
player, talk in your car on the way to
work. Do mock interviews. Jump at any chance you have to be
speaking your stuff. Get to the point that it is like pushing
play on a tape player.
So when you go in for your next interview, you can relax and be
yourself. Getting to the point that your script is so well
memorized, that there is no way you could forget
any of it. It can make a big difference. Even if they
don’t ask all of the questions you have prepared. It is just the way
you carry yourself when you know you have done all you can to be
ready. It is a great feeling.
Our thanks go out to Capt Bob Smith for his article and insight. For more information on his book, Becoming
a Firefighter: The Complete Guide to
Your Badge, and his entry level DVD/CD oral interview program
that has helped thousands of individuals to get the job of their
dreams (included in the Ultimate Firefighter Examination
Prep Package), go to our entry level fireman test products page.
Good luck!!
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
30.
Multiple job offers
As tough as it
is to get this job, candidates don't believe me when I tell them they could
expect multiple job offers. It's not uncommon to get two job offers. It is
my opinion and experience to go forward with both (no don't let them know
of each other unless they ask) and make the final decision as the process unfolds.
Make sure you have the job offer in writing in you hot little hands before
you make your decision. Don't be surprised if both departments
send you to the same psych doctor.
You never know what's going to happen in the hiring process. Follow each job
offer until the end of the process. If you like one department better and
tell the other one goodbye, what are you going to do if the one you likes
doesn't hire you?
One candidate got 3 job offers in 8 days. He went forward in all 3, then made his decision.
More helpful advice…
How would you like this dilemma?
Captain Bob,
I have followed some of your advice on past bulletin boards and agree
with you completely on all aspects of the fire service.
Here is my situation: I applied for and was accepted to paramedic
school a month ago. I am now three weeks into class of a 10 1/2 month
course. I am very excited about the opportunity of becoming a fire medic. I
have 5 years volunteer experience and have a FF 1 certification.
And now, I am #1 on list for a job as a Firefighter and in the
psychological and medical phase. All I have to do is pass these simple
procedures and I will be offered the job. Do I take the job or pass on the
opportunity and finish school? Any advice or insight would be helpful.
Reply:
You're probably going to medic school to become a firefighter, right?
Then, take the job offer NOW!
The week my Son Rob was to start Daniel Freeman paramedic program, he
was offered a job. He took the job. He has never regretted it.
BEWARE! The psychological is not a simple procedure! Over forty
percent of candidates fail the psych. Don't take the psychological until
you read our Special Report "Conquer the Psychological
Interview".
See if you can put your medic program on hold. Once you get off
probation you can complete the program. Your department might pay the cost.
Our thanks go out to Capt Bob Smith for his article and insight. For more information on his book, Becoming
a Firefighter: The Complete Guide to
Your Badge, and his entry level DVD/CD oral interview program
that has helped thousands of individuals to get the job of their
dreams (included in the Ultimate Firefighter Examination
Prep Package), go to our entry level fireman test products page.
Good luck!!
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
31.
Review exams
Hello, I currently live in Northeast Ohio and have
been taking fire tests around this area. I was wondering if you had any
information on looking over the exams after I take them. I notice that some
cities will let me review the exam I have taken and some do not. Can you provide any insight into what I
should do?
If you have the opportunity to review your exam, we
absolutely recommend that you do so.
This will give you insight into your weak areas so that you can
focus your studies on those areas.
In many states, there are 2 or 3 test consultants giving
examinations and the same exam is given time and time again. Anytime you have the opportunity to
review your exam, take it and learn from it.
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
32.
Need
some advice about joining the military
This is a tough one, any
help would be greatly appreciated. I am 25 and just recently got hired as a
part time firefighter with a small bay area fire department,
I have my E.M.T, FFI academy and some other certs
as well. I love the fire service, I know this is what I want to do as a career,
but I also have always wanted to be in the military. My question is this,
would I be stupid to give all this up and put it on hold for three or four
years to go join the military? By
the time I got out I would be 28 or 29, I know that's not old but would
everyone else be passing me by in those three or four years? I'm not sure
what to do, I feel pulled in both directions. I know that there are a lot
of wise people in here that could maybe shed some light on the subject.
Thanks for the help in advance.
Helpful advice
1.
If
you want to be in the military, the time is probably better NOW than later
in your life.
2. Put yourself at
50 years old (I know, hard to do for all of us, including myself) - if you
choose NOT to go into the military, and become a firefighter instead, will
this decision to not go into the military be something that you are going
to be regretting for the rest of your life? Are you going to be
second-guessing the decision not to do it? If so, that might help.
3. Yes, you could
put off being a firefighter for 4 or so years. Getting hired in your early
30's is not that uncommon and not that impossible to do. If you have a
clean military record, and stay up on your oral interview skills, testing
skills, EMT skills, etc., then you can probably still remain very
competitive upon completion of the military and look like a valuable
commodity to a department.
4. Here is the
part that really needs to be considered. Are fire jobs going to be more
plentiful in 4 or so years? Hard to say - I don't think there are
necessarily going to be more jobs. With budgets the way they are right now,
most departments are doing their best to stay afloat and keep what they
have (as opposed to adding more staffing, stations, etc. - very few, very
few communities are able to do this now and I venture that won't change in
4 or so years). That said, now is just as good as a time as any to get
hired as a firefighter.
Getting hired now will mean 4 more years of seniority. Also, if the
Governor does what he wants to our pension system starting in 2007 (I know,
that plan might change), anyone hired after that date would not have the
same pension that we are afforded today (and hopefully will keep until
death do us part). Now, if he is successful with messing with the pensions
of future firefighters, that does open the door to
mess with our current system in the future as well. Then we're all in the
same boat potentially.
Another item to think about is lost money. When I say lost, I mean in 4
years as a firefighter, you'll be making say an average of $50,000 per year
without overtime or not being a medic (I know, I'm being very conservative
and not taking into account total compensation). I'm just trying to pick an
easy number. I know you won't make that much in the military. Now life is
not about money as much as it is happiness. In the 4 years you're a
firefighter, you might be able to afford a house (assuming you don't have
one now) or at least be able to save a good amount towards a down payment.
Being in the military won't allow you to do that (yes, you may get special
benefits to buy a home, but I'm not an expert there).
Education wise, if you don't have your 2 year degree in fire completed
(which I hope you're aspiring to do to make yourself competitive) by the time
you go in, it will be tough to complete while in the military and the
requirements may even change by the time you get out.
Anyway, that's about all I can think of for now, hope it helps. Good luck
in whatever path you decide on!
Steve Prziborowski
www.chabotfire.com
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
33.
Background
Investigators
The following information was posted on a firefighter bulletin
board. The author is unknown. The information is not
verified. Use it only food for thought:
To those curious to know if we background investigators share
information the answer is yes. It does depend on the individual agency
however.
Some have strict guideline as to what information can be shared with
other investigators. Our purpose as background investigators is to gather
information on a potential firefighter, "good" and
"negative" information.
A good aggressive background investigator will dig deep into a
candidate’s life and look for things to disqualify a candidate. We as
background investigators want to eliminate the "BAD SEEDS" before
they get into a fire department.
This does not mean that a firefighter candidate has to lead the
"Perfect Life", just don't do anything stupid to get yourself in
trouble.
Remember to use your best judgment when completing a background packet.
If you do not put that you were backgrounded for
another agency and the investigator finds out, you will definitely be
disqualified.
Captain Bob's reply:
To my knowledge, there is no black list that would reveal if you had a
background with another department and failed. However, most credit
reports show who has made an inquiry on your report. These reports
aren't usually obtained by the city though, but by another company on the
cities request.
I'm not sure I would list a department that I was DQ'd
in background. I wouldn't want to give them ammunition to shoot me
with again. Why create the trail?
Our thanks go out to Capt Bob Smith for his article and insight. For more information on his book, Becoming
a Firefighter: The Complete Guide to
Your Badge, and his entry level DVD/CD oral interview program
that has helped thousands of individuals to get the job of their
dreams (included in the Ultimate Firefighter Examination
Prep Package), go to our entry level fireman test products page.
Good luck!!
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
34.
Background Questions:
Two years ago I had a background with LBPD. Is the LA city Fire going
to be able to view my LBPD background? Do I have to tell them about LBPD?
I'm a little concerned with conflicting statements because of the time that
has passed!
I'm often asked this question. To my knowledge there are no secret
lists or resources agencies can find to know whether and or when you have
ever tested. This goes for the psychological test too. If you don't volunteer
and create a trail, it's highly unlikely they will ever know. Besides,
they’re too busy and have too little personnel to go into that depth.
"Just because you're paranoid . . . doesn't mean they’re
not after you."
Volunteering Information:
Follow the bouncing ball:
Tom, was being considered for the hiring
process in a large county department. I told him if he was going to have to
take the physiological test to contact me first for coaching. He
didn’t. Tom called devastated with, "What do I do now? I’m
out of the process. I asked him if he had thought out his questions before
he had volunteered information. He said he had not. I asked him why he
hadn’t called me before the test. He said, "Things were going so
great I didn’t think I needed your help." What do you think now
Tom?
I told Tom that we don’t just concentrate on preparing
candidates for the job oral board interview. We are a resource to get
candidates to the badge. We shorten the learning curve in every portion of
the testing process. We provide the Secret Nugget information for
the best book for the written test, physical agility programs, audio
and video tapes from our seminars and coaching by phone on how to
"Conquer the Job Interview", background checks, and yes now the
all important psychological test. Tom said, "They let me shoot myself
in the foot." I said, "No Tom, you shot yourself in the
foot." Even golf professions get lessons to keep their game sharp.
Tom was hired by another department who didn't give a psych test.
After one year, he had the opportunity to test for the department he had
dreamed of working for. He came in for a tune up coaching session and made
the cut for the job pending the medical that included a psychological
evaluation. He panicked. He obtained our "Special Report on Conquering
the Psychological Interview". With coaching, he realized the mistakes
he made on his first interview.
As he entered the room for his interview after the written portion of
the psyche test, he sat in one of five possible chairs directly across from
the psychologist. He put on his game face. The doctor had him fill out a
personal family history and release forms for other information. He asked
him if he would be willing to take a polygraph based on his information.
Some psychologists will do this to intimidate you into giving information
you do not have to share.
No matter what you sign, understand if it was not listed that a
polygraph will be part of the hiring process, they can't demand that you
take one. Especially if everyone else is not going to take one. Just go
along with the drill.
Tom was honest to a fault in this first psych interview. Like most
firefighter candidates, they want this job so bad, they will tell the
psychologist anything they want to know. Big ERROR!
He knew now not to volunteer any information that would be ammunition
to shoot him with. He didn't list or say anything about his crazy family of
origin, questions like "any of your parents have a major
illness", or toss out anything that could allow the interviewer to get
his foot in the door to again take him out. There are no halos over fire
engines, but you had better be squeaky clean.
All the psychologist is trying to determine
is the profile that is created by written test. Tom's interview was short
this time. This concerned him.
Tom is 36 years old. He called that he passed the psych test and just
accepted the job for the city he thought would never come his way. His
extended family had rushed over while he was talking to me on the phone. I
could hear the champagne corks popping. Tom was crying like a baby. So was
I.
It doesn't get much better than this.
Ask Tom if it's worth it to do it the proven way.
Our thanks go out to Capt Bob Smith for his article and insight. For more information on his book, Becoming
a Firefighter: The Complete Guide to
Your Badge, and his entry level DVD/CD oral interview program
that has helped thousands of individuals to get the job of their
dreams (included in the Ultimate Firefighter Examination
Prep Package), go to our entry level fireman test products page.
Good luck!!
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
35.
Credit checks during background checks
Credit Checks - Background
Credit is just one of the areas you're evaluated on in background, like
your driving record, drug use, medical, etc.
It’s often not the problem but how you write out an explanation for
the background. Most candidates turn themselves inside out when a simple
explanation is often all that is needed to resolve most of the situations.
You’re in the hiring process. Let’s take it one step at a time.
The badge is there. There is only one person keeping you from getting it .
. . It’s YOU!
“Some times I think my mind would kill me if it didn’t need me
for transportation.”
It’s not the items of concern, but the when and why. Like most
candidates that enter the hiring process, they get hyper vigilant and the
voices of panic and guilt start running around in their heads.
For other problems and misdemeanors, has the problem happened since?
Was this a financial problem? When did these incidents happen? If it was a
financial problem, what was your financial situation then? Are the accounts
current now? Of course the best course of action is to maintain a good
credit rating.
A divorce can cause havoc in many areas of your life. The goal is to be
able to demonstrate a plan that you have it under control to be resolved.
Having 3 accounts still in trouble will not look good.
You see the chief doesn't want a collection agency showing up at the
station or attaching your wages. Declaring bankruptcy can create more
problems.
Certainly an unexpected job loss is a reasonable explanation of why your
credit went south.
Many candidates live on a shoestring trying to gain the education and
experience to get this job. A couple of 60 days late can be explained if
you were between jobs.
One of my candidates had some outstanding bills. In his current background
check he told the investigator told how he was resolving the problem. The
investigator told him if he cleared them, he could go forward in the
process. He did. He went forward in the hiring process.
Another candidates credit was not good, but his
explanation was he wife had returned to college for her teaching degree.
She had recently graduated, got a good paying job
and the turn around had been made.
Question: I have a background check in the future. I do not have a criminal
record nor have I gotten a ticket for the last eight years. I did have a
credit card company cancel my account due to late payments. This debt was
passed over to a credit collection agency which I paid. I also have some
late payments with my health insurance. Living in the Silicon Valley can
hit your pockets hard ya know what I’m sayin!!! Does this hurt me in any way???
Reply: Again, you know the background is coming up at some time. You want
to know what your credit report says about you. More than 30% of credit
reports have errors. A recent check on mine revealed addresses I have never
lived at, wrong birthday, job experience and some of my sons
credit.
Health insurance payments do not show up on credit reports. The best way to
find out about your credit is request a free copy from one of the 3 major
credit bureaus. Here are the bureaus:
Equifax Credit Information Services
Box 105518
Atlanta, GA 30348
Phone: 877-463-5505 (for Credit Report orders) Phone (800) 685-5000
(for disputes)
Experian
Box 949
Allen, TX 75013-0949
Phone: 888-397-3742 (for Credit Report orders)
Phone (800) 583-4080 (for disputes)
Trans Union Corporation (TUC)
P.O. Box 1000, Chester PA 19022
Phone: (800) 888-4213 (for Credit Report orders)
Phone (800) 916-8800 (for disputes)
If there is anything on your report that is not right, you can dispute it.
The disputed company has 30 days to respond. If they don’t, they will
take it off. Many don’t respond. If you still have a problem with an
item, you can add a 100 word statement explaining why to your credit
report.
Mailing in your application,
background info, etc.
Ok –
You’re testing for a FD. And you need to mail them anything in a timely
manner (application, background info., certs, etc..)
Anytime you send something in the mail, you need to use a zip code, right?
Here is the secret the post office wish more people knew...
All 5 digit zip codes have a four digit extension that goes on the end.
That’s right and it takes the post office longer to process
your outgoing and incoming mail without it. They have to stop, look it up,
punch in the full code, mark it on the letter, then process.
Example- Typical zip code- "91234". With the plus four -
91234-4389. The last four numbers breaks down your street and even what
side of the street the mail is to go to.
Basically, it stream lines the process down to the wire. So just by adding those last 4 numbers,
your mail (application) will move faster and less likely to get lost. (And
we don’t want that.)
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
36.
Preliminary
Background Questionnaire
So you take an on-line Preliminary Background Questionnaire (PBQ) and
when you try to continue it flashes PERMANENT DISQUALIFICATION! or, There Could Be a Delay in Your Background.
What happened?
Well, you probably answered correctly or incorrectly yes to a
question that had a threshold that was an automatic disqualification.
You still might not be out of the woods on some of your answers. They
could come back to haunt you later in the process. Make sure you go
back and double check your answers. You would be surprised what percentages
of candidates are being disqualified from this process.
The Preliminary Background Questionnaire is designed to eliminate
candidates early on in the hiring process before they spend lots of time
and money on those who they would tank later.
There is no question that candidates should lead their lives as if
their future consideration of being hired as a firefighter depended upon
it. This is not the first department to include in the
background packet that a poly may be used to verify the information you
submit.
I get calls on a regular basis from candidates that say the background
packed and or investigator told them a poly would be given to verify their
information. My first question, “Was it listed on the job
announcement that there was going to be a poly?" No. If it
was not included in the job announcement and or they are going to give a
poly to everyone else, that would be tough to
do. It’s not uncommon for a background investigator or
psychologist to say, “Will you submit to a poly to verify your
answers? Or, a poly could or will be
given at the end of the process.” As of today I’m
not aware of any test where the candidates were held hostage with the
threat of a poly being given, when it was not included with the job
announcement, and they had to take one. Not one. I know of candidates who
were turned down and wanted to take a poly to prove they were telling the
truth and they couldn’t get one because they would have to give it to
everyone else. Pinocchio why is your nose is getting longer.
Threshold
So where’s the threshold? Did you answer yes to a
question on drug use? How many times? Answer yes to a question on how
many times you had drank more than the legal limit and drive?
So what do you do?
Learn from you're experience. Before you submit future on-line
or hand out printed forms double check your answers for errors and think
twice before you step on any land mines that could take you out of the
process.
What others are doing?
I finally figured out that if I listed those things that happened in
my life a long time ago I could be eliminated from the process. I
asked myself if I didn’t tell them, how would they find out?
Steve
This PBQ nailed me the first time I answered yes that I tried cocaine
3 times 20 years ago. I didn’t have a chance to give an
explanation as I have had sitting down with a background
investigator. Dennis
Last test I filled out the Preliminary Background hand out. I
answered yes to the question have you ever had sex with a minor. I
was rejected, even though I wrote a half page explanation that I was 18 in
high school and my girlfriend was 17. Thinking about it now how would
that ever find this out? I’m now 27, no longer live in that
state, and have no idea what happened to my girl friend. I
can’t imagine how they would find her and if they did can’t
imagine she would tell them out of the blue we had sex when she was at age
17. Andy
Why did I tell them I smoked pot 20 times 10 years ago in
England? We’re they going to fly over there and find my old
friends? Dan
Captain Bob I really enjoy receiving your emails and am looking
forward to the LA City application process. My question for you is in
regards to the "Bad Stuff on Applications." I have your
book and other materials in which it states, "Do not open a can of
worms." However, in this email it states that "If you do
not include information that is asked on an application and it is found out
later, you are out of the process!" Which is the correct way to
go?
For instance, I got into a
fight as a youth (17 years old) protecting my brother and had to go to
court where I was found not guilty and had to perform community service.
Since it was almost 10 years ago and I was a minor, is this something I
should disclose on the application? That is the only instance
where I have any possible mark on my record, including traffic citations
(or lack of). Thank you in advance for your time, Rob
Although juvenile records for minors are generally sealed, the
question asked if you ever; yes or no? I would put it down. If you put no and it is revealed later,
you could be out of the process. This is something that should have no
affect on you being hired by a department. What is most important is
that you have a reasonable explanation of what happened and the court found
you not guilty.
Which is the correct way
to go?
Both are covered in the book. First of all what I was referring to is
if there is no trail, in other words who can they talk to who
would know this information? If there was an arrest, a court
appearance and community time there is probably a record of that
somewhere. Then why open a can of worms by creating one. Volunteering
information that was not requested eliminates way too many
candidates.
As one candidate wrote: As for Backgrounds, they tell you
to be honest. But sometimes being honest can bite you in the ass. When a
Background is being conducted the only obvious things they could find out
are things like your driving, criminal and credit history. Don't be stupid
and write down references that hate you. I've known some good people that
should be fireman/cops but get disqualified for being too honest.
You’re a free agent. Make sure you prepare for the hiring
process in a way that will best put you in a position for a badge.
Steve
I can’t tell you what to do. I present the facts and you
get to decide.
Our thanks go out to Capt Bob Smith for his article and insight. For more information on his book, Becoming
a Firefighter: The Complete Guide to
Your Badge, and his entry level DVD/CD oral interview program
that has helped thousands of individuals to get the job of their
dreams (included in the Ultimate Firefighter Examination
Prep Package), go to our entry level fireman test products page.
Good luck!!
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
37.
Beware of the Questionnaire!
When you take the written
portion of the psychological test, it sets up a profile. Then interview
with the psychologist is to verify the profile and match it to the desired
profile to be a firefighter. The wheels can start coming off your wagon
during this interview.
Before the interview, the psychologist will often have you fill out a
personal family history and additional information form. He can use this
information as ammunition to shoot you with. Ironically, the psychologist
doesn't always have your background information, or because of time doesn't
look at all the information. He relies on the form you fill out. This is
why it is so critical that although you want this job so bad, not to create
trails where you don't have to.
Unfortunately, if you have a DUI or other mark
that can be found you have to put it down. At that point you want to work
on a reasonable explanation of what happened, what changed your behavior
and who you are now. Practice this explanation with a tape recorder until
you have it condensed.
If you have a DUI, it will be a challenge but not impossible to get a
fire job. Many psychologists look at any possible addiction to interfere
with the pressures of the job. One of our candidates went through drug
rehab 5 years ago. Using the above paragraph formula, he passed both the
psychological, poly and was hired in Colorado.
If you occasionally drink alcohol and got drunk on your birthday and
at a barbecue last summer is one thing. But if you’re getting
hammered a couple nights a week and on weekends will raise some questions.
Please think first if the doctor asks the question how many drinks would
you have at a party and still drive home. Anyone who might answer maybe two
could send a message that they will drink and drive. No department wants
their firefighters being nailed on drunk driving
charges. Responsible people arrange for a designated driver
Our thanks go out to Capt Bob Smith for his article and insight. For more information on his book, Becoming
a Firefighter: The Complete Guide to
Your Badge, and his entry level DVD/CD oral interview program
that has helped thousands of individuals to get the job of their
dreams (included in the Ultimate Firefighter Examination
Prep Package), go to our entry level fireman test products page.
Good luck!!
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
38.
Are Corrective lenses allowed?
Are
corrective lenses allowed? I have very mild nearsightedness. I
have been wearing contacts for 8 years without any problems. Would I need
to get corrective surgery? I have been thinking about it but I
am not eligible yet because I am not 25. LAFD says you need
20/40 in the better eye.
Is that with corrected lenses or
without?
The NFPA
recommendation (NFPA 1001. Specifically, look at 2-2.7.1 "Eyes")
was 20/30 corrected and 20/100 uncorrected but it does get waived with soft
contacts. Also FYI they did change this recommendation to 20/40 last year
so you should be ok. If you have any questions check with NFPA. Also the
dept. has to right to set whatever standard they want like some have 20/20
and that's it but most follow NFPA's
recommendation.
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
39.
Eye Surgery
These questions below were posted on the PFF Bulletin with the following
responses. You can check out more information concerning eye surgery
on the Food and Drug Administration web site @ www.fda.gov/CDRH/LASIK
If you're considering eye surgery you should know that more than 5% of
patients have problems with night vision, results that don't last and
vision worse than before the surgery.
You need to check out the web site www.surgicaleyes.com put
up by a firefighter who had the surgery then had to quit because his
eyesight fell before safety standards.
What are the current attitudes regarding corneal surgery to correct poor
vision? My eyes suck, to speak plainly. I'm considering getting laser eye
surgery to correct the problem. Do departments consider that
"corrected" eyesight? As in, "Candidate must have no worse
than 20/70 vision, uncorrected, in either eye."
In general, do departments consider eyes modified by corneal surgery
"corrected" or "uncorrected?" Have any trends been
noticed?
I'm just looking for how departments are tending to receive candidates
who have had the surgery.
Thanks!
Author: Bill
Subject: Corneal surgery
I can't speak for the fire service generally but I can tell you about my
cities' attitude on this subject. As a member of my locals' negotiating,
team I participated in securing an eye surgery benefit as part of our last
package.
The city agreed that good vision is an important safety issue and that
turnout times, (particularly at night) could be enhanced by less reliance
on lenses. On that basis they agreed to pay 80% of the cost of corrective
surgery for the employee only.
More input:
My personal opinion is go for it. I had RK
seven years ago and it was the best money I've ever spent (Lasik wasn't an option then). Another FF on my dept.
had the same surgery just after I did. Much later a FF had lasik.
My depts. position on anything of this nature is as long as the doc
clears you to come back to work there is no problem. I personally always
had concerns about contacts, I felt that I didn't want to put a piece of
plastic on my cornea, go interior on something and even have the
possibility of having it permanently fused to my eyes.
Beyond the job, just the change it makes in day-to-day living is worth
it.
Still more:
Subject: laser surgery
I can't comment on what stand a department may have on surgically
corrected vision but I can comment on my own experience. I had Lasix last fall, I was like 20/200 before the procedure,
I am now 20/15 in my right eye and 20/18 in my
left. It was the best $3200 I ever spent. I would recommend it to anyone.
Signed Seeing Well
Another:
Subject: Lasik procedure
I had Lasik in June of last year, and it took
like charm. I was 20/100 in one eye and 20/150 in the other. Now I am 20/20
in both, best 3600 bucks I spent. No departments have had any problems with
my surgery just as long as it was longer than 6 months ago to prove the
procedure took.
I was never dqed in any processes, they just
told me to come back for re-evaluation at 6 months past surgery, and I
still passed at that time too.
Finally:
Author: eyes
Subject: go for it!
There were two guys in my academy (paid-new hires) who
had their eyes done. The stipulation was they had to be 6 mo post op. to
make sure the correction took. i.e. the lens
didn't loose shape after laser surgery. Good luck with your pursuit.
Author: Lori
Subject: Lasik Surgery
I had both of my eyes done on 11/15/99. Both eyes were -11.5 which I
believe is the equivalent of 20/1150. Lasik
usually isn't performed on eyes worse than -12 (20/1200).
You could say I was an extreme case. The day after the surgery I had
20/30 vision in both eyes and subsequently have improved to 20/25 in each
eye. I couldn't be happier -cost: $3,900. I'd certainly recommend it but
would encourage individuals to read up on it, research it and definitely
check out more than one doctor who performs the surgery. Good Luck!
Our thanks go out to Capt Bob Smith for his article and insight. For more information on his book, Becoming
a Firefighter: The Complete Guide to
Your Badge, and his entry level DVD/CD oral interview program
that has helped thousands of individuals to get the job of their
dreams (included in the Ultimate Firefighter Examination
Prep Package), go to our entry level fireman test products page.
Good luck!!
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
40.
Not a Regular Job Interview!
Many regular job and corporate interview candidates like the following are stunned
and baffled why they don't have high scores on their firefighter
interviews.
Captain Bob:
I just received my oral board score for the City of
Glendale. The score did not represent how I felt I did during
the interview. This is a big problem for me because I now
realize that I DON'T KNOW what the board was looking for. I make
presentations for a living, so I felt confident in what I did to
prepare. I was sure that I just about nailed it. I've
always been competitive about what I set out to accomplish, using every tool that I can utilize to reach
my goal. Sir, I would greatly appreciate your training to help
me be the best that I can be at the oral boards.
I've been preparing for these orals for months and felt extremely
prepared. I don't want to waste another oral board without
knowing that I've done all that I can to be the best candidate
possible. Thank you for your time Sir.
Regards, Fire Recruit Jeff
Another
Capt. Bob:
After my interview rejection an east coast city last week, I sent a letter
to the D/C thanking him for the opportunity and telling him I'd appreciate
any feedback from the interview. Well - he was honest - he indicated he
wanted me to keep testing & interviewing, but wrote that I:
-talked too much & over answered the questions
-talked too fast
-some of my answers were based on book knowledge (?)
Also - as I mentioned I approached this like I would a corporate interview
(BAD IDEA) and I tried to 'close' them at the end - they asked if I had any
closing questions (jeez I wish I read your web site before going in) and I
opened my big stupid mouth to say 'I kept your rejection letter from last
year (I actually showed it to them - this was my second time interviewing)
and it mentioned that candidates had failed to prepare and properly sell
themselves to the board. I've been working to improve myself in these areas
for the past year - have I properly done this?'
The D/C mentioned in his letter back to me that, 'I don't think that
showing the letter I mailed out last time was the best thing you could have
done. It was as if you were showing it off and showing us that you still
had it.' I need to keep my d*mn mouth shut and just answer the questions. Live and
learn. I look forward to getting your package. Stay safe Dave
Reply: You're not alone here. You have discovered
like many other's that a fire department oral board is different than
anything you have encountered. Too many candidates beat their
heads against the wall for years getting to the point where you are
now.
Our thanks go out to Capt Bob Smith for his article and insight. For more information on his book, Becoming
a Firefighter: The Complete Guide to
Your Badge, and his entry level DVD/CD oral interview program
that has helped thousands of individuals to get the job of their
dreams (included in the Ultimate Firefighter Examination
Prep Package), go to our entry level fireman test products page.
Good luck!!
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
41.
Oral Board Skills: Are you prepared?
I've been on over 100 oral boards. Believe me too many candidates fall
short. They think they can wing it. They have firefighter friends that have
given them mock orals. Their friends can't bring them selves to tell them
how bad they are. You know other candidates who have all the answers. If
they had all the answers, they would already have the badge in a city that
paid well.
I know you have been number 3 in Seattle, in the top 5 at Ontario, made
the cut on the CPS test, waiting for the next call from LA City, and tested
in Portland, Chicago, Stockton, Dade County and passed the tough physical
agility test in Phoenix to go onto the oral. If you're a medic, you had the
advantage of taking more tests.
You have every degree, certificate and merit badge you can get. A
volunteer, paramedic, education, and great experience. But you're still the
brides maid. You don't have the badge. The guy you
thought was the village idiot went through our program and has his chest
all puffed out with a badge.
NO! You're probably not ready. You've been driving and flying all over
the country collecting frequent flyer miles, putting careers on hold,
ruining relationships, running out of money and hope, and haven't figured
out that with all your education and experience . . . the rubber meets the
road in the oral board. If you can't pass the Job Interview, You don't get
the Job! This is where you putt for dollars. Even golf pros take lessons.
Haven't you been beat up enough yet? We would you like to work with you
to turn things around? It's been said that when the student is ready to
learn, the teacher appears. Are you at this point now? In the articles to
follow, we want to help you shortened the learning curve to the closest
point between you and the badge.
Ready? OK, here we go. Keep you hands and feet in side the ride at all
times:
What are you actually doing going to an oral board? If you answered:
selling yourself, making a good impression, and, yes, don't forget to ask
for the job are good. But, what you're really
doing is auditioning for the part to be a firefighter, engineer, inspector
or officer. Just like the part in a play. Do you know your lines? Do you
know your part? If you went down to a local college to audition for a part
in the community play, you have to know your part and lines wouldn't you?
Right? It's the same thing in an oral board. You have to know what you're
going to say before you sit in the chair.
Does a Broadway play start on Broadway? Of course not. It starts in
Iowa, Miami or Connecticut. They take it on the road to try it out, work
out the script, refine and polish it up. If they create enough interest,
sell enough tickets and get great reviews from the critics, they make it to
the bright lights of Broadway. It's the same in getting ready for your oral
boards. You have to take this puppy on the road to get ready for your oral
boards. You have to get your script down. A script about you, not a clone
of someone else. Then, you practice, practice, practice. Rehearse,
rehearse, rehearse until it becomes second nature
to you. Once you do this it will be in your subconscious. That's where the
magic takes place.
Some will say this will be "canned". No, it sure will be
planned though. Success is where preparation meets opportunity. The harder
I work, the luckier I get.
Here's how it works:
Dear Captain Bob, My name is Jason and I want to take this time to
say, THANK YOU! I recently tested for the City of Denver. The written test
was the first step in the process and over 2,100 people showed for the
test. As I waited outside the building, I thought to myself, "Do I really
have a chance at getting a job here. I have worked in the fire service for
the past eight years (7 years as a military firefighter and 1 as a paid in
NM).
This was going to be a challenge for myself. I received the results
for the written and I passed. Come to find out 1,400 people failed that
test. They took 757 people to the oral boards. I didn't fare so well in
Colorado Springs oral boards last year. I ranked something like 173 out of
250. That's when I contacted you for advice. After being in the fire
service for eight years, I thought I knew everything needed to be hired.
Something went wrong and I wanted to know what it was. As you took the time
to speak to me you noticed a few things wrong right off the bat. You
pointed them out and I never even knew they existed.
I ordered your audio/video tapes right after our conversation. I
studied them in and out, used a tape recorder, and practiced, practiced,
practiced! I found out quickly what I didn't know. I went to the oral
boards prepared. I as I walked in they stated 757 people were going through
the boards. I tried to remain positive and just present my package. I was
in and out of the interview shortly. I walked to the car and my wife asked
how it went. I said, good but I'll find out in two
weeks.
Yesterday, I went to the post office to get my mail and there was the
letter from the City of Denver. I was too nervous to open it. Finally I
decided it was time, my rank was 14th out of 757. I couldn't believe it
14th. WOW my total score on the board was 100.0000%. I ACED IT!!!!!! I
immediately called my wife at work with the good news. She cried. So I want
to say THANK YOU CAPT. BOB
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
42.
Should I use a tape recorder?
I received a call this morning from one of my candidates. He has made it
to a few oral boards and one chief's oral without success. In just a
few moments I was aware of something critical. Then I asked him if he were
using a tape recorder to practice? Like most people, he hemmed and hawed
and finally said, "Well, no. But, I'm thinking about it."
Even though he bought the audio/video tape program that hammers and
hammers the point home that you have to use a tape recorder and hear how
you sound. He still didn't get the message. His answers were garbage. I
don't get it. You folks want this job so bad you say you will do almost
anything ethically and morally to get it. I guess that doesn't include
using a tape recorder to get your timing, inflection, volume, where to cut
out material, and find out if you really sound like Donald Duck. You need
to get married to your hand-held tape recorder. You need to hear what the
oral board is going to hear from you. It's the closest distance between you
and the badge you're looking for!
This is usually a guy thing. Guys think about their answers in their
head and write them down. Then they think their answers are going to come
out of their mouths like magic in the oral. Trust me, after being on over
100 oral boards, they don't!
Let me tell you how critical this really is. If you're not using a tape
recorder to practice, practice, practice, rehearse, rehearse, rehearse and
over learn your material until it becomes second nature to you, YOU MIGHT
AS WELL NOT SHOW UP FOR THE INTERVIEW. YOU ARE WASTING THE ORAL BOARDS AND
YOUR TIME! Seek out another career. Understand you still have to interview
there too. The above San Diego candidate has already lost some great
opportunities. Had he been faithfully using a tape recorder to prepare for
his oral boards, he probably could have had a badge already.
Some will say, "Well, if I practice it too much it will sound
canned." NO it won't! It sure will be planned though. Practice makes
permanent. "Luck is where preparation meeting opportunity." One
practice session with a tape recorder is worth 10 speaking out louds. After practicing, you will get to a point where
your answers will get into your subconscious. That's where the magic
begins. You can't be fooled.
Everyone has butterflies in an oral board. The trick is getting all the
butterfly's to fly in the same formation that can make the difference.
Practicing will remove up to 75% of the butterflies. You want the other 25%
to carry you through the interview.
Be advised that your competition knows the
value of using a tape recorder. They are catapulting past you if you're not
using one too.
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
43.
What are the 5 nuggets for successful job
interviews?
Simple Tools to Uncomplicate the Process
1.
The job interview is like auditioning for a
play. Do you meet the minimum requirements? You must know your
lines for the part.
2.
To learn your part, make an outline why you want
this position, what you have done to prepare, why do you
want to work for this agency, etc. It must be about you; not a clone
of someone else.
3.
The outline will become your script to audition for
the part. Practice, rehearse, and over learn the part with a tape recorder
until it becomes second nature to you. This will help prevent stage
fright.
4.
With tremendous enthusiasm, use your new role to
capture the first 32 seconds of your audition. This creates its own
energy. Use the six steps in answering the questions.
5.
Don't reiterate in your closing. Use only the
key points not already covered in your script. Without being boring,
tell the interviewers how you really want the job and with your qualifications
hope to be considered for the position. Make a cordial ending.
Then, shut up and get out the building.
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
44.
What are the 6 steps in answering an oral board
question?
You should have a script that you have rehearsed with a tape recorder of
anticipated questions by the time of your oral board. At the interview use
these six simple steps in answering an oral board question:
1. Actively listen to
the entire question. I have seen candidates stop listening when they
think they already have the answer. They don't. Listen!
2. Make sure you
understand the question. If not, have the question repeated or
rephrased.
3. Pause and gather
your thoughts. It might seem like an eternity, but pausing is an
acceptable tactic to show interviewers you are paying attention. During the
pause, you can figure out the root of what they are asking.
4. Ask the question
or make the statement to clarify the question. The question might be,
"You see your partner pick up something at an emergency scene, what
are you going to do?" Taking the question down to its basic form, what
is the issue? Stealing. Then, formulate a simple answer. For example, you
might say, "I would ask, 'Is that yours?'" The board is going to
tell you that he is taking it, but you already scored the points. After
asking the question, you determine your partner is stealing, then what do
you do? Since stealing is an ethical issue and he won't put it back, you
might say, "Why don't we go the our
supervisor?" Why? Stealing is against the law.
5. KISS. Keep it
simple sweetie. Don't start a soap opera. Most candidates complicate
the process. They intellectualize their answers, run past the question,
decide an answer before hearing the entire question and fail to understand
the process.
When my son, Rob, was interviewing for his entry-level position for a
large department, he was asked, "You have just finished your interview
and go outside and find a man down on the sidewalk. What would you
do?" He answered, "I would go up and say, 'Buddy, are you all
right?'" The raters threw Pens and Pencils in the air and said,
"Someone finally got the answer right. For three days, job candidates
were saying things like "Activate the 9-1-1 system" and "I
know CPR."
6. Deliver the Nugget
answer with enthusiasm! Your personalized Nugget answer will set you
apart from the clones.
A word to women. You have the advantage of bringing more feelings and
emotions to your answers at an interview. Be careful can't be like a
conversation with your girl friend. You have about 20 minutes to give
complete but concise answers. though. I've had
women at interviews start talking and it was like going on a journey. There
seemed to be no final destination. Most men on the panel were not packed
for the trip.
Subject: Another success story
Dear Captain Bob,
I am writing to thank you again for your
Oral Interview Program. I sent you an e-mail after my first interview
outlining how much your program had improved my presentation. At that time,
I mentioned that decisions were not expected until July. To my surprise, 8
days later I received a call from personnel. Could I attend a chief's
oral next week!! I was 1 of 30 to be called in for 23 jobs.(The first interviews involved 900 candidates). My
first thoughts were "stay on that winning pony". After the
chief's oral, the good news kept coming. I got the call 2 days later with a
conditional offer of employment! The background and medicals were done the
following week. My most recent phone call came yesterday. I heard the
words I have been working towards for six years- Congratulations,
you have been accepted as a probationary fire fighter!! Uniform and
equipment sizing is set for Saturday, can you attend? I can't stress
enough how much your program helped me. I will be sure to recommend you to
anyone I can.
Thanks again!
Brian
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
45.
What do I wear to a job interview?
I had a candidate tell me he went to an interview wearing a tie,
suspenders and no jacket. I asked him, "Who did you think you are,
Larry King?" I asked him if they called him back for a chief's interview? No. The defense rests. McFly?
The strongest non-verbal statement you can
make in the oral board is what you wear. It is time to step up and make the
investment.
Men: Do wear a wool suit in dark blue or
gray. Pinstripes are fine, but avoid brown, black, or high fashion brightly
colored suits. Sport coats or blazers are out, so is polyester. Tie should
be in a solid color such as navy, red, maroon, or yellow stripe, or paisley
print. Wear a white or off white, or pale blue
long sleeved shirt in cotton or a cotton blend. Starch it no matter what
the instructions say. No patterned shirts!
Don't: wear casual or novelty watches, too
much jewelry, monograms, religious, political, or fraternity affiliation
accessories. Beards are out; mustaches are a gray area. When in doubt,
shave it off.
Women: Do wear a tailored business-like suit
or dress with a jacket not overly feminine. Choose suits in conservative
solid colors such as gray, navy blue, black, beige, or camel with conservative
hemlines. Natural fibers, such as wool or linen, are your best bets; most
synthetic blends, not matter how attractive, give off a whiff of the
bargain basement.
Always wear stockings in natural shades.
Avoid dark colors with light colored shoes. Always carry a spare pair.
Don't: Wear anything flamboyant, trendy,
faddish, low-cut, too tight or short, or otherwise provocative. You are not
trying to make a fashion statement, but trying to get a badge! No heavy
perfume, ankle bracelet, stockings with patterns, lace, bold colors, or
seams; sandals, very high heels, unusual colors, or casual styles. Ladies:
hair up; no bangs falling into your eyes or face.
Don't ever wear slacks, even pantsuits. I had
a female who was a paramedic who had been trying for 5 years to get on the
fire department. She just missed the cut at Contra Costa County. She was
tired of being the bridesmaid. I asked her what she was going to wear.
She said she always wore a pants suit. I
convinced her it was time to step up and make the investment. She showed up
for coaching in a $650.00 tailored (Killer) wool suit.
I showed her in 10 minutes on the video the
mistakes she was making in her presentations.
She called me two weeks later on her
birthday, that she had received her notice that she nailed that job in
Oakland. She now has the job of her dreams.
I've been coaching firefighter candidates for
over 28years. You may have great credentials, but if you can't pass the job
interview, you don't get the job.
46.
Stories make the point
Events like Detroit's Devils Night can be a great example how to use
your personal life experiences in answering questions in an oral board.
Although the following is from a promotional interview, it might spark a
personal experience story you can use in your next oral.
Steve was going for his third engineer's test. Even though he had the
knowledge and acting time experience, he hadn't made it high enough on the
previous lists to get the badge. When asked questions, he would just give
the standard technical answers. Everything changed when he stated caboosing signature stories as part of his answers.
Steve was a firefighter in Arizona. He had also been a firefighter in
Detroit. You've heard of Devil's Night during Halloween? Steve had worked
many a Devil's Night attacking a fire, picking up and moving to another
fire. I asked him if he had ever used these stories in his answers during
testing. He said, "No." I marvel why candidates have these great
"Nugget" treasure stories that no one has ever heard. These stories
can demonstrate their experience and they don't use them.
During his next engineers test, Steve was asked if he were fighting a
fire and was given an order to pick up and move, how would he do it? He told the panel how he would do it technically and
then took the panel on a Detroit Devil's Night recreating the magic,
excitement of the actual events when he had to pick up and move all night.
Steve couldn't believe the difference in his testing score. Firefighter's
love firefighter stories. He was confident and conversational because he
was on his own turf. His signature stories. His own experiences. Oh, by the
way, Steve got the badge this time!
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
47.
Miracle oral board tool
Everyone has butterflies in an oral board. The trick is getting all the
butterfly's to fly in the same formation. Practicing will remove up to 75%
of the butterflies. You want the other 25% to carry you through the
interview.
What tools can you use to practice and
rehearse your oral board answers? Right, a video camera. You need to see
how you look in action. But you are trapped with a video camera. Mirror?
Sure standing in front of a mirror is good. But you are missing the most
valuable tool of all. A hand held tape recorder.
I received a call from one of our candidates.
He has made it to a few oral boards and one chiefs
oral without success. He has been invited to the San Diego oral board and
wanted to set up a private coaching session. In just a few moments I was
aware of something critical. Then I asked him if he was using a tape
recorder to practice? Like most people (99.7%), he himmed
and hawwwed and finally said, "Well, no.
But, I'm thinking about it."
Even though he bought our Entry Level
audio/video tape program that hammers and hammers the point home that you
have to use a tape recorder and hear how you sound. He still didn't get the
message. His answers were garbage. Many applicants want this job so bad
they will do almost anything ethically and morally to get it. I guess that
doesn't include using a tape recorder to get your timing, inflection,
volume, where to cut out material, get rid of the an's
uh's and other pause fillers. Or to find out if
you really sound like Donald Duck. You need to get married to your hand-held
tape recorder. You need to hear what the oral board is going to hear out of
your mouth. It's the closest distance between you and the badge you're
looking for!
What is the first thing a candidate says when
he hears his voice on a tape recorder? Yep. That's not me. Yes it is McFly. You need to get married to a hand held tape
recorder and practice with it everywhere you go.
This is usually a guy thing. Guys think about
their answers in their head and write them down. Then they think their
answers are going to come out of their mouths like magic in the oral. Trust
me, after being on over 100 oral boards, they don't! The brain and the
mouth don't work that way.
Try this. Take some 3X5 cards and write down
your oral board questions. Practice your answer with the tape recorder. If
you hear something you do not like when you play it back, turn over the 3X5
card and write it down. The next time you go after that question, turn over
the card first and see what you don't want to say.
Let me tell you how critical this really is.
If you're not using a tape recorder to practice, practice, practice,
rehearse, rehearse, rehearse and over learn your material until it becomes
second nature to you, YOU MIGHT AS WELL NOT SHOW UP FOR THE INTERVIEW. YOU
ARE WASTING THE ORAL BOARDS AND YOUR TIME! Seek out another career.
Understand you still have to interview there too. The above San Diego
candidate has already lost some great opportunities. Had he been faithfully
using a tape recorder to prepare for his oral boards, he probably could
have had a badge already.
Some will say, "Well, if I practice it
too much it will sound canned." NO it won't! It sure will be planned
though. Practice makes permanent. "Luck is where preparation meeting
opportunity." One practice session with a tape recorder is worth 10
speaking out louds. After practicing, you will
get to a point where your answers will get into your subconscious. That's
where the magic begins. You can't be fooled.
We think practicing with a tape recorder is
so important; we will not do private coaching with a candidate if they
aren't using one. It is a waste of our time and their money.
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
48.
What can I expect in the final interview?
I am scheduled
for my final interview with the board of chiefs next week!
I'm not sure what to expect...my buddy on the job there says I shouldn't
worry...I will do fine. Still, can’t help to have a little anxiety!
Don't know what they'll ask me and all that...
I will know for sure if I have the job after this interview, and could
start the academy as soon as the 1st of August!
Any last minute words of advice??
Helpful insight
Even though this is for all of the
marbles, don’t panic now!
Questions: I am very excited, and very nervous at
the same time. You see I just got the phone call for a Chief’s oral.
Just when I was starting to get familiar with the regular oral interview,
it is now time to learn something new! They only gave me a day to prepare.
Do you have any pieces of information that might help me? Will the structure
be the same?
Should I be studying anything? The city? The organization? IFSTA? Or is
this more of a get to know you type of interview? To see how you will fit
in. Any advice you might have will help. Thanks for your efforts in helping
make people’s dreams come true! — Jeff
Many candidates start to panic when they are notified that they are going
to a chief’s oral. They think they have to reinvent themselves.
Reinvent the wheel. WHOOAA! Understand what got you there. You are only
going to the Chief’s Oral because of the great stuff you already used
in the first oral. You’re riding the winning pony. Don’t switch
ponies. You’re coming around the club house turn, you shoot out from
the back of the pack, go to the whip, you’re on the winning pony,
you’re friends and family are on their feet in the stands cheering
you on and you ride her home for the badge.
Too many candidates switch ponies because “They said”.
I’ve never been able to find out who “They” are. If you
do not continue to use the good stuff that got you this far, you could drop
out of the race. This is a new arena. Candidates who are going to the
chief’s interview start talking to their friends. They convince them
that they need to do something more. By the time of the interview, they’re
a wreck. It’s not them going into the interview. A clone of someone
else. The badges are often given to other candidates.
The chief’s interview is open to any type of questioning. They are
really trying to find out more about you. How you’re going to be as a
firefighter for the next 25+ years. Do you fit their culture? We like to
hire candidates that are themselves on purpose in the interview. Someone
who has a personality and is conversational. Are you that person in an
interview?
Stan was going to our departments Chief’s Oral. He made an
appointment to come by our station. While there, he asked what more he
could do to make it over the top. I told him he was riding the winning pony
and not to switch during the home stretch. Three months later I was down at
the training center where they were training new recruits. I saw a familiar
face. I said, “Stan is that you?” He said, “Yes, I rode
that winning pony all the way in!”
Saddle up and ride to glory.
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
49.
Buttoned
Captain Bob,
I have a question in regards to the interview. I am currently
getting ready to graduate the Fire Academy on January 18,
2003. The Academy is conducting mock interviews for the
Cadets. I was wondering going into the interview with a suit on,
do I unbutton the jacket, leave the jacket buttoned, or remove the jacket
and place it on the back of the chair?
I would appreciate it.
Reply:
Good question. Never, ever take your jacket off, even if it is
120 degrees and the panel has theirs off. You are not Larry
King. How do you normally wear your jacket buttoned or
not? Do it that way. You could go in with it buttoned
and then unbutton your jacket after hand shakes but before you sit
down. But, you might forget in the excitement of the
moment. So, go in the way you would feel most comfortable.
This from Tom:
A while back, I had a hand crew test where the interviews were held
within minutes after completion of the agility. The agency expected
dripping wet and smelly candidates. I took along my suit and a few towels
and I found a hose bib and washed up as best I could.
I put my suit on and went into my interview. As it turned out, the
interview panel was most surprised that someone would wear a suit for a
hand crew job. Needless to say, I got the job offer!
From time to time, I take classes held at various fire agencies. When
those agencies are holding interviews and I am there taking a class, during
breaks, I still see numerous candidates showing up in Levis, Dockers and
shirts with no ties. No point in shooting yourself in the
foot! The moral of the story is ALWAYS wear
a suit! Wear a suit for any interview, no matter what the title of the
position, unless you have been instructed otherwise. Best wishes.
Then this from Tofu:
There's nothing quite like the look on a candidate's face when he
enters the "holding pen" room where everyone waits to be called
for their turn to interview, and realizes that he's the only one not
wearing a suit.
Don't be that guy.
From Wingnut:
LOL!! I was "that guy"!!
I prepared so hard for my interview that I totally forgot to ask people
what to wear. I just assumed slacks and a dress shirt would
work. Wearing a suit never even crossed my mind!
Turns out, I was the only one in the waiting room not wearing a
suit!! Everyone else was so GQ that I felt like I was sitting in
a room full of investment bankers. I could tell everyone was
looking at me like there was one less candidate to give them
competition.
To make matters worse, my interview was rocky, and one of the captains
proceeded to grill me relentlessly, and guffawed at all my
responses. In the following two weeks I was
convinced I failed. But I got the call in the end! I
start soon.
I wouldn't recommend that to anyone. It was definitely a
psychological disadvantage to walk into a room full of slick candidates and
then have to walk into the interview with an air of
confidence. It was even worse waiting for the results thinking
that I blew it by not wearing a coat and tie.
Reply from Captain Bob:
Candidates will tell me that I don't have a suit or the money to by a
nice suit for my oral board. My advice - rent one and look and
feel like the professional you want to be.
From Anna:
Captain
Bob,
You say women should wear a business suit, but not a pantsuit to their oral
interviews. What's the difference? During some coaching for interviews with
a very 'oral board successful' Captain friend of mine, I was told to never
wear a dress to an interview because it makes women appear too feminine.
So, I have always worn a black pantsuit to my interviews and people have
always said that I have looked very professional. Is it hurting me? Thanks
for your help! Anita
Reply:
It’s your choice, but I believe it’s hurting
you. You want to use everything to your
advantage. When a women walks into an oral board wearing a smart
business looking dress, it changes the dimension of the interview; trust
me.
Our thanks go out to Capt Bob Smith for his article and insight. For more information on his book, Becoming
a Firefighter: The Complete Guide to
Your Badge, and his entry level DVD/CD oral interview program
that has helped thousands of individuals to get the job of their
dreams (included in the Ultimate Firefighter Examination
Prep Package), go to our entry level fireman test products page.
Good luck!!
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
50.
Watch Out For the Free Advice
Well, it finally happened; after all these years of hearing things
firefighter candidates have said in interviews, that some expert has told
them was the right thing to do, I hear it first hand. I was sitting in the
office of the fire station were I was working; the engineer’s son had
a friend testing for our department and he wanted him to talk to our
firefighter, the newest guy on.
I’m sitting there, and from the other room I hear him recommend that
this guy tell the board that he wants to be a firefighter because the pay
is good and there are lots of days off. Now I’m waiting for them to
laugh, and tell him they’re kidding. It doesn’t happen. The
engineer has been on for 26 years, and hasn’t had an interview for 19
years. The new guy was a lateral medic, and didn’t have much of an
entry interview. So I can see how this poor guy can be thinking, he’s
in a fire station for the department he’s testing for, and he’s
got a guy with many years on, and a guy who was the last one hired. He must
be getting the straight scoop. He was getting the exact opposite. He had
signed up for the “How To Fail An Oral
Board” class, and he didn’t know it.
As I walked into the room, I couldn’t let this go, the new guy was
telling him that a good weakness to share with the board is that
you’re a perfectionist. Now I’ve worked around perfectionists
and it’s no walk in the park, they think they don’t do anything
right, and neither do you.
The candidate was Hispanic, and I asked him if he spoke Spanish. He told me
he spoke a little and could understand a little more. I asked him if that
might not be his weakness, that while he spoke some Spanish, it needed
improvement. He bought some language tapes on the way home from the station,
so he could demonstrate he was doing something to fix the problem.
Now I find myself arguing with the new guy about what the best response is
to why you want to be a firefighter. His theory was the board really wants
to know why you want to be a firefighter. Trust me on this one, We
Don’t Care if you like the hours, pay, and status the job will bring
you. You need to tailor your responses to match what the board is looking
for, not what you feel, save that for your girlfriend. But you can take
those things that motivated you to become a firefighter, and make a
beautiful response to this question, and then it’s your story.
I worked with this same guy, the expert new guy, again the other day. I
mentioned to him that I thought his responses were about the worst
I’d heard. He said, “Yeah, I’ve always been lousy at oral
interviews.” I asked him why he was giving advice and he said,
“Well, everyone keeps sending people to me because I’m the new
guy, so I figured I’d try to help.” I told him he was, if anything
hurting their chances, not helping, and he agreed.
Know this. There
are people out there who know they’re bad, but will still give you
advice because you asked.
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
51.
What do I wear to the polygraph?
Tom had a hand crew test
where the interviews were held within minutes after completion of the
agility. The agency expected dripping wet and smelly candidates to
interview. He took along a suit and a few towels and found a hose bib and
washed up as best he could.
Tom put his suit on and went into the interview. As it turned out, the
interview panel was surprised that someone would wear a suit for a hand
crew job. Needless to say, he got the job offer!
Tom said, “From time to time, I take classes held at various fire
agencies. When those agencies are holding interviews and I am taking a
class, during breaks, I still see numerous candidates showing up in Levis,
Dockers and shirts with no ties. No point in shooting yourself in the foot!
The moral of the story is ALWAYS wear a suit!
Wear a suit for any interview, no matter what the title of the position,
unless you have been instructed otherwise.”
There’s nothing quite like the look on a candidate’s face when
he enters the “holding pen” room where everyone waits to be
called for their turn to interview, and realizes that he’s the only
one not wearing a suit.
Don’t be that guy.
I was “that guy”!! I prepared so hard for my interview that I
totally forgot to ask people what to wear. I just assumed slacks and a
dress shirt would work. Wearing a suit never even crossed my mind! Turns out, I was the only one in the
waiting room not wearing a suit!! Everyone else was so GQ that I felt like
I was sitting in a room full of investment bankers. I could tell everyone
was looking at me like there was one less candidate to give him or her
competition.
To make matters worse, my interview was rocky, and one of the captains
proceeded to grill me relentlessly, and guffawed at all my responses. In
the following two weeks I was convinced I failed. But I got the call in the
end! I start soon.
I wouldn’t recommend that to anyone. It was definitely a
psychological disadvantage to walk into a room full of slick candidates and
then have to walk into the interview with an air of confidence. It was even
worse waiting for the results thinking that I blew it by not wearing a coat
and tie.
Reply: Candidates will tell me that I don’t have a suit or the money
to by a nice suit for my oral board. My advice. Rent one and look and feel
like the professional you want to be.
"Nothing counts 'til you have
the badge . . . Nothing!"
Our thanks go out to Capt Bob Smith for his article and
insight. For more information on his
book, Becoming a Firefighter: The
Complete Guide to Your Badge, and his entry level DVD/CD
oral interview program that has helped thousands of individuals to get
the job of their dreams (included in the Ultimate Firefighter
Examination Prep Package), go to our entry level fireman test
products page. Good luck!!
Do
not, repeat, DO NOT go to your
polygraph without first getting the program from www.polygraph.com
.
This program covers both poly and VSA.
Click here for Entry Level Products Page
Click here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
52.
My Polygraph results were inconclusive
Inconclusive Results
Often candidates are eliminated through the poly with inconclusive results.
Not that you failed, but it’s the same as you did. Why is that? You
didn’t fail and you didn’t pass? Your results were
inconclusive. You still don’t go forward in the hiring process. I
think the problem again is candidates need to prepare for the poly the same
as with any segment of the hiring process.
Randy had the same problem. He took the poly and the evaluator eliminated
him with inconclusive results based on his use of pot within the last five
years. He swore he had not. Yea, right you say, but that’s his story.
So, Randy jumps on the Internet and found www.polygraph.com and www.passapolygraph.com
He educated himself on what to expect. He took a poly for another agency
and passes with flying colors even that inconclusive area about pot.
He’s been a great firefighter and just got promoted to engineer.
Do not, repeat, DO NOT go
to your polygraph without first getting the program from www.polygraph.com
.
This program
covers both poly and VSA.
Click here for Entry Level Products Page
Click here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
53.
What do I do next after failing
the polygraph test??
The first time I ever had contact and talked to
Scott was 45 minutes after he got the call that he had failed his
poly. Needless to say he was devastated. When I asked
him what he had done to prepare for his polygraph he said he used the free
information from some of the “experts” on this
forum. Using those guidelines he said he went in and spilled his
guts, just like going to confession.
Just a few minutes into our conversation he realized that he had become too
familiar with the evaluator, got chatty, volunteered too much beyond what
was requested, was really nervous but thought everything was going just
great.
Scott wrote:
The next test I take, I assure you, I will be better prepared.
I believe Scott is only referring to understanding the process better. I’m
a firm believer in preparing for every step in the hiring process before
you get there.
According to Doug Williamson a 35-year veteran polygraph evaluator from www.polygraph.com
“It is a very serious mistake to believe that you will pass your
polygraph or CVSA tests just because you are telling the truth - they are
not "lie detectors". Scientific research proves that
simple nervousness will cause a truthful person to fail!”
I talked to Scott after he checked out polygraph.com. He
realized he had not been as prepared as he could have been before his
polygraph. If he had it to do over again he would have been
better prepare in understanding the process before his evaluation and could
have had a better opportunity of passing without compromising his
truthfulness as others are referring to here.
Being prepared for every step of the hiring process before you show up will
place you in a better position to end up wearing a badge than being caught
flat footed wondering what happened when the career you have been intensely
pursuing evaporates before you eyes.
I recently had a polygraph and it was the most
stressful three hours I've had in a long time. I took Captain Bob's advice
and learned about the polygraph and the process to be better prepared. We
as candidates prepare for written, physical agility tests and interviews
and making it to this stage of the hiring process is the exception. Why
would a person not want to be as prepared as possible? I found the
information I learned to be extremely beneficial and I was more at ease
during the test than I would have been if I wasn't educated on the
polygraph. I also feel that the person who administers the test has a lot
to do with the results. I was lucky and had a competent operator. I would
recommend to any candidate to learn as much as they could about the
polygraph.
"Nothing counts 'til you have the badge . .
. Nothing!"
Our thanks go
out to Capt Bob Smith for his article and insight. For more information on his book, Becoming
a Firefighter: The Complete Guide to
Your Badge, and
his entry level DVD/CD oral interview program that has helped
thousands of individuals to get the job of their
dreams (included in the Ultimate Firefighter Examination
Prep Package), go to our entry level fireman test products page.
Good luck!!
Do not, repeat, DO NOT go
to your polygraph without first getting the program from www.polygraph.com
.
This program
covers both poly and VSA.
Click here for Entry Level Products Page
Click here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
54.
Are
Polygraph Tests Lying to Us?
This article is from the Baltimore Sun. It should
give you an insight to the polygraph dilemma:
Tests: Mixed reading of Lee's nuclear secret data, federal employee
opposition to taking lie detectors 'reignite'
80-year-old controversy.
When physicist Wen Ho Lee first denied leaking
U.S. nuclear secrets to the Chinese, authorities from
the Department of Energy in 1998 wired him to a polygraph to see if he was
lying.
The Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist passed.
But when a polygraph expert from the FBI looked at the same test results
later, he concluded that Lee had not told the truth.
How could the same lie detector test lead investigators to exactly opposite
conclusions?
The case of Lee, who eventually pleaded guilty to one felony count of
mishandling classified information, has left law enforcement experts trying
to answer the same fundamental questions that have existed since the
invention of the lie detector 80 years ago: Does the polygraph actually
work? And is it fair?
"It's reignited this smoldering controversy," says Steven Aftergood, a senior research analyst with the
Federation of American Scientists in Washington. In an essay being
published today in the journal Science, Aftergood
argues that a new federal policy requiring nearly 20,000 employees of the
national nuclear weapons laboratories to take lie detector tests is having
undesirable effects.
The policy has lowered morale, Aftergood writes,
and caused some of the nation's most gifted scientists to leave, and made
it harder for the labs to recruit talented young researchers for the
weapons programs. The use of the polygraph, he writes, "symbolizes the
defeat of reason by the national security state."
Despite such criticisms, the use of the polygraph test is on the rise.
Congress banned private industry's use of lie detectors as a condition of
employment in 1988, but they are routinely used for employee screening at
the FBI, Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency and local
police departments around the country. The percentage of law enforcement
agencies using polygraphs for this purpose rose from 16 percent in 1962 to
62 percent in 1999, according to a survey by Michigan State University's School
of Criminal Justice.
There's also a growing market for polygraphs outside law enforcement. The
American Polygraph Association, the largest polygraph accrediting and
licensing organization in the country, reports that its membership has
risen past 2,000 and is continuing to grow.
Private polygraph examiners handle everything from fishing tournaments to
divorce cases. Winners of the annual Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament in
Morehead City, N.C., for example, must submit to a polygraph before collecting
any prize money (to make sure they haven't stuffed rocks in the gut of
their prize catch).
Lie detectors aren't designed to detect lies as much as the subtle physical
changes that may occur when a person tells a lie. The word
"polygraph" means "many writings,"
and that is what the polygraph machine produces: lots of squiggly lines on
a scrolling piece of paper.
The test works like this: A subject is seated in a chair. Two rubber belts
are wrapped around his chest and stomach to measure breathing patterns. A
blood pressure cuff is wrapped around an arm. A metal plate attached to the
fingers measures sweat gland activity.
The polygraph examiner then asks the person a series of questions. Some of
the queries are "control" questions
unrelated to the matter under investigation but establish a base line of
the person's blood pressure, respiration and perspiration. Other questions
directly address the actions under scrutiny.
The examiner interprets the person's physiological response to each of the
questions, as recorded on scrolling paper, to judge whether the person is
lying. And thus the uncertainty about polygraph results: they are a matter
of judgment. "There's no red
light or siren that comes on when the person lies," says Milton O.
"Skip" Webb Jr., president of the American Polygraph Association.
The roots of the modern lie detector stretch back to antiquity. Like modern
methods, early techniques to ferret
out lies often relied on the behavior exhibited by liars - sweaty palms,
dry mouth, shifting gaze, racing pulse.
In China, for example, suspected liars were fed a handful of dry rice. If
they could spit it out, the thinking went, they were telling the truth. If
the rice stuck to their tongue, they must have something to hide.
The modern quest to detect liars using technology began with Cesare Lombroso, an Italian
criminologist who in
1895 published a book called "The Criminal Man" in which he
described his efforts using an early instrument to
measure changes in blood pressure to determine whether several criminal
suspects had lied.
In 1915, Harvard psychologist William Moulton Marston
picked up on these early studies and devised a primitive lie detector based
on blood pressure. According to psychologist and polygraph historian David Lykken, it was Marston, a
colorful P.T. Barnum-like character, who was among the first to realize the
lie detector's commercial possibilities.
In 1938, Look magazine described how Marston
sometimes used his lie detection techniques in marital counseling. He also
showed up in full-page ads testifying to the close shave offered by
Gillette razors: "New Facts about Shaving Revealed by Lie
Detector!" (Using the pen name "Charles Moulton," Marston would also invent the comic strip character
Wonder Woman, whose magic lasso could force those held to tell the truth. )
But John A. Larson, a Berkeley, Calif., police officer, is the person
generally credited with inventing the modern polygraph machine. In 1921,
Larson, who eventually became a doctor, devised an instrument that could
simultaneously record blood pressure, pulse and respiration. Later tinkerers improved upon Larson's design
by adding sensors to measure perspiration.
Over the years scientists have tried to determine whether the polygraph
actually works. But accurate studies are hard to do. "The science is
not solid," says Aftergood, in part because
investigators can rarely learn independently whether a subject who passed a
polygraph test was indeed telling the truth.
In some studies, volunteers are recruited to be pretend criminals and then
subjected to a lie detector test. But the
results of such work, critics argue, don't mimic reality. "It's
impossible to make the stakes as high in an experiment as they are in real
life," says Aftergood.
Still, proponents of the polygraph argue the device is accurate in better
than 90 percent of cases, and note that it's not uncommon for other types
of test results to be open to interpretation.
"Your doctor can have you take a chest X-ray and say, 'I don't see
anything.' Then he sends it over to a radiologist and the radiologist finds
something the first doctor doesn't see," says Webb. "Happens
all the time."
But enough guilty people have slipped past the polygraph to have given law
enforcement officials pause. Most federal and state courts do not allow
polygraph results to be entered as evidence.
CIA employee Aldrich Ames, for example, passed lie detector tests despite
selling U.S. secrets to the Russians
for more than eight years. There's also a mini-industry of Internet sites
and books such as "Deception Detection:
Winning the Polygraph Game" that purport to teach people how to beat
the test.
"College students with 15 minutes of explanation can beat the lie
detector," says David Lykken, a retired
psychologist from the University of Minnesota. "Anybody who is working
as a spy has been taught how to beat the polygraph." The advertised
techniques range from curling one's toes to biting one's tongue during
control questions to mislead the examiner.
Still, even critics of the polygraph acknowledge that it has led to
admissions of guilt that they might not otherwise have gotten.
"The polygraph itself functions as a prop more than anything
else," says Aftergood. "Yet, there are
cases every year in which the prop works."
By Michael Stroh
Sun Staff
Originally published Nov 3 2000
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
55.
Getting Passed
Over?
Captain Bob,
I was one month from being hired for a notable fire department in
Washington when I received a letter stating the I was NOT recommended for
hire. I had taken the medical, psych, and turned in the background packet.
I had been interviewed by the background investigator, with the opportunity
to answer any questions about my background. I had even been fitted for
turnouts! I received the letter and have been struggling to find out why.
Let me give you a little background with me and this department.
I worked on their city ambulance, in the fire station for over two years
with NO disciplinary actions for misconduct. I work for them as an
administration Reserve Firefighter, after I had already passed my Chief's
interview. The Captain calling all my references was one of my Station
Captains while I was on the ambulance. So when I was failed out you can
imagine my shock. No one could give me any answers. H.R. told me to call
the two-division chief's in charge of the hiring process. I called, left 3 messages with no response. I called the
Captain that I had worked with and all he could say was that he could not
say, on or off the record. Finally I called and left a message with THE
Chief of the department. His representative called back and said that it
was not my psych, nor my medical, and that something or a combination of
things is why I was not recommended for hire. He said he could be specific.
I want to know what recourse I have in finding out what it was that failed me. I don't want to keep running into
the same wall with future departments. What do you recommend I do? The
background was not that extensive. Just employment, friends/coworkers, old
roommates, driving record (totally clean), nothing major. Any direction you
could send me in the better. Thank you Kevin
Reply:
I’m
sorry. Unfortunately there is
nothing you can do to reverse what has taken place when you are in
background or on probation. What
ever the reason or reasons (you may really never find out) you did not meet
the standards or culture of the department.
Having the opportunity to be around a department, on an ambulance or
a volunteer, where they can get to know you does not always work in your
favor. I know some great volunteers
who are still grasping onto the dream that they will still be hired. But they have stayed too long at the fair
and don’t have a prayer of seeing a badge. They would have been better off testing
as an unknown walk on. It’s
tough being a prophet in your own town.
You can become
too familiar with the department and the personnel and unknowingly overstep
the bounds. If you have not already
established a natural bridge to be accepted some firefighters, without you
knowing it, will react by tanking you.
Yep, just like a bunch of old ladies. You will never know what happened.
“No good
deed goes unpunished.”
New rookies
can often make fatal errors in trying to be accepted or try to impress
their fellow firefighters. They
forget they are snotty nose rookies. You need to keep your mouth shut, be
cordial, friendly and humble. You have no time or opinion until you earn
it. You can't force it. That will come with a lot of calls and a few fires.
As Captain
Paul Lepore so accurately put it:
Even if he or she is successful in the academy setting
their true colors will come out during the probationary period. The
firefighters in the station have a unique way of weeding out those that may
not belong.
My best advice is to take a step back, lick your
wounds, take responsibility for what happened, regroup and try testing for
other departments. If you have been
let go in probation or fired by a department, it will be difficult but not
impossible to find a better fit; especially if you are a medic.
More:
Understand
that the best way to get hired is to place yourself in a position where
they can't go around you. If you have the attitude that the system is
against you, that you are being passed over because of minority and women
being hired, you are psyching yourself out.
If you have
this attitude in your mind and your heart, it will be difficult to get
hired. Because this will show in the oral board. It will show when your
start to squirm during your answers on cultural diversity. Especially if
there is a woman on your oral board panel. I've seen guys with great
credentials get tanked here. Women have that sixth sense that can smell out
a phony.
Haven't you
noticed this in your relationships?
You can
continue to piss and moan and focus on other reasons why you think you
don't have the badge. In reality there is only one person keeping you from
getting the badge . . . Believe it or not . . . It's you!
Stop looking
in a magnifying glass at others' and start looking in the mirror at
yourself.
Our thanks go
out to Capt Bob Smith for his article and insight. For more information on his book, Becoming
a Firefighter: The Complete Guide to
Your Badge, and
his entry level DVD/CD oral interview program that has helped
thousands of individuals to get the job of their
dreams (included in the Ultimate Firefighter Examination
Prep Package), go to our entry level fireman test products page.
Good luck!!
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
56.
Questions concerning strengths and
weaknesses
First, I’m having some difficulty with the
strengths/weaknesses question. I have come up with my strengths as being a
very loyal person, very good integrity (I believe this is a HUGE character
trait and live by it), a very hard working, dependable person that can
bring a very positive attitude and work ethic to the department.
Now, for my weaknesses. I am by NO means a
perfect person, I honestly do realize this, and it's not something
I’m "psyching" myself up to think this way. But I’m
at a jam for what to use as my low points. I have not had a very good
driving past, however it is just that... a past. My last citation was just
over 4 years ago, and I have not even been stopped much less ticketed since.
I credit this to me deciding for myself, that this is crazy and I need to
change my ways. Well I did that and it has definitely shown. Would this be a good choice to say?
Another I can name is my credit history. It's not great. On the flip-side
of this, I am not in debt very much. ($1500-$1700). I know it's not petty cash, but I think
it's a low amount to work at. I have also contacted a consolidation
business to try and work out a plan with the companies to resolve all of
it. Good to use or no?
I have never smoked a cigarette, try any drug whatsoever, and have a drink very
rarely. That’s the lifestyle and choice that I have been brought up
and have chosen to continue on that way.
Should I use this as a strong point?
I have written down in my notes, as maybe an answer to "why do you
want to work at this dept?", that (at the risk of sounding clone-ish) this is my dream department... it is the only one
that I have applied to since 2 weeks before finishing the fire academy.
This is without a doubt the department that I want to be a firefighter at.
Keep in mind I have a little more to say to that question, this is just the
point that I’m asking for some advice with. Is that something I
should say? Should I just cross that out all together?
Another kind of broad question I have... rather then spelling out all of my
answers that I have rehearsed, could someone shed some light on some of the
more cliché answers (or clones as I have learned) that people tend to lose
control of their interviews with? I don't think that I have used any in my
answers; I would just like to see what some others' opinions are.
That’s my big questions for now, I truly do appreciate the advice
that you all take the time to give. It's a huge help when I’m trying
to put together a "knock-out" interview.
Helpful
insight
Now to my specific question(s)...
First, I’m having some difficulty with the
strengths/weaknesses question. I have come up with my strengths as being a
very loyal person, very good integrity (I believe this is a HUGE character
trait and live by it), a very hard working, dependable person that can
bring a very positive attitude and work ethic to the department.
Reply: Good
Now, for my weaknesses. I am by NO means a
perfect person, I honestly do realize this, and it's not something
I’m "psyching" myself up to think this way. But I’m
at a jam for what to use as my low points. I have not had a very good
driving past, however it is just that... a past. My last citation was just
over 4 years ago, and I have not even been stopped much less ticketed
since. I credit this to me deciding for myself, that this is crazy and I
need to change my ways. Well I did that and it has definitely shown. Would this be a good choice to say?
Reply: No. This would only open a can of worms.
Another I can name is my credit history. It's not great. On the flip-side
of this, I am not in debt very much. ($1500-$1700). I know it's not petty cash, but I think
it's a low amount to work at. I have also contacted a consolidation
business to try and work out a plan with the companies to resolve all of
it. Good to use or no?
Reply: Nope. Another can of worms. Oh, yea this is the guy we want to hire
who can't handle his finances and is already under the care of a
consolidation company.
I have never smoked a cigarette, try any drug whatsoever, and have a drink very
rarely. That’s the lifestyle and choice that I have been brought up
and have chosen to continue on that way.
Should I use this as a strong point?
Reply: Why?
I have written down in my notes, as maybe an
answer to "why do you want to work at this dept?", that (at the
risk of sounding clone-ish) this is my dream
department... it is the only one that I have applied to since 2 weeks
before finishing the fire academy.
Reply: Clone
This is without a doubt the department that I
want to be a firefighter at. Keep in mind I have a little more to say to
that question, this is just the point that I’m asking for some advice
with. Is that something I should say? Should I just cross that out all together?
Reply: Are you using a tape recorder to practice?
Another kind of broad question I have... rather
then spelling out all of my answers that I have rehearsed, could someone
shed some light on some of the more cliché answers (or clones as I have
learned) that people tend to lose control of their interviews with? I don't
think that I have used any in my answers; I would just like to see what
some others' opinions are.
Reply: I'm not convinced that you're not already a clone like too many
others. That's the problem. Most candidates don't realize it until it's too
late.
Our thanks go
out to Capt Bob Smith for his article and insight. For more information on his book, Becoming
a Firefighter: The Complete Guide to
Your Badge, and
his entry level DVD/CD oral interview program that has helped
thousands of individuals to get the job of their
dreams (included in the Ultimate Firefighter Examination
Prep Package), go to our entry level fireman test products page.
Good luck!!
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
57.
I have
a Class C Misdemeanor Charge. What should I do?
I recently received a Class C Misdemeanor for
Issuance of bad checks (2) that I used at the same place at the same time,
the first check was for gas & the second was for a $1.10 Powerade I bought after I went back in. It was totally
unintentional just some lack of balancing my checkbook on my part. To make
a long story short these checks were dated back in Nov. 2003 and just
recently I found out about them. I had two warrants out for my arrest. I
went to the Municipal Court, paid in full so I could get the warrants off
my record. After paying, they told me that this is considered a Class C
Misdemeanor. Will this ruin my chances on a background? Has anybody been
hired with this charge/conviction on their record before? I’ve worked
so hard to get where I’m at and still working. I’ve completed
my B.S. degree in Fire Management, 2 A.A.S. degrees, EMT-I (attending medic
school), currently a fire instructor at a DoD
Fire Academy and volunteering for a local Volunteer Fire Dept. I’ve
learned my lesson and am also planning on attending a check balancing
class; I just hope this doesn’t hurt me later. Any comments or
suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank You.
Answer:
While I understand bouncing a check now and then
(everyone has done it, myself included), I find it hard to comprehend how
you never knew about it. The bank
certainly would have sent you a letter. There is a $25 bounced check fee
(X2). I think there may be more to the story.
I would respectfully suggest you rethink what happened. Background
investigators are skeptical by nature. I have a feeling you will have a
difficult time explaining how you never knew. There are too many checks and
balances (no pun intended) to notify someone when a check has bounced.
As a business owner I can tell you that the business did not try to run
your check through on only one occasion.
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
58.
What if I had a Domestic Violence
Charge?
I have an issue that I am struggling with. When I was 18,
I pushed my live in girlfriend down resulting in me getting a misdemeanor
Domestic Violence charge. This was 6 years ago. Since then I was granted a 1203.4,
dismissing my case.
I am always forthcoming about this and I disclose it on every
application. It always comes up in my Captain’s interview,
although it has not affected me because during my captain’s
interviews, the captains always thank me for my complete honesty and
candor, and I have even had captains tell me that they admire the fact that
I have overcome that situation.
Here's the problem.
I have made it to a chief’s interview my last 6 testing processes,
and I am not hired yet.
I am convinced it is because every time during my chief’s interview
this comes up. Even though the chief(s) tell me this does not
affect my chances of getting hired in any way, and again they tell me how
much they appreciate my honesty and how they admire me,
GUESS WHAT, they don’t hire me.
Because I keep making the top 10 but not getting hired I am thinking
of not disclosing the information on my applications, because, SUPPOSEDLY,
a 1203.4 means you do not have to admit to a conviction.
I have talked with a background investigator who told me that not
disclosing such a fact regardless of a 1203.4 would result in my removal
from the process and that honesty is OF COURSE always the best
policy.
SO, can anyone out there help me sort this out. DO
you really think I am not getting hired because I have a
conviction? I am just over reacting, and maybe I am close but it
is just not my time? Should I not disclose the conviction
anymore and wait till a background, and HOPE and PRAY they don’t
consider this LIEING?
Thank you to anyone who replies!
Answers:
You need to put it down because they will find it. Even if
you have something dismissed it will show up as a
dismissal. Check your record, and see how it shows up, it may
not even be a problem.
That may not be the problem. I have worked with people in the
past that had something they thought was holding them back, and that was
not necessarily the problem.
The problem was two fold. First they were doing well enough to
get to the chief’s, but not well enough to get past
it. Second, they were holding that problem in the back of their
heads and it was affecting their performance. Some of them felt
a great need to discuss this problem at every turn, and while people
respected their honesty, they were bringing it up when it wasn’t
appropriate. For example, if you are in an interview and bring it
into the discussion, it seems odd. As long as you have disclosed
it where you were supposed to, you needn’t worry about any other part
of the interview. Usually things like that don’t come to a
head until the background interview.
Another Answer
Something to maybe take into consideration is this: Are you able to
give a full circle explanation when discussing the situation? Without knowing all the details of what
played out after the incident ['this is what I did and they dismissed my
case'] OR did you go enroll in anger management-type classes to help curb
your anger outbursts? Did you
consider possibly going to speak at group settings [schools, help groups]
regarding the topic at hand?
This is who I was, the event, the outcome, acknowledging your
shortcoming, actually doing something about it [which shows you are
accepting responsibility for your mistake and did something about it], and
who you are/what you are doing now. That would be a full circle response
into that unfortunate event.
Like Rob mentioned, it might not be the incident at all, but could be
the " last straw " in a series of things
in your background.
Lastly, is it possible to still hired after
this event? Yes. Will it be easy? No, but it is possible. Distance will be your friend in this
situation. Hope this helps.
Another Helpful Answer
This can be a tough one. It has been my experience with
candidates that a domestic violence charge can be as tough as a DUI or
worst. No chief wants one of their sworn members bringing light
on their department with this behavior.
What many candidates don't understand is if the police show up on a
domestic violence incident someone is going to jail. Once you've
been arrested, even if the charge is dropped or expunged the arrest can
still show up on your record and you have to explain it.
Where it can cause you big problems is in a psych test. The
psychologist would have some direct questions that if you can't answer,
you're toast.
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
59.
Reckless driving citations
Well I have a question that hopefully someone
here can answer. I want to get a reckless driving ticket off my record.
Here are the details. I got the ticket my freshmen year in college, I was
driving home for Christmas break at 1 a.m. or 2 a.m. in the morning on I5
in California. Anyone who's driven
it knows the thing is for the most part a straight shot when you're in
central California. And at that time in the morning, there's no one else on
the road so I didn't realize how fast I was going because I wasn't passing
everyone. I was just blasting the music to stay awake. How my Dodge Dakota
pickup reached 102 mph, I don't know.
I just saw the red flashing lights behind me, looked down at my
speed and was speechless. I apologized to the officer and begged, but he
wouldn't write me up for anything less than 100+. So at that speed (30 mph over the speed
limit), it's reckless driving. I
paid the fine and did everything correctly with the court. Now I work at an
ambulance company as an EMT, but I can't drive the ambulance because of
that ticket. I'm about three months
shy of having a totally clean driving record for 4 years. That ticket is
actually the only thing that is on my record at all. Is there any way to get this ticket off
my record? Can I go to a judge and argue my case? The other reason to get it removed is that
I'm looking to join a volunteer fire department and that ticket will most
likely restrict me from any driving that I might otherwise have the
potential to do there.
Helpful insight…
Life is all about accountability and taking
responsibility for one’s actions. We have all made mistakes. Lord
knows I have made some HUGE ones. Where we lose credibility is when we do
not accept responsibility for our actions.
I have cut and pasted a couple of your quotes below.
“I didn't realize how fast I was going because I wasn't passing
everyone.”
One can understand someone getting up to 80 or even 85 miles per hour. By
the time the officer caught up to you and you looked at your speedometer
you, by your own admission, stated you were going 103. Simply put; from the
time it took for the officer to track you, light you up, you to realize he
was behind you, and to look at your speedometer means that you traveled at
this speed for a period of time.
“How my Dodge Dakota pickup reached 102 mph I don't know,”
I am confident that that old truck was rattling and shaking down the road.
Again, it’s hard to believe that you didn’t know.
“Can I go to a judge and argue my case?”
What are you going to argue? Are you going to say that you didn’t do
it? Are you going to say the sentence was unfair? Or, are you going to say
that this infraction is keeping you from something that YOU want?
I’m not passing judgment on your driving, rather the fact that you
are not owning up to your actions.
We all make choices in life. In this case, your choice has come with
consequences that are now affecting your career choice.
Society has much more respect for people who stand up and say they made a
mistake. We have all done things that we would NEVER repeat,
however, we are still accountable for our actions.
Bill Clinton and Martha Stewart are both recent examples of people who did
not take responsibility for their actions.
Paul Lepore, Battalion Chief
Author
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
60.
Phone Messages
Many aspiring firefighters live together with their
friends to cut down on expenses and help pay for their education
(paramedic, etc.)
We recently conducted a prep class in which an opening occurred and we
called the first person on the waiting list. The message on the phone was
"you have reached the house of Tim, Jim and Steve,
we are unable to answer the phone because we are sitting around drinking
beer and doing shots of Crown royal. Leave your name and number and where
we met you and how drunk we were when we met you.”
It might seem funny but, if that message was on the phone when a department
called to bring you in for an oral interview or even a job offer what do
you think the officer would do!!! That also goes for cell phone
messages.
Our thanks go
out to Capt Bob Smith for his article and insight. For more information on his book, Becoming
a Firefighter: The Complete Guide to
Your Badge, and
his entry level DVD/CD oral interview program that has helped
thousands of individuals to get the job of their
dreams (included in the Ultimate Firefighter Examination
Prep Package), go to our entry level fireman test products page.
Good luck!!
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
61.
I am at a Loss
of What to do Here
Q. I have been
a volunteer firefighter for 3 years now. I only began seeking employment as
a career firefighter 1 year ago so that I could finish my Bachelor's
Degree. I have never had any problem passing written and
physical exams, but am getting eliminated after oral boards. I am
at a loss of what to do here. I feel that when I walk into the room, I am
well prepared for my interview. Just recently though, I was thrown for a
loop by a new oral board question I had never heard before. It
was a series of question but I only had 30 seconds to respond. After that,
I was cut off and read the next question. These questions ranged from how do you feel about working for a female lieutenant, to
tell us what you know about our department. I fear that I lost points here
because I could not get everything I knew out of my mouth in 30
seconds. I have studied everything about the departments that I
am interviewing with, yet still seem to fall short to get called back for
further testing. Can anyone give me some advice on what I need to do to improve
myself in this area? I would really appreciate it,
A.
You’re not alone here. Many tell me they felt like they
have hit a wall and don’t know what to do next.
This from oral
board rater David White
Fire Captain/EMS Coordinator
Culver City Fire Department
I have sat as
a rater on many, many oral boards. Sometimes a candidate will
have good answers but the answers don't seem to be sincere. What
I mean is that the answers don't seem to fit the
candidate. Raters will hear the same canned answers over and
over again. Sincerity (your words and feelings) is a dimension
that though hard to quantify definitely comes into play when
evaluated. Do your answers jive with your demeanor and
application/resume?
There will always be a question you were not expecting. This is
not deliberate - it just is. Know this from the start and don't be
surprised when it happens. All raters have seen a candidate that
was surprised by a certain question go into a high speed wobble and
never recover.
If there are conditions to a question (30 seconds to answer a series) you
are expected to meet them. You need to adapt. Be flexible and
adapt. The answers need to be brief enough to meet the time
allotted. If you don't then you will not score as well as those
who did. Dave
As one
candidate wrote:
I didn't realize how incredibly dead in the water I was until I realized
that what I thought was unique in my oral boards was truly another fine
example of a clone candidate.
Sadly, I know that there are thousands of other candidates shooting
themselves in the foot, being difficult on themselves, telling themselves
that they aren't cut out for the job because they've tested so many places
and keep getting low on the list...or not getting on the list at
all.
I FINALLY figured it out and got a job in a busy, full-time mid western
town. All of my dreams have instantly come true. Paul
The secret is to personalize your answers so they represent you not a
canned clone answer of someone else that’s not you.
A. I’m assuming you are practicing with a tape recorder as Rob
suggested.
It is unusual to have a format of answering a series of questions in 30
seconds. But if you had your base line of answers down you could
easily condense the high points down to 30 seconds. What too
many candidates do is try to answer the questions with a blue print when we
just need a sketch. Try to give us a dump truck when we just need a
trailer.
Yes, you can plan on being asked curve ball
questions. It’s sad to see candidates die a slow
death when this happens. Often, it’s a question you
already have an answer for but it is disguised in one of a hundred
different ways. Being able to remove the disguise, know what the
question relates to, delivering your answer and a personalized life
experience story of how you have already lived it.
You should seriously consider getting a coaching session. More on
coaching here
Our thanks go
out to Capt Bob Smith for his article and insight. For more information on his book, Becoming
a Firefighter: The Complete Guide to
Your Badge, and
his entry level DVD/CD oral interview program that has helped
thousands of individuals to get the job of their
dreams (included in the Ultimate Firefighter Examination
Prep Package), go to our entry level fireman test products page.
Good luck!!
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
62.
Creating Trails
I can't
believe what many candidates reveal! Candidates often call me after going
to an oral board, doing background checks or psychological interviews. They
are concerned by some information have given. Often it is related to
something from their past.
My first
question is who besides you knows this? Who could they contact that could
tell them this information? The usual answer is no one. This is my point.
Why do so many
candidates create a trail that could open a can of worms keeping them from
getting the job of their dreams? Especially if the department is not giving
a polygraph test. Many feel they have to be honest to a fault to get this
job. Candidates tell me, "They were hammering so hard I felt I had to
give them something." Please spare me this part. Think twice before
creating a trail that probably no one can find. Especially if it doesn't
make any difference.
Our thanks go
out to Capt Bob Smith for his article and insight. For more information on his book, Becoming
a Firefighter: The Complete Guide to
Your Badge, and
his entry level DVD/CD oral interview program that has
helped thousands of individuals to get the job of their
dreams (included in the Ultimate Firefighter Examination
Prep Package), go to our entry level fireman test products page.
Good luck!!
Volunteering
Information
A doctor who
interviews a candidate that is open, honest, forthcoming,
has common since, and answers all questions probably considers them as O.K.
But, many candidates want this job so bad that they will do almost anything
to get it. I have been told what candidates have said during their
interviews. I’ve asked, "How did you get these people to say
that?" The answer was, we just asked them and they volunteered the information.
Before you volunteer information, think before you speak. Present your
ideas clearly. Don’t ramble or chat. Be articulate. This is how
you’re going to be in the field. Believe it or not this is part of
the job interview. You are making an impression of who you are going to be
as a firefighter. Make sure you dress up and don’t slouch. Be
prepared to audition for the part of being a firefighter. Know your strong
points. Be prepared to demonstrate you are a team player.
One of our
candidates was going to a chiefs oral. He knew one
of the questions was going to be, "Is there anything we should know
about?" He wanted to say something about being eliminated from hiring
by another department, because his polygraph was questionable about
previous marijuana use. My question was, "What do you think your
chances are of being considered by this department it you said that?"
Not good was the reply.
My advice was
this was not the time to bring something like that up. If anytime, it would
be in the background check. Don't create a trail that might not be found.
He didn't bring it up. It never came up with the background investigator. A
polygraph was not given. I saw him receive his badge. This candidate was
hired again by the department he really wanted to work for even after taking
another polygraph. I witnessed that badge pinning too. The defense rests!
The following
is from the 1832 badge in our program:
Hi Capt. Bob.
I just wanted to let you know that I purchased your video some time back
prior to Testing for a Colorado Fire Department. On August 8,1999, I started the fire academy. I was one of 14
people out of 541 who tested. I think a lot of what helped me was the tapes
I got from you. I have tested all over the country during the past 5 years
and always came close but never got the "call ". I went in to the
interview with a lot more confidence than in the past, and it worked! Well.
Thanks again. Steve
Captain Bob's
reply:
Half of the 14
candidates in that hiring were our candidates. How did they do it without
all sounding like clones? We taught them to use their personal life
experience!
Our thanks go
out to Capt Bob Smith for his article and insight. For more information on his book, Becoming
a Firefighter: The Complete Guide to
Your Badge, and
his entry level DVD/CD oral interview program that has
helped thousands of individuals to get the job of their
dreams (included in the Ultimate Firefighter Examination
Prep Package), go to our entry level fireman test products page.
Good luck!!
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
63.
Getting Down to the Short Strokes
I get a
sinking feeling and my heart goes out to those who call and say, what can I do now after they get eliminated once they get a
conditional job offer. My question is why didn’t
you call me before you went on to the next step? Often the answer is well
things were going so good I didn’t think I needed any help.
One of those
calls came from Scott asking if he had failed the poly would another
department be able to find out about it? Why
do you ask? Well, I got this call last week if I could come in the
next day for the poly. Sure I could. Then things
didn’t go so well. Like what? Well, I copped to some
things that did not have to and shouldn’t have (Often, it can be what
you say before or after you’re hooked up to the poly that can take
you out). I asked him why he didn’t call me when he found out he was
going in the next day? Well, things
happened so fast, I didn’t have time. I told him, you have
enough time to call me now.
Just because
you got a job offer doesn’t mean you will get the badge! There
are a lot of land mines that you need to prepare for when you get down to
the short strokes after getting a conditional job offer. The badge is
there. There is only one person that’s going to keep you from
getting it. It’s you! Take it one step at a time.
It’s
more difficult to try and fight your way back in than being prepared before
you take the next step for the psych interview, background, polygraph, and
medical to gain a badge.
Bill had a job
offer from the same department as Scott above. He called expecting an
offer concerned about an investigation on a previous job that could cause
him problems. We talked it out. Bottom line, he had a letter
from the police department that he had been cleared after the
investigation. He still had to put it down on the background
investigation. That was landmine hurdle number one.
Bill called
concerned as he left his poly. Even though he had been cleared the
poly showed a strong reaction in this area. I asked him if he had
brought the file on this situation with him?
He forgot, but could get it faxed in 15 minutes. He went back in to
show the poly investigator once he had the file. The investigator
told him his file had gone on to HR.
I asked Bill
if he knew who his contact was in HR?
Yea. He tried to call her. No answer. Do you know where
she is? Not really. But I think it’s in the same building
where I took the poly because it’s the same phone prefix
number. I could hear a voice in the background. I asked Bill if
he had brought his wife Janice. Yes, Janice drove up with me.
OK, take the file and your wife in and find your contact. I heard
Janice in the background say, “I’m not dressed right.
I’m wearing a sweat shirt.” No worry. Just get in
there.
Thirty-minutes later Bill called. They had gone into HR and
asked for his contact. When Kathy came to the counter, she already knew
what had happened. Bill presented the file. Then like magic it
was like old home week between the HR contact Kathy and his wife
Janice. He couldn’t believe it. I told him that’s
why I wanted Janice to go in with you. You know how it is. Your
wife or friend goes to the ladies room. Time passes. When she comes
out all the ladies who were in the bathroom are now friends.
Kathy told
him, “We’ll get back to you.” At 4:00 p.m., Bill
called. Kathy called to invite him to the psych the next
morning. I replied, “Yes, yes, yes! You dodged a
bullet.” He said, I still don’t
know if I passed the poly. Bill, they wouldn’t be sending you
on to the psych if you hadn’t passed the poly! Be prepared
though that this incident where you had been investigated will be on the
front burner. Practice your answer with a tape recorder until it
comes out sounding right. If the psychologist wants to expand the
questioning on this issue, just be the broken record repeating your
original answer.
Friday, 2:00
p.m. Bill called saying you were right, that issue was brought up.
When I gave my reply to the incident the second time, the psychologist had
a long pause and then moved on to the next question. I asked Bill how
long the interview was with the psychologist?
Fifteen minutes. Anything other big issues stump you? No.
Well, Bill, it’s my experience with an interview that short you
passed. Welcome to the fire service.
Friday, 4:30
p.m. The phone rings. It’s Bill. Hey, I’ve
just been invited to an orientation with my wife next week. What does
that mean? It means you better start packing and looking for a place
to live. Enjoy your weekend.
This is just
one story. Four more candidates who went through our program, were also
helped through this departments hiring maze were at the orientation will
Bill. I had placed some that were further along in this process with
those who were behind them to give them a little more heads up on what to
expect. Each with a different story, but they all made it. They were all EMT’s that were hired to be paramedic
interns. They’re all in medic school now.
I love what I
do.
Our thanks go
out to Capt Bob Smith for his article and insight. For more information on his book, Becoming
a Firefighter: The Complete Guide to
Your Badge, and
his entry level DVD/CD oral interview program that has helped
thousands of individuals to get the job of their
dreams (included in the Ultimate Firefighter Examination
Prep Package), go to our entry level fireman test products page.
Good luck!!
Click
here for Entry Level Products Page
Click
here to review the Ultimate Firefighter Exam Package
64.
Have You Ever?
Captain Smith, After going through your program and a
coaching session with your son, I am currently in backgrounds with 2
departments in Southern California and on the lists of 4
others. The background investigators for those two departments
told me that they will both have psychological evaluations and one will
have a polygraph. I want to make sure that I am prepared for
these last phases prior to hiring. Your son suggested I call you
for advice.
Thanks, Randy
After you have jumped through all the flaming hoops you don’t want to
be caught flat-footed for the remaining steps in the hiring
process. It’s 3rd down and 2 yards to go for the
badge. You want to convert. You want to convert every
step of this process the first time through the line, or you could be
thrown for a loss, thrown in the penalty box, out of the game, and trying
to fight your way back in.
You can spin this anyway you want. But ask yourself if you would
you show up without preparing for the written? Not in shape for the
physical agility? Have you discovered you just can’t wing
the oral? Then, why doesn’t it make since to prepare for the
remaining portions of the hiring process, the background, psych, poly and
medical?
Don’t be so naive to believe by the 4 inches between your ears you
have an explanation that everything in your past will be overlooked,
especially if it’s something you weren’t required to reveal in
the first place. If you do, you might still believe in the
Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy. Come on in said the spider to
the fly. Don’t take the bait! It’s not the
department but the background investigators and the psychologist that could
take you out. These people are not your friends. They
are experts being paid to eliminate you from the process. The
deck is stacked against you before you show up.
I get the calls when the background has not gone right for too many
candidates. The first words out of their mouth
when I pick up the phone is usually, "What do I do
now?" I ask them two questions. First, were you
honest to a fault leaving not rock unturned? Did you volunteer
information that you were not required to give? They usually
answer yes to both. Than that’s probably why you
failed. The defense rests.
A candidate just called and said the background investigator told him a
poly would be given to verify his information. My first question,
“Was it listed on the job announcement that there was going to be a
poly? No. If it was not included in the job
announcement and or they are going to give a poly to everyone else,
that’s BS. It’s not uncommon for a background
investigator or psychologist to say, “Will you submit to a poly to
verify your answers? Or, a poly could or will be given at the
end of the process.” Are they ying? Yep. Wait
a minute, I thought everyone was not suppose to
tell the truth here? I’m not aware of any test where the
candidates were held hostage with the threat of a poly being given, when it
was not included with the job announcement, and they had to take
one. I know of candidates who were turned down and wanted to
take a poly to prove they were telling the truth and they couldn’t
get one because they would have to give it to everyone else.
They often say, I didn’t think what I told them was any big deal, but
some of those little things that I really didn’t have to talk about
amounted to causing me big problems in the process. As one candidate said, "Hey, I’m not a bad
guy. But I volunteered a little something here and then
there. By the time they got done with me, they made me look like
Charles Manson! "
I had a chance to work with a psychologist in preparing our Conquer the
Psychological Interview Special Report. I couldn’t believe
some of the answers candidates tossed out in their interview with the
psychologist. When I asked the psychologist how did you get them
to say that? He smiled and said, "We just asked
them." Wouldn’t you want to be prepared so you
wouldn’t just blurt out something you were not required to
say? Here is a segment of that report:
“Psychologists are given more power than they should,” says
Robert Thomas Flint, Ph.D., who sometimes did re-evaluations of potential
peace officers and firefighters who have failed psychological
tests. Although he tends to agree 40-50% of the original
decisions were valid, he finds that another 30-50% of the rejected
candidates are acceptable and can handle the job.
The psychological test is changing the fire service. Sure there
are some folks who have a lot of baggage and shouldn’t be
hired. But most of the red-hot’s,
the backbone of the fire service, can’t make it through the
process. Surprisingly, the evaluations are based on the
performance of those already in the fire service.
More and more agencies are using the psychological test in their hiring
process. Psychologists are competing for this lucrative business
and agencies feel they need this service to hire the right
candidates. In one large department forty-percent of candidates
were eliminated from the hiring process through the psychological
tests. Fire administrations feel their hands are tied and get
frustrated when they see that a high percentage of their superior
candidates who were eliminated by their physiological test are being hired
by other agencies. If the psych is so important why is it not
used at all in Canada? Some departments who have been using he
psych have stopped because of the candidates it was delivering.
Dr. Flint feels that the PhD has been watered down, i.e., many of graduates
in the last ten years, and the psychologist too often paint by the numbers
and disqualify a person because they might have an unusual
background. These psychologists do not have an adequate
background in the statistics and the research necessary to be fully
competent in the use of tests with unusual populations. That is,
they are trained in identifying problems in the general population but are
less skilled in the identifying the strengths in special groups such as
firefighters. They also tend to have difficulty incorporating
unusual backgrounds into their reports. But, don’t a
higher percentage of those with a burning desire for this job fall into
these categories?
Much of the problem falls on the cities themselves for not having control
of the guidelines that the psychologists are using. Left on
their own, psychologists will use their own devises to decide what to do,
and this is not always related to the department’s
needs. If the guidelines are not well defined by the agency,
then the psychologist might wash the candidate out for reasons not job
relevant.
A large bay area city was a perfect example of this process. A
member of personnel and a fire recruiter teamed up to upgrade the selection
process and add the polygraph. Because of the cost of living
this city was already pulling their hair out trying to recruit candidates,
particularly medics. This new system only made the problem
worst. Forty-two percent of the medic candidates and half the
lateral candidates failed. Many of these candidates went on to
pass other backgrounds, psych and yes, polys. In
a conversation with the recruiter at an exhibition I said you sure are
losing a lot of candidates. His reply with a sneer was, not the
right candidates. Well, with a new fire chief, personnel
director and firefighter recruiter they are trying to put the pieces back
together.
According to Dr. Flint, too much emphasis is placed on the paper and pencil
test. He feels strongly that unusual test scores should be
evaluated in the light of the candidate’s history. Very
young candidates 21-25 often do not have enough history to refute problems
suggested on the test. All candidates believe of course that
they can handle the job, that they can meet any challenges,
that they will hold up well at emergencies. The
psychologist’s job is to determine, as closely as possible whether
those beliefs are sound. To give someone the benefit of the
doubt maybe endangering them or someone else.
If a candidate can demonstrate that he has overcome areas of conflict that
the written test reveals and his early history demonstrates, then the test
interpretation should reflect that fact. The paper score then
should be thrown out, not the candidate.
Those who are critical about what we are saying here probably have never
gone through our program and usually don’t have a clue what we do. I
want candidates to be prepared for each step of the hiring process, where
the land mines are and understand the ramifications of the information they
present in the process.
You have spent all this time gaining education, experience and training to
get this job. You finally get a shot at the
badge. You get a conditional job offer. You’re
ecstatic. You call family and friends. You meet with the
background investigator. You think he’s your pal. You
go for your psych. No big deal right? Then a letter
arrives from the department withdrawing their job
offer. You’re stunned! There has to be a
mistake. You want to talk to someone. You had the
explanation you knew they would accept. No one will talk to
you. You’re out of the process. The reason? You
walked in flat-footed not prepared for the remaining segments of the hiring
process.
As one candidate wrote: As for Backgrounds; they tell you to be
honest. But sometimes being honest can bite you in the ass. When a
Background is being conducted the only obvious things they could find out
are things like your driving, criminal and credit history. Don't be stupid
and write down references that hate you. I've known some good people that
should be fireman/cops but get disqualified for being too honest.
You’re a free agent. Make sure you prepare for the hiring
process in a way that will best put you in a position for a badge.
Our thanks go
out to Capt Bob Smith for his article and insight. For more information on his book, Becoming
a Firefighter: The Complete Guide to
Your Badge, and
his entry level DVD/CD oral interview program that has
helped thousands of individuals to get the job of their dreams (included
in the Ultimate Firefighter Examination Prep Package), go to our
entry level fireman test products page. Good luck!!
| 
