Preparation

Question: Do you have to go through all this preparation and auditioning stuff if you're going to promotional interview, and you already know the guys there?

The biggest mistake job interview candidates make in this situation is when they know people on the panel; they don't think they don’t need to do all the work. They figure everybody already knows about them, and they don't have to say anything. Or, "It's on my resume, it's on my application, and I don't have to say everything." Well, If it doesn't come out of that slot between your nose and your chin (your mouth), you don't get credit. You might as well have never have shown up. This is how important it is to be auditioning for the part. You play your part no matter who's sitting there.

I can't tell you how many times I've talked to guys from who have waited for years trying for that golden opportunity to get promoted. Then they blow it. Because they went in and saw Paul was on the board. He knows Paul, they bowl together. Randy over there, why he's married to Randy's cousin. My gosh, he knows everything about me. They come out, and somebody else gets their badge! It’s devastating. They failed because they didn't present the package. The other candidates did. It's show time, ta dah! You have to bring out the top hat, the cane, step it out, and give the board the complete show. It's you! It's the bright lights. It's Broadway! You gotta make it happen. You gotta make the magic.

When I said this at a recent firefighters convention, Dan shared the following:

...I went through exactly through what he's talking about at a promotion in my department for the position of lieutenant. I knew all the people on the board including a division chief. I was thinking, "Geez, I've known these guys for 16 years. And, I don't have to say anything, they know me." During my critique afterwards, the division chief said, "You know, Dan, you've got so much going for you, but you didn't blow your own horn. If you would have blown your own horn, you would have said all the things that you got going for you, you'd have had it. Since you didn't say a word, and I can't give you the badge." If you don't say it, you don't get credit for it, period.

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