How to Become a Firefigher

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Captain Bob's Top Oral Board

Interview Strategies

Here are some of Captain Bob's top oral board Interview Strategies.  Each link takes you to a "Nugget" topic:

The Number One Problem in Getting Hired!

If you turn in an application for firefighter job there is an oral board interview in your future — it’s unavoidable. 

Yet despite this certainty, when the interview invitation letter arrives, panic almost always follows. You’re caught flat-footed.

Through my involvement in helping firefighters get jobs, I frequently receive calls from panicked candidates who say they were blindsided by an unexpected interview. But we know this isn’t true. They just didn’t prepare in advance for what was likely the difference-maker in whether they made the cut or missed out on an opportunity.

Improving poor oral board skills
Your scores in the oral board portion are crucial in landing a position.  Usually 100% of your score to get hired. So what are you doing incorrectly that is keeping you from getting hired?

The bottom line is that most candidates don't gain the necessary interviewing skills and practice enough to become good at it. This is true for any job interview. How are you going to stun the oral board panel within a short amount of time to convince them that you are more qualified to get the job over the other candidates? 

After sitting in on more than a hundred oral boards, I’ve seen many candidates do poorly. But it’s clear that many poor interviewers don’t realize how poorly they respond to interview questions. It’s the most misunderstood and least prepared portion of testing. I've seen candidates with great credentials falter when it comes to presenting their qualifications at the interview. And if you can't present yourself well, you don't get the job…period!  Never! Ever!

If you’re succeeding at the written and agility portions of the test, which are usually pass-fail, and you’re not placing high enough on the oral board, then that’s where the problem lies. Most candidates who score low on the oral attempt to go back and pack on more credentials thinking that will get them over the hump. They think that they have to finish their degree, certificates or get through academy training first before reapplying. While these are sound strategies to improving your résumé, they do little to improve the skills needed for the oral board.

With all due respect to the source of the following comment, this is one of the most important clues to why candidates have trouble with their oral boards:

“I recently had an interview, and I know my answers were great, especially after hearing how another candidate answered them. He made the list, and I did not. Go figure!”

Most candidates falsely believe their answers are great. And this problem is compounded when interviewees listen to the answers of other candidates and try to mimic their responses. They become “clones” of one another. Have you noticed that once a person gets a job or becomes a firefighter, they are instantly the expert on how to get hired? Try to be original with your answers. You want to convey to the oral board your unique qualities and experience that would benefit the department. After all, it’s a good chance that your competition has not practiced their interview skills, so why would you want to copy their answers?

This is how fast things can change even with a stuttering problem:

I had many certifications including Paramedic. The only hindrance that I found myself with was not passing the oral.  After noticing many of your students successful testimonies on the bulletin boards. I ordered your program http://www.eatstress.com/goldpackage.htm

Immediately, I was nailing the interviews. Getting hired over the auxiliaries at their own departments, and with a heck of a lot less experience. Your program and techniques helped me excel past the other candidates.

 For all of the candidates out there that don't believe this, try passing and ranking #1 on orals with a stuttering problem . . . I did. Thanks Captain Bob  -- Dave

Candidates who get this far in the process usually feel discouraged and tell me that it seems like they have hit a wall. Some of their friends (with lesser credentials) have been hired. They’re frustrated and embarrassed.

Rather than dwelling on the frustration, it’s important at this point for them to focus on and improve your weaknesses, such as poor interview skills. We will show you how to shorten the learning curve to close the distance between you and your badge. Like the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz, we’re not going to give you anything you don’t already possess. We’re just going to show you where it is. There is a badge out there for you and we will show you how to nail it!

Here we go. Keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times.

"Getting the job of your dreams is like winning the lottery!" Jerry Price, Firefighter

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