Firefighters
Since 100% of your score in obtaining a firefighter badge is in the oral
board, what are you missing that's keeping you from gaining that badge?
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FireZine
Cutting edge interview skills to get that badge from Fire Captain Bob.
More than 2,137 candidates have received their badges from this program!
January 6, 2004. Copyright Code 3 Publishing 2003
captbob@eatstress.com web
site: www.eatstress.com
888-238-3959
(see bottom to leave "FireZine")
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No one ever lost credibility by
being interesting.
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Nothing counts til you have the badge . . . Absolutely Nothing!
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In This
Issue
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1. Quick Presentation Skills Tip
2. Entry Level Skills Tip
3. Robs Corner
4. Promotional Level Skills Tip
(Entry level should read this too)
5. New Badges
6. Humor
7. Resource Websites for Candidates
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1. Quick Presentation Skills Tip
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Capt Bob, I will be participating in the oral board process in February.
It appears that they will allow us to pick the day and time of our
interview. Interviews will be held Monday-Friday from 8-5. What day and
time do you suggest I attempt to get?? I have heard varying opinions on
whether it is better to go first or last. Sincerely, Dan
Reply: Our candidates have placed high on lists, no matter if they were
first, in the middle or last. The key is to have practiced your script
with a tape recorder until it becomes second nature to you.
Even if you are the first one in the room, the panel members will
usually go back and take another look at the scores once they get their
feet on the ground after 3-5 candidates, to make sure they are on
target.
If you had you choice though, I would select the third day mid to late
morning just before the panel goes to lunch. By this time the panels
have seen clone after clone candidates for a couple of days and the
three major food groups, caffeine, sugar and fat have kicked in.
This is your best opportunity to blow the doors off the panel with your
great stuff. You come in and BAM you hit them. You see the panel
members sit straight up in their chairs. Then BAM, BAM again! It's your
day, your best stuff. You see that slight smile on the panel members
faces meaning we have been waiting for this for three days.
Leaving the room after a great closing, the panel members are saying,
who was that masked man. We want to give them a badge!
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Check out http://www.eatstress.com/newpage2.htm
and learn how entry
level and promotional candidates are improving their interview scores up
to 15 points and nailing that badge!
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Want Captain Bob to come speak to your group? See
http://www.eatstress.com/seminar.htm
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2. Entry Level Skills Tip
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Dear captain Bob,
I don't feel that I have that token story (by the way I do have your
entry level program and your book on all you need to know to get your
badge.) I have two in mind, but I don't know if they would set me apart.
I am 20, so obviously 9/11 affected me deeply. I would like to know if
9/11 is ever an acceptable answer to the why you want to be a
firefighter question. Obviously not by itself, but what I want to say is
that on 9/11 the men and women who chose not only to run in when
everyone else is going out, but kept on working to save every one they
could knowing that death was near, was the person I have wanted to be
since I was five years old. And on 9/11 I realized that the only way to
know if I am that caliber of a person is to become a firefighter. I know
that after 9/11 there was a surge of wannabe fire candidates, but I feel
that I am different than most of them.
The only other reason is respect. And what I mean by that is I would ask
them if they had kids. Then I would tell them about how my dad is a
banker or stockbroker or something like that. I really don't know
because he left when I was five and have seen him on and off for the
last ten years of my life. I have always respected hard work and I want
my child to know and be proud of what his/her dad does. I want to be
able to look into kids eyes and see that wonder and respect that I have
every time an engine or truck, no matter what dept. it's from, passes
by.
Could you maybe give me a little feed back on this, because if I can
figure this part out the rest of the oral preparation should be a
breeze.
Reply: The first story is OK. Practice it with a tape recorder to
refine it. I would not use the second story. You don't want to give
the impression something was wrong with your family life, especially in
a psych interview. I'm glad to hear the rest of your oral board
preparation will be a breeze.
Capt. I am getting ready for the oral boards. I have been told that the
oral board will probably ask me about a hardship that I have over come.
I quit drinking 6 years ago, haven't had a sip since. I felt that I was
not going anywhere and that my partying was affecting this. I was unable
to stay at a job very long and was doing a lot of partying. Since I
stopped drinking I have had 2 jobs, the first for 2 years and the
current one for 4 years. Do you think that this would be a good answer
for overcoming a hardship? It shows that I was one kind of person, that
I was able to identify and area that needed to be changed and changed it
and how I have lived my life since. Tony
Reply: I will guarantee that if you use this answer you will never get
hired! You never want to bring into an oral board drinking, drugs or
any other problems (unless the panel does) that could open a can of
worms that could cause doubts. These are areas that should be covered
in background.
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If someone asks you what you need to help you get a firefighter badge,
tell them you want our new Gold Package!!! Check it out here!:
http://www.eatstress.com/goldpackage.htm
If you really want a firefighter job you will want to have every tool
available to shorten the learning curve between you and that badge! Our
new Gold Package gives you every skill and tool you will need! It
includes:
The Oral Board Entry Level CD/Video Program that has helped over 2,100
candidates nail that badge! And, Captain Bob's new book! Becoming a
Firefighter----The Complete Guide to Your Badge!
Step by step, this new book has everything you need to know in the
process,
starting with the application, written, physical, oral, psych interview,
background, polygraph, and medical to gain a badge. The Gold Package
contains the inside "Nuggets", tips and resources you can't get
anywhere
else to shorten the learning curve and the distance between you and that
badge. As a bonus, the book includes our Special Psych Report (a $20.00
value).
Take a free test drive of sample chapters from the new book Becoming a
Firefighter here:
http://www.eatstress.com/firefighterbook.htm
Check out the Gold Package here!:
http://www.eatstress.com/goldpackage.htm
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Bottom line getting a badge is all presentation skills!
Check out http://www.eatstress.com/faq.htm
for the FREE 101 Inside
Secrets How to Get a Badge!
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Ask Captain Bob any questions
E-mail Mailto:captbob@eatstress.com
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3. Robs Corner
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ATTITUDE VS. APTITUDE
Which is more important. Obviously you need to have both, but where
should your attention be.
You are the best firefighter in the world. They could make an IFSTA
manual by just following you around all day. You eat breath, and sleep
fire service. But you aren't the nicest most personable guy. This will
get you a front row seat to watch the guys with minimum skills with a
good attitude, get and keep the good jobs.
We can take just about anyone off of the street and make them into a
firefighter in a year, as long as they can go into a burning building
and see someone bleed. But we don't have good luck hiring someone with
the skills and a poor attitude. Usually a poor attitude is a long-term
thing. Attitude is your rudder through life.
Be aware most departments already have enough people working there with
an attitude problem, and don't need any more. My department met its
quota of Asses in 1983 and we don't need any more.
Let me paint a picture for you. I am working with a newly hired
firefighter. He's working through his probation and has a great
attitude. He won't sit in the recliners in front of the T.V. Never. If
we watch a training video he brings in a kitchen chair. You see he is
aware that perceptions of others are very important to your reputation
in the fire service. An engineer, from another shift was working with us
and told him to relax nobody would care. Not 15 seconds latter he began
telling us that someone else just hired was spending all their time in
the easy chairs. I asked him if he'd seen this. He said no, he'd just
heard about it. He proved the point right there.
You could do something once and have someone see it, tell someone else,
and suddenly your " Easy chair Charlie". Probation is hard enough.
Don't
make it harder than it has to be. As Captain Bob says " You can do hard
time or easy time. The choice is really yours".
Also understand, they will start talking about you long before you start
on shift, and long after your off probation.
"Attitude is such a small thing that can make such a huge difference."
CAPTAIN ROB (Thank you)
NRTC@SONIC.NET
http://www.eatstress.com
You can read more of Rob's wisdom by visiting
http://www.eatstress.com/robs_corner.htm
Captain Rob is Captain Bob's Son. He does all the entry level coaching
by phone nationwide. You can contact him direct with your questions or
set up a coaching appointment at 707-869-1330. or e-mail Rob at
nrtc@sonic.net
For more on entry level coaching visit
http://www.eatstress.com/private%20coaching.htm
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4. Promotional Level Skills Tip
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Over the last 30 years I have been coaching entry level and promotional
candidates most of which had great credentials. They had degrees,
certificates, training, and experience. Yet, they couldn't present the
package. And, if you can present the package . . . you don't get the
badge. Period! These people are shocked that candidates will less
credentials, seniority, the village idiot, or guys they call the "Car
Salesman" type get the badge that had their name on it.
With that said, I received this e-mail:
I bet you don't have the guts to print this!
I have worked for the Fire Dept. for over 24 years. I've ridden out of
rank Lt. for over 10 years and I have seen these bull crap exams come
and go for many years. I do like crap on every one because I refuse to
let someone that has never workrd in a fire station to tell me how to do
my job. I recieved the medal of bravery 2 out of the first 3 years it
was given. I have taken them off my class A uniform and I'm now boxing
them up to give back to the mayor. A man should be promoted for his
actions and experience not for his ability to take a test. Many men have
died because inexperienced test takers are in charge. An ex friend of
mine who has been a paramedic for 8 years and has only a hand full of
fires under his belt, not to mention he's the laziest SOB I've ever
seen, is going to make Lt. because of one of these type test.
Firefighters will die over the next few years because people who have no
idea what they are doing are in charge. I hope your happy! Marv.
Reply: Understand there is only one person keeping you from getting
that badge . . . It's YOU! Stop looking in the magnifying glass at
others and start looking in the mirror at yourself. Even golf pros take
lessons
This response from someone who reviewed the e-mail message:
The common dodge is to blame someone else for their misfortune and that
is what is happening here. While I would be a bit hesitant to have a medic
promote to captain after just a few years, the guy has promoted and I am going
to help him to be a better officer. The bottom line? Ya gotta
passthe exam to be considered no matter how goofy the exam is! Tom
For more on our promotional program visit
http://www.eatstress.com/promo.htm
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5. New Badges
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Captain Rob: I struggled trying to pass an oral board high enough to get
a badge. I had no idea with the help of your program and a coaching
session with Rob that I could reach my ultimate goal. Well, rack up
another badge for a new firefighter for LA COUNTY! Dreams can come
true. Bill
Cpt Bob, Thank you! Thank you! Thank You! I just recently accepted
employment with a fulltime professional Fire Department. Your monthly
letters, advice, and web site helped me tremendously. Your approach to
the
oral board is the way to go and the example for all candidates to
follow. I
cannot tell you how thankful I am for you. Thanks for helping me get my
badge!!!!!!!! Josh
Hey Cpt. Bob, Happy Holidays to you. First I would
like to thank you for all your helpful information you have sent me. I
ordered the Entry Level Program, the psych manual and I have used the
tape recorder. It paid off by getting me a job as a Reserve Firefighter
that hires directly from their reserve firefighter list. They gave the
same hiring process as they would have given fulltime
firefighters...background, psych, medicals, physicals, the works...
because they plan on hiring us to fill
fulltime positions. So...thank you for the help you have
provided. But of course I am not putting all my eggs in one basket. I
am starting medic school in Feb. and I am still testing
everywhere I can. Steve
To see how candidates have improved their position in gaining a badge
visit
http://www.eatstress.com/newpage152.htm
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Check out the current "Bonus Nugget" oral board tip
http://www.eatstress.com/bonusnugget.htm
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Check it out Captain Bobs book, Eat Stress For
Breakfast.
www.eatstress.com/stressfire.htm
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The Formula
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Here's what we know after 30-years of experience. Candidates
who get our CD/Video Entry Level or Promotional Program, use the work
booklet, practice with the all-important TAPE RECORDER, and come back
for a private coaching session, catapult themselves into the Olympic
camp. That's where you get a shot at that badge you have been
looking for.
One on one coaching sessions are where you get dialed into making your
best presentation. It can make the difference between being down on a
list and being in the top 10 going for the chief's oral. Candidates
armed with this information are the one's who are smoking past you in
the oral, grab the badge and leave you as the bride's maid again. We
know because we get the calls when they get their badge! You can contact
my Son Rob direct to set up a coaching session @ 707-869-1330. Robs
e-mail is nrct@sonic.net
To learn more about private coaching visit
http://www.eatstress.com/private%20coaching.htm
You start by ordering our Entry Level Audio/Video or Promotional Program
from the products section of our web site below or by calling our
distributor Rayve @ 800-852-4890. This program will keep you motivated!
Consider also getting our new book "Eat Stress For Breakfast" to help
you along your journey.
"Nothing counts 'til you have the badge . . . Nothing! And,
there is
no feeling like proudly wearing the badge."
Check out the specials on for entry level and promotional testing
http://www.eatstress.com/newpage6.htm
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6. Humor
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Just In!
Top 2003 Darwin Awards
Working at the Car Wash
29 January 2003, Brazil) At work, Manoel Messias Batista Coelho was
responsible for cleaning out the storage tanks of gasoline tanker
trucks. He had been employed in that capacity for two months when he ran
afoul of fuel.
The 35-year-old began to fill a tanker with water, a standard safety
procedure that forces flammable vapor out of the container. He returned
an hour later to check whether the water level was high enough to
proceed. But he had trouble deciding, because it was so DARK inside the
tanker.
A resourceful employee, Manoel forgot the very reason why he was filling
the tank with water when he lit a cigarette lighter to shed some light
on the situation. His little test successfully determined that the water
level was NOT yet high enough for safety. The vapor explosion launched
him through the air, and he landed in the company parking lot 100 meters
away.
Manoel suffered severe burns, blunt force trauma, and an injury to the
head that exposed his brain. Our witless car washer had learned his
terminal lesson in safety by the time the firemen arrived.
Love Struck
"Why don't we do it in the road?" -Beatles
(3 March 2002, Sheffield, England) As Kim Fontana, 32, and Paul Cowley,
40, left the pub, they noticed that a streetlight was burned out,
creating an attractive pool of darkness on the road. Unable to rein in
their passion, they began to canoodle on the asphalt outside the pub.
Witnesses said the couple was lying right on the white line, kissing and
cuddling. The passionate pair were warned of the danger of their chosen
position not once, not twice, but three times -- by a car driver, a bus
driver, and a pedestrian.
An off-duty paramedic honked three times and shouted, "You want to get
up, or otherwise you'll be run over." The man simply said "Cheers,
mate," and the paramedic heard a female voice laughing. A bus driver
swerved to avoid them, and drove past with wheels on the curb. A
concerned pedestrian shouted to warn them that another bus was headed
their way.
Despite these disruptions, Kim and Paul continued, oblivious to the
approach of a small, single-decker Nipper bus. The bus driver mistook
the undulating shape for a bag of rubbish in the poorly lit street, and
was unable to stop in time. There was a dull thud...
Kim and Paul were struck and killed at midnight. Paramedics found Kim
lying on her back with her jumper pulled up, and Paul between her legs
with his trousers pulled down.
The only downside to this timely removal of lunacy from the gene pool is
the fate of the bus driver. Despite the couple's own actions, and a
police investigator's statement that "one can expect a pedestrian
walking or running in the road, but to expect a driver to anticipate a
pedestrian lying in the road is out of the ordinary" -- a judge felt
that "his driving fell below the standard one would reasonably expect of
a prudent, competent driver."
The bus driver was fined for careless driving and his license was
revoked for six months. Fortunately, his employers consider him an
excellent employee, and plan to give him other duties for six months.
Relatives of the victims said they were glad the driver had kept his
job.
"Does it really matter what these affectionate
people do, so long as they don't do it in the street
and frighten the horses?" -Mrs. Patrick Campbell
Slaughterhouse Robbery
(12 February 2003) Three men wielding knives tried to rob a
slaughterhouse. But when it comes to hand to hand combat with sharp
blades, butchers working in a slaughterhouse are more than a match for
your average thief. They stabbed two of the intruders to death. The
third man escaped from the angry butchers and fled in his car.
Police soon spotted him, and after a brief car chase, the would-be thief
pulled over and leapt from his vehicle. But instead of fleeing into the
underbrush, he tried to dodge heavy traffic and escape across the
highway. Perhaps he thought that threatening butchers with knives was
not a sufficient demonstration of his intelligence.
Within seconds, the natural justice system meted out his punishment in
the form of a large truck, which struck and killed him.
Jack Up
(9 April 2003, New Zealand) Phil needed to make repairs to the underside
of his car. But when he jacked it up, there wasn't enough room for him
to work. So he removed the car's battery, placed the jack on top of it,
and set to work again, this time with plenty of elbow-room.
Unfortunately for Phil, car batteries are not designed to carry much
weight. The battery collapsed and the jack toppled, trapping him beneath
the car. Unable to breathe due to the weight on his chest, he quickly
expired in a pool of battery acid.
This incident is illuminated by two additional facts: First, Phil's
occupation was Accident Prevention Officer at a large food processing
plant. And second, ten years previous, he had been working under a car
when the jack collapsed, trapping him and breaking one of his legs. Some
people just don't learn -- even from their own mistakes.
Sharp Landing
February 2003, East Timor) A man was found lying facedown, covered in
mud and blood, the apparent the victim of a street crime in Dili, the
capital of East Timor. It was not until a post mortem examination was
conducted that U.N. police were able to reconstruct his last moments.
This up-and-coming young man decided that it was cool to shove his
weapons, two long knives, down the waistband of his trousers.
Unsheathed. The hapless fellow jumped over a small fence and landed in a
large puddle of mud. He slipped, which sent the blade of his "trouser
knife" into his leg, severing his femoral artery. He bled to death
before he could stagger ten feet from the puddle.
And Finally sadly one of our own:
Tree Hard, Head Empty
17 February 2003, New York) A 25-year-old man, long accustomed to
annoying neighbors by snowmobiling at high speeds through sleeping
streets, finally received his comeuppance -- and in the process, a
Darwinian nomination -- when he drove headfirst into a tree.
It is not only his reckless speeding through a nighttime residential
area that makes him eligible, nor is it merely because he was driving an
unregistered, uninsured snowmobile without a helmet while drunk.
Although these spectacularly stupid ideas were ultimately responsible
for his demise, there is yet another relevant aspect to report.
Brian "The Brain" Sabinsky was a fireman, a member of the same company
dispatched to peel him off the tree, the same organization that preaches
snowmobile safety; responds to other gruesome, drunken, helmet-free
snowmobile "accidents" every year; and the very same company that
posts
an illuminated "helmet safety" notice 700 feet from his own home.
Clearly, while others have been as foolish as Brian in their choice of
recreational activities, few have been so uniquely aware of the possible
repercussions prior to making that choice!
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7. Resource Websites for Candidates
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Perfect Firefighter Candidate. Job listing and a complete resource web
site with a community bulletin board.
http://www.firecareers.com
Don McNea Fire School, Inc. is the #1 Firefighter Preparatory Entrance
School in the Country. They have the inside information how to tackle
those psychological and personality questions on the written.
http://www.fireprep.com
Learn how entry level and promotional candidates are improving their
interview scores up to 15 points and nailing that badge!
http://www.eatstress.com/newpage2.htm
FREE 101 Inside Secrets How to Get a Badge!
http://www.eatstress.com/faq.htm
Check out the specials for entry level and promotional testing:
http://www.eatstress.com/newpage6.htm
FIREHIRE, Entry-level firefighter examination process:
http://www.firehire.com
Firenuggets.com "The magazine dedicated to keeping firefighters safe"
http://www.firenuggets.com
Firemanjobs: firefighter employment job listings
http://www.firemanjobs.com
You can learn more about physical agility training from
www.firefightersworkout.com
B-Pad Assessment Devices. If you're an agency looking for a new
dimension to evaluate candidates, or a candidate wanting information on
how you can orientate your skills for this evaluation check out their
web site:
http://www.bpad.com
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ARTICLES FOR YOUR PUBLICATIONS
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I have many articles available for reprint in your
publication, newsletter, etc. You may use
articles written by me that you see in FireZine or
visit our web site @ http://www.eatstress.com/faq.htm
All you have to do is print the article in its entirety along
with the by line, the credits, and complete contact
information found at the bottom of the web site page. I would
appreciate a tear sheet or electronic copy too. Thanks
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http://www.eatstress.com/firezinearchive.htm
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THE SMALL PRINT
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TIME TO SHARE. Please send your
ideas, questions, your success stories and when you
nail that badge to captbob@eatstress.com
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Nothing counts til you have the badge . . . Absolutely Nothing!
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Code 3 Publishing. Fire Captain Bob Smith, Speaker, Author, Publisher
Information Products on How to Get a Badge.
Web site: http://www.eatstress.com
Over 300 pages of helpful
information.
5565 Black Ave. Pleasanton, CA 94566 (near San Francisco)
Phone: 888-238-3959 local 925-846-3959 Fax: 925-846-9650
E-mail Mailto:captbob@eatstress.com