Oral Boards

[johnmrobinson]

Hello everyone,

In anticipation on soon passing a huge fire exam (written and physical), they will be having an oral board. The last dept. I tested for did not do this and although no one would be able to tell me exactly what this oral board would entail, I was wondering if anyone had some tips on preparing for something like this. Perhaps types of questions to be ready for, etc.

Thank you,
John

[CaptBob]

Only a Few?

Sample Thirty Plus Oral Board Questions

I believe there are only about 30 oral board questions. Plus or minus a couple. But these 30 can be disguised into hundreds of different questions.

1. Tell us about yourself.
2. Why do you want to be a firefighter? When did you decide on this career?
3. What is the job of a firefighter? Are you qualified?
4. What have you done to prepare for this position?
5. What are you bringing to the job?
6. Why do you want to work for this city or agency?
7. What do you know about his city or agency?
8. What do you like to do? What are your hobbies?
9. What are your strengths? Weaknesses?
10.What would your employer say about you?
11.What are the attributes of a firefighter? What is the most important one to you?
How Would You Handle the Following Scenarios:
12. Drinking or drugs on the job? 13. Stealing on the job? 14. Conflict with another employee?
15. Irate citizen? 16. An employee crisis at an emergency? 17. Sexual harassment?
18. Racial situation? 19. Conflicting orders at an emergency? 20. An order that could place you in great danger or be morally wrong?
21. What do you say when you don't know an answer to a question?
22. Are you on any other hiring lists? What would you do if another city
called you?
23. When can you start if we offered you the job?
24. How far do you want to go in the fire service? Where do you see
yourself in 5 years?
25. What are the quality traits of a firefighter? Which one is the most important to you?
26. Have you ever been in an emergency situation? Tell us what you did?
27. What word would best describe you in a positive way? A negative way?
28. How do you handle conflict?
29. Why would we select you over the other candidates?
30. Do you have anything to add?

It's your job to take off the disguise and find the real question and have a "Nugget" answer to satisfy the oral board, get your best score on the answer and cause the board to go onto the next question. This "Nugget" tool is one of several that can separate you from number 40 and below on a list and put you between 1 and 10 where you get a shot at the badge. You'll know the difference when the call comes in to go to the Chief's oral.

For more on Oral boards check out the career articles on this www.firehouse.com web site by clicking here:

http://cms.firehouse.com/content/contributor/bio.jsp?id=18

Fire "Captain Bob"
Author of the new book Becoming A Firefighter--The Complete Guide to Your Badge!

https://www.eatstress.com

888-238-3959