question from a chief's oral

[thunderemr14]

I recently had my oral board, and then my chief's oral as well... during the chief's interview, he asked "where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?". My reply was that I would be a full-time FF/Medic and that I also would like to teach EMS on the side perhaps. He then asked if I saw myself trying to become an officer. I replied that I did not, that I just don't see myself in an officer position, I prefer to take orders rather than give them. He seemed miffed/surprised and he again asked "you're sure you wouldn't want to become an officer?", and I again replied, "no sir, I really don't see myself becoming an officer".
Was he looking for a different answer? I somewhat feel like i may have shot myself in the foot with my answer, but it was truthful atleast. Perhaps he was trying to see if I was a leader ? if you were on a panel, what you be looking for here ? perhaps i am just making monsters out of something small ....

[Adam07003]

If i was on a panel, id think "this guy doesnt seem like he wants to grow with the company" but personally id know how you felt. Id rather do my job well and know i can do it, then hafta be in charge of a company/shift and have my arse on the line. Sometimes its nice to take a back seat and not hafta do all the worrying, and sometimes its nice to be in the position of power. Depends on the person.

He might have been hinting that you'd make a fine officer and wanted to put you up for it, who knows.

[BCLepore]

It’s relatively easy to find firefighters. Heck we get hundreds of people who apply for each position. It’s a challenge to find people who want to step up and have the skill sets necessary to become leaders within the organization. I agree and disagree with your answer. Let me explain.

There’s nothing worse than a candidate who is more concerned about becoming a Captain than he is about completing probation. The knock on the new guys and gals is all the think about is, “When can I work out and when can I take the Captain’s exam.”

While you did not fall into this category, you left some huge points on the table. You have to remember your audience; it’s the Fire Chief. He’s an overachiever. He saw you as an ambitious candidate who is eager to learn and has a passion for teaching. If you look at any promotional track for a Chief Officer I would suspect you would find some sort of involvement in either recruit training or teaching.

Who is it that gets promoted? It’s usually the department trainers.

I believe this is why he was disappointed in your answer.

Incidentally, I would imagine that after you are on the job you would take a Captain’s exam, especially if all of the people you are training become your bosses. Time will tell.

Good luck,
Paul Lepore
Battalion Chief
www.aspiringfirefighters.com

[rinkdude817]

I had that same question, and I did say that I wanted to go higher than just a Firefighter/Paramedic. He said "So you want my job?", I answered that in twenty years or so if I had the chance to have that position I would like to be one. I did tell him that, it would be after a long career as a firefighter/paramedic, engineer, or captian. The result of this was me getting my first job as a Firefighter/Paramedic.