Fire Careers

Firefighters WANTED – Oral Question

Why do you want to become a Firefighter?

It’s an easy question to answer right? For many, this question has taken firefighter hopefuls to the bottom of the list, and fast. Why? Because most candidates asked this question never answer the question with complete honesty. Many times, a candidate will be misinformed and try to give an answer that is manufactured, or try to say what they think the interview panel is expecting to hear. The real expectation is that … Read the rest

2015 Firefighter Candidate Workshop March 22, 2015

The firefighter candidate workshop is the most recognized entry-level firefighter training event to date. This event will prepare you, the candidate, to become a highly trained and excellent firefighter candidate. Upon completion you will have the necessary tools to compete for a career in the fire service anywhere. Fire Alumni and its events are the fastest growing community that inspire and prepare candidates for the coveted job of firefighter. During this industry leading event you will have the opportunity to … Read the rest

Self Help Workshops Coming…

The 2013 Firefighter recruitment season has begun. Already some of the big hitters have taken applications. Most notability Los Angeles City Fire just closed their application period. They are looking to hire some 350-400 firefighters a.s.a.p. More openings are expected during the list and this could be one of the largest recruitments in LAFD history.

We are seeing more firefighters graduating academies all across the Country. Today Madison Fire, graduated 20 new firefighters into their ranks of the fire department.… Read the rest

How to Become A Firefighter Workshop

Have you ever wondered how to be successful in the entry level Firefighter hiring process?

Looking back 16 years ago we had no idea how to approach the task of becoming a career firefighter. However, it is now very clear that, if we had the information and experience that the Becoming a Firefighter Workshop provides we would have been significantly more prepared and definitely got hired sooner. The combination of the instructors, the material they present and the partnership with … Read the rest

Firefighter Code of Ethics – All Future / Current Firefighters Can Learn From This

In today’s daily Firehouse Magazine email (a great, free resource to keep you informed of fire service news stories), there was a great article that ALL current and future firefighters can learn from that is based on the actions of a small number of firefighters that are causing a black eye for the majority of firefighters who are trying to do the right thing.

It is a piece on the “Firefighter Code of Ethics,” and here are the opening comments:… Read the rest

2012 Becoming A Firefighter Workshop

Now that the holiday season is officialy in full swing I wanted to take a moment to
wish you and your family a Happy and Safe Holiday Season. We all have much to be
thankful for at this time of year, the least of which is our family and friends. It
is with this thought that I say thank you to each of you for your friendship over
the years. For me it has been both an honor and a … Read the rest

6 ways to stall your firefighter job search

In today’s Sunday paper, I noticed a timely article titled “6 ways to stall your job search,” by Larry Buhl, and I wanted to share it since I think it really provides a lot of guidance for future firefighters. Now before we go any further, I’ve heard more and more people say they don’t read the daily newspaper because they don’t have time or they don’t think it’s relevant. I believe it’s critical for fire service professionals to be in-tune … Read the rest

A mother’s wise words…

My mom used to say, “You better check yourself at the door…!”

Ethical Questions or How Not To Sink Saving Your Buddy!

A candidate, questioning the oral board process, wondered what happened to the days when you would step up to help a brother who had gotten themselves into a less than desirable position? Also wondering why it seems to easy to “throw your buddy under the bus”.

We’re not in Kansas anymore, and your “buddy” doesn’t sign your paycheck!

Oral Board Questions

As someone taking either an entry level or promotional level oral interview, there should be no “trick” or “surprise” questions if you have done your research/homework.

Meaning, there are many websites and books that have sample oral board questions that pretty much cover the majority of the types of questions you’ll be asked

Small Thought about Customer Service

Recently, I had the opportunity to speak to 165 future firefighters at the California Fire Explorer Academy in Oxnard, CA. I chose to speak about a future in the fire service and advice on taking oral exams. One subject in the conversation was customer service and what it means to you as a firefighter.
Customer service is an added value, how you can add value to a trip to the store, a code 2 run to assist a person back … Read the rest

My First Oral Board

I recently had my first oral board interview, and here I am going to tell about the experience; what it was like, and what I learned.

At this point in my pursuit of a fire service career I’ve taken only a handful of tests and only recently had my first panel interview.  I had assumed going into the interview that the panel would be made up of a variety of firefighters and senior officers from the department, but it turned … Read the rest