Need help! Was my interview good or bad?

[trent808]

I recently interviewed with Fort Worth Fire and I am going nuts trying to decide if it went well or not. It was nothing like what I thought it would be - certainly not a normal job interview. I went in and they asked the situational questions that I was expecting and I think I answered them pretty well. Then they sent me out of the room so they could grade me on the situations. I came back in for the second part and I was expecting a lot of questions and I was very prepared with good answers, personal stories, etc. But they only asked like 3 questions (why do you want to be a FF, greatest strength, and greatest weakness). Then they went to the background book that I filled out 2 months prior during the background check. I hate this book. I had no idea at how thorough the background check was. They wanted to know everything (dates of when I had been drunk in public, dates when I had mooned somebody, if I had ever hit anybody, etc.) 85% of the interview was going through this book page by page. Many times it seemed more like a lecture. I explained everything truthfully and honestly and what I told them in the interview matched what I had written in the book. I told them that I had mooned my friends before on a few occasions and they told them that I seemed to act impulsively and that I needed to hold myself to a higher standard if I wanted to be a FF. I told them that I drank alcohol an avg of 1-2 times per month but that I haven't drank since I tested with them in Aug. They told me that I acted like I had been drinking for 5 or 10 yrs and I had only been of legal drinking age for barely 2 yrs and I needed to slow down. When asked about my credit I said it was a 10 but they lectured me about using credit cards. I have stolen a few things such as street signs but nothing big. I told them about this and they had a hay day. They said Mr. Robinson I don't know if we can ever trust you with this type of behavior, it looks like you just see something you want and you take it, it looks to me like your kind of dishonest.

I was very polite and respectful throughout the entire interview. They never made me mad and I never got flustered. Many people including Fort Worth FF's warned me that they would try to make me mad and they said it would be like talking to lawyers. It was and I was glad I was kind of prepared. I went in thinking I was a very good person, honest, never been in any trouble, but after that they made me feel like I was a terrible person and I'm thinking there's no way I'll get hired.

Do you think they were just trying to make me mad and get me flustered. I thought if my mooning, theft, alcohol, etc was really an issue they would have dropped me in the background check. Is this a typical interview. I still haven't heard anything back and it's literally driving me crazy. I apologize for the long post.

[Adam07003]

Well you didnt reallly hafta tell them anything bout your drinkig habbits. Unless you were arrested for it, it won't showup on a background investigation, that just looks at yer police record (if any). Telling them you got drunk last weekend and mooned someone and stole a street sign once, unnecessary.

But i'd respect you for telling me all that when you didnt hafta, VERY honest. And they might have been seeing how you respond to authority in a situation where they are ganging against ya. You coulda said "screw you dude who are you to tell me this and that" in which case, shows yer a bad judge of authority... but if you listened to them and TALKED with them, thats better.

[Golzy12]

Wow that sounds like a pretty intense interview, i'm guessing that they were just trying to make you mad and see how you handled stress. The credit and drinking thing isn't to big of a deal. Just try not to stress about it, I've been waiting for interview results for the past week and I drove myself nuts, it's easily been one of the worst weeks this year, and I only have myself to blame for it.

[KyleWickman]

Well you didnt reallly hafta tell them anything bout your drinkig habbits. Unless you were arrested for it, it won't showup on a background investigation

Oh yes, it will very much show up.
I went through a background for a pretty large fire department a little while ago. My background investigator asked every reference, every family member and co workers listed in my packet. They asked them what I drank, how often and if they have ever seen me drunk. Then after that he asked for other names of friends and family members that I had not listed. Then he asked those people for more names! Remember for the most part they will dig, dig and dig for information.
They will find out what they want to know. Hide it now, flush goes the job.

[trent808]

In between the interview and the background check was the polygraph test and it covered everything in the background book. The polygraph was the worst of all. I was scared to death that if I wasn't completely honest about everything that I would fail it.

[BCLepore]

Trent,
Beware when someone tells you that you don't need to tell them everything in a background interview. Anyone who gives you this advice is leading you down a road to failure. In this case you would have immediately failed the polygraph.
I am confident that many of your competition took the bad advice of an "expert" and did not tell the truth. Good for you as they were washed out on the polygraph. For the record, withholding information is the same as telling a blatant lie.

As Kyle said the background investigation is completely comprehensive. They will visit your friends and neighbors, your teachers and coworkers , as well as your old girlfriends.
We have all made mistakes. Mooning people is something that everyone has done. In fact, I may have seen a few firefighters do it on a recent water ski trip (I'm not sure they were firefighters as I never saw their face). I am certain that the board had a good time with that one.

You should listen to what they are telling you in regards to your drinking. The fire department does have issues with firefighters who drink too much. Everything in moderation.
Good luck,
Paul Lepore
www.aspiringfirefighters.com

[ffbam24]

I've never tested for FW FD, but I'm thinking that it's a decent sign they had that background packet in front of them. Gave them the opportunity to follow up on any of the red flags. Plus I think it was opportunity to get under your skin/into your head about some of the issues. Sounds like you handled it fairly well. You openly accepted their input/critisism.

Although I gotta say, stealing street signs never entered my head as something to do when I was younger. :cool:

Good luck,
bam

[CaptBob]

This is not a typical interview.

Captain Bob