Long Beach - Laterals

[125cc]

No news yet, this is for those who've applied and got accepted to move on to PAT testing in August through Santa Ana Coll. Apparently there were a little over 500 applicants, and the city plans to hire at least 12, if not more. Any updates for LB, put em here.

[big_leauges]

i applied too, and am just saw the thing on the website about the 7/8th. you mean to tell me there are 500 applicants for 12 spots???

[JayDudley]

Laterals

I just heard that Long Beach had 800 applicants and will be having one class of 26 for now. More could be later but not for sure.

[125cc]

I just heard that Long Beach had 800 applicants and will be having one class of 26 for now. More could be later but not for sure.

nice avatar.... don't jinx yourself.

what exactly is the PAT? I've taken many CPATs and am not worried about that, but is this completely different? I heard some California departments use a new BIDDLE test now which doesn't look too difficult. Only found 2 youtube vids on the Biddle though.

[CaptBob]

nice avatar.... don't jinx yourself.

Uh, 125cc, not to worry that's the real deal. JayDudley is retired from LBFD. Notice Class 1 City at the bottom? They don't just hand those out.

[CaptBob]

what exactly is the PAT? I've taken many CPATs and am not worried about that, but is this completely different?

In past tests LBFD has used their own timed system. Those with the best times have moved on in the process. This is all part of the process of culling the heard to move on to the orals.

Also in past tests anything you put on your application or resume is open game for questions. You had better be able to back up what you put down.

[big_leauges]

wow i didn't notice, i thought the laterals were for fire/medics. that explains the amount of people

[CaptBob]

Lateral Testing

If you’re applying for lateral position you have to go back to square one.

The biggest problem I’ve seen on oral boards when seasoned veterans take entry level or lateral tests is they can’t place themselves in the position they are applying for; that of being a snotty nosed rookie. They try to hammer the oral board with their credentials thinking the board will just hand them the job. Their oral board skills are rusty and antiquated. It’s hard for them to remember how it was to be a rookie.

There is a delicate balance here. Leave your time and rank in your locker. You must be humble, place yourself in the rookie position and build a natural bridge to present your education, experience and integrity to the oral board panel. Without this bridge, you’re dead meat. This is not easy for many seasoned candidates. An attitude adjustment is needed. Attitude is a small thing that can make the big difference. Remember the position you’re applying for a probe job.

The seasoned veteran candidate can roar past any of the other candidates if his attitude and game plan are in place.

Your goal in a lateral test is to convince the panel you’re a good fit and match for their culture. They have to like you. You could be asked why you’re leaving your current department. You don’t want to bad mouth your current department. You can present that your current department has allowed you the education and experience so you can take this opportunity for the next step in your career.

Every job you’ve ever had you started at the bottom. You’re planning on doing the same thing for this position. You have seen the things new rookies have done to fail. You know what not to do. You’re coming over wanting to learn the job the right way.

Background:
Even though you’re already a firefighter you will still have to go through every step in the hiring process. Backgrounds can be a sticky area. If there is a lateral test in your future you want to make sure you conduct your life as if you were still testing to get your first badge. One paramedic candidate was hired for his first job in Oregon. Now with his experience he was trying to come home to California where their families were. Although he had never smoked pot before he was hired, he had smoked the herb on a ski trip with his firefighter friends 3 years ago. That mistake cost him the position.

Many a lateral candidate has been DQ’d in background by their jealous neighbors and “friends” who see your expensive toys and days off. Oh, yea, we smoked pot together.

It’s not uncommon for background investigators now to ask you what Internet web sites you have been on and the unsername and passwords. They will go in a check out what you have posted. A fire chief told me he had seen candidates who were in their last steps in their hiring process that were tanked by what they had posted on the Internet. Not pretty.

Many lateral candidates are concerned about taking tests and those agencies wanting to contact their current department. You can request that they not contact your current department only as the last step before a job offer.

Make sure you have a job offer in writing in your hot little hands before you leave your current department. If your department will let you take a leave of absence for up to a year, take it. If things don’t turn out like you expected you have a home to go back to. One large department hired 19 laterals. Ten were let go in the academy. Wow! Imagine taking the job, being let go and there was no where to go.

I think this testimony says it all:
It was five years ago that I first visited this web site. It was how I found and landed my first job at a small career department, and served for four and a half years. The entire time I wanted to make the lateral move to my hometown dept.--a larger city, more opportunities, Paramedic and tech. rescue opportunities...But I was a bone head. I thought because I was already on the job elsewhere, I could waltz through the process, and to some extent I did--all the way to the Chief's interview twice, but never got the call.

Laterals, my advice to you is this: we are our own worst enemies...you think you are a good judge of your interview skills, trust me you're not. Don't be a bone head like me and go through the process twice before getting help from professionals. Well, all I can say is after five years of trying; my recruit academy starts in two weeks. You be the judge. Matt

As we already know

[125cc]

Uh, 125cc, not to worry that's the real deal. JayDudley is retired from LBFD. Notice Class 1 City at the bottom? They don't just hand those out.

My apologies JayDudley, I was misunderstood about your connection with Long Beach Fire Department. Thank you and Captain Bob for all of your advice and recommendations on this process. I can now see how easy it is for Laterals to unintentionally portray themselves the wrong way during the process. Very good information passed along.

[JayDudley]

Info

No problem......you are correct how things get miscommunicated during an exam process. I always say"Go to the source and remove all doubt."

[arff42]

Any idea how many were invited to the Biddle?

[JayDudley]

Laterals

Just heard there will be a class of about 12 with a start date of around end of October and will last 6 to 8 weeks. If I hear anything else I'll let you know.

[arff42]

Just heard there will be a class of about 12 with a start date of around end of October and will last 6 to 8 weeks. If I hear anything else I'll let you know.

October seems pretty fast. That does not give much time for the interviews and especially the backgrounds.

[CaptBob]

October seems pretty fast. That does not give much time for the interviews and especially the backgrounds.

The hiring process usually takes longer than anyone anticipates. But when they really, really want to they can move really, really fast. Always have the appropriate paper work up and running at any time. You don't want to be like some candidates that say, "They sprung it on me!" As our son Rob says, "No they didn't. You knew when you turned in an application the hiring steps that were a head of you. You just weren't prepared.

Candidates showed up for their large city CPAT to be informed as they passed that their oral boards they thought would be 3 months away would start the following week. An interview coach told me he got 38 calls in two days for this city that he couldn't begin to return. The only 2 candidates that got in had arranged for sessions 2 weeks earlier.

"Luck is given to the prepared." --Thomas Jefferson, President

[JayDudley]

Info

Don't kill the messenger...I was told today that it's a class of 12 tentatively the end of October and will last 6 to 8 weeks. This was from a Union Officer with the Local.I tend to take that info is on the up and up. So I you need to amp up....