I've had the honor (?) of sitting on several interview panels/boards in my department. One piece of advice I can make, having sat on both sides of the table in my career, is to do a little homework and know some basic, fundamental information about the department you are interviewing with.
For example, if the department you are applying for expects you to perform as a cross-trained firefighter/paramedic for a substantial part of your career, that is extremely relevant to both you and your interview panel.
With regards to you, YOU need to know what you are getting into and what is expected of you. Wouldn't it be a let down to test, test, and test for a department, get hired by them, only to realize once you get out to a station that what you wanted and what the department wanted are two separate, fundamentally-different things?
With regards to the interview panel, THEY need to know that YOU understand and are aware of what will be expected of you.
For example, on a fairly recent interview panel I sat on, I had a promising young candidate stick his foot right in his mouth about the half-way mark of the interview. My department requires all new-hires to be cross-trained as paramedics. When another panel-member asked the candidate what he thought about being cross-trained as a paramedic, the candidate replied that he wanted nothing to do with EMS and that he had dreamed about being the best "truck" man he could possibly be. It became obvious very quickly that this candidate had not done his homework with regards to our department. I then asked him to tell me about the day-to-day life, as he knew it, of a firefighter in our department. A long story short, he had no idea that we required our folks to become paramedics. Additionally, he told the panel (for about five minutes) how much he disliked EMS and wanted to be a FIREfighter. The look on his face once we told him that EMS would be a key component of his career told me (and everyone else) that this guy was not a good fit for our department.
The bottom line is this - Do your research. Ask questions ahead of time. Stop by fire stations in the town in which you want to apply and see first-hand what goes on. Is the department what you want? More importantly, do YOU fit the department?
As far as interview prep, there are alot of resources out there and I imagine most of them will tell you, to some degree, much of what I just told you.
Prepare yourself. Give yourself the chance to be successful in a department that will fulfill your needs and make you happy.
Good luck.
For example, if the department you are applying for expects you to perform as a cross-trained firefighter/paramedic for a substantial part of your career, that is extremely relevant to both you and your interview panel.
With regards to you, YOU need to know what you are getting into and what is expected of you. Wouldn't it be a let down to test, test, and test for a department, get hired by them, only to realize once you get out to a station that what you wanted and what the department wanted are two separate, fundamentally-different things?
With regards to the interview panel, THEY need to know that YOU understand and are aware of what will be expected of you.
For example, on a fairly recent interview panel I sat on, I had a promising young candidate stick his foot right in his mouth about the half-way mark of the interview. My department requires all new-hires to be cross-trained as paramedics. When another panel-member asked the candidate what he thought about being cross-trained as a paramedic, the candidate replied that he wanted nothing to do with EMS and that he had dreamed about being the best "truck" man he could possibly be. It became obvious very quickly that this candidate had not done his homework with regards to our department. I then asked him to tell me about the day-to-day life, as he knew it, of a firefighter in our department. A long story short, he had no idea that we required our folks to become paramedics. Additionally, he told the panel (for about five minutes) how much he disliked EMS and wanted to be a FIREfighter. The look on his face once we told him that EMS would be a key component of his career told me (and everyone else) that this guy was not a good fit for our department.
The bottom line is this - Do your research. Ask questions ahead of time. Stop by fire stations in the town in which you want to apply and see first-hand what goes on. Is the department what you want? More importantly, do YOU fit the department?
As far as interview prep, there are alot of resources out there and I imagine most of them will tell you, to some degree, much of what I just told you.
Prepare yourself. Give yourself the chance to be successful in a department that will fulfill your needs and make you happy.
Good luck.
Comment