Hopefully you will not make these mistakes.
Subject: made it thru the chief's interview
David, Thank you for your information.
Don't be surprised if you don't get a job offer. I will explain why in the body
of your e-mail.
Sir,
We had spoken during the week of Jan 16, and I had used the audio/video
pack on passing the oral boards. Well I had passed and now am turning the
program
on my workmates, who are also testing, to your website so that they can benefit
from your advice. This may wind up hurting me in the future as we will be
competing against one another here shortly.
Well sir as I mentioned over the phone I had passed the first oral board, moved
onto the psych test-followed the guidelines in the hard copy of your special
report on getting thru the psych exam, continued on to the med director
interview, which went
well until I informed him, when asked, that I did not have experience in Rapid
Sequence Intubations-we do not do this in the system I am a paramedic in.
I am not sure how well that went over. And on to the chief's interview.
Reply:
You would have not gone forward to the chief's interview if this were a problem.
I rode the winning pony, had the fresh pressed suit, and went in with a
winning attitude. The interview went well and seemed to be formatted
closer to an oral board more so than a get to know you session. But having been
prepared for the orals I had a solid script to work with when presented
various questions based on the highlights of my resume. The questions were:
What I had learned about the system and county.
What being a firefighter/medic means to me.
Do I have any questions?
Although I was a bit surprised I felt like I had answered the question with
the nuggets phrase-even if they were a bit rambled on-that's the kind of
guy I am-but walked out feeling good that I had made it that far.
The final question in the chief's interview was do I have any questions-my
answer was Yes! When do we hear about the hiring list or where we, the
canadates stand. They just looked at me stoned faced. Think fast rabbit
but my real question is due to the progressive nature of the district and
how satellite departments are resisting the intragration of a fire district
vs city fire departments and blah blah blah- in an effort to show that I was
indeed interested in the politics of the area. Could this one slip have
ruined it??????
Reply:
This was covered in the tapes and on our web site. You never have any
questions of the panel. Especially bringing up politics! You're applying
for a snotty nose rookie position. You have no time to ask such questions.
Of course as I pick it apart and look for the errors in the final
interview, there could be several things that I didn't say that would have
increased
my score-or done that might have increased it. I thought I would pass them
on to you and you might pass them on thru the web site to prospective
canadates.
Reply:
Seldom do you get a chance to include everything.
1) If there is someone on the board whome was not introduced to you make
sure that you take the initive to introduce yourself. I can't help but
wonder if this was a bit of a test, and by not using the persons name on
my exit having not been introduced-could I have insulted her?-lowering my
score.
This was not a factor.
2) I can't help but wonder if wearing the same suit to the chiefs oral as
I had worn to the 1st oral may have cost me some points although it had been
a full week in between interviews.
Reply:
This was not a factor.
3) If there is a team of liaisons that are present thru out the entire
testing process-know their names, positions on the department, and what
their presence is all about. They could be grading you on how you
interact with the other canadates-spy more or less. I kept to myself mostly, as
advised, did the team encouragement during the physical portion of the
tests, but did not do too much bro brah-ing.
Reply:
In 30 years, I've never known a department to plant spies to grade a
candidate. Keeping to yourself is the best approach.
Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not after you.
At any rate that's the story. I still wonder when I will hear how I did
and where I might be on the hiring list. The big question that was in all of
the tests-why do you want to live in the northwest? My answer was always
Because this in my home. I love this place. It was from the heart. I
wonder if that didn't screw me up to.
Reply:
This is one of the biggest clone answers. Who cares if this is your home?
Thousands of people live there. This was also covered in the tapes and on
the web site.
You missed a great opportunity by not doing the coaching session with Rob.
I know he talked to you. He was going to put other plans on hold to coach
you on Saturday so you could be ready for your chiefs interview on Tuesday.
He told me you told him you were going Skiing. These fatal errors would not
have happened if you had done the coaching. Let's hope the other candidates
made more mistakes.
You come across as intellectual with whom and such, instead of being
conversational. This will hurt you.
Call me if you want to know more.
I will be in touch as I hear more and hopefully can
add my name to your got the badge list.
Sincerely, David
As I stated at the beginning, don't be surprised if you don't get a job
offer. As of this date, David hasn't received a job offer.
"Absolutely nothing counts 'til you have the badge. Nothing!"
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"Captain Bob"
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Fire "Captain Bob" Smith has coached countless entry level and promotional candidates to get their badge. He is a retired 28-year Hayward, Ca. Captain, speaker/author of the audio/video program "Conquer the Job Interview," the books "Eat Stress For Breakfast" ISBN 09657620-3-3, "Fire Up Your Communication Skills" ISBN 09657620-6-8 and a member of the prestigious National Speakers Association. You can book him as a speaker or get a copy of his books and tapes by calling toll free at 888-238-3959.
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