We at MyFireJob wanted to wish you all a happy new year. In 2012 we added 12 new questions to our fire officer interview questions ebook, and 8 new questions to our fire engineer / driver operator interview questions ebook. We also released out firefighter entrance exam ebook in 2012. All in all it was a great year and we were able to help a lot of our customers get promoted. Thanks again. – Jason
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The fire officer oral interview questions are always a challenge. Not only are they challenging questions, but as a promotional candidate, your nerves and anxiety are at high levels. The stress of a fire officer oral board interview is hard to deal with, there is not a quick answer that will help you control it. As with most things in life the harder you work in your preparation, the greater your reward.
We have spent nearly five years gathering questions from interviewers and promotional candidates for the position of Fire Captain and Fire Lieutenant. We have compiled these questions into an ebook that has over 80 of these questions. We believe this is the best way to prepare for a fire officer oral board interview. It allows candidates to get a preview of the questions they will likely be asked. The feedback we receive shows that our book typically covers about 90% of the questions asked in these interviews. It really is like having the questions in advance.
You can view our feedback here.
Here is a question from a recent fire engineer interview that we just added to our Fire Engineer Interview Guide.
You are a newly promoted engineer at a station with an old firefighter who does not like wearing his seatbelt when responding to calls. How will you handle this situation?
This question is a test of your commitment to safety and fortitude under peer pressure. One candidate answered it this way:
“As an Engineer safety is my top priority. I am responsible for the lives of everyone in my truck, and I take that responsibility very seriously. As an engineer I will be sure everyone has their seatbelt on before my truck moves out of the bay. If someone is not wearing their seatbelt, my truck will not move, period. In order to avoid this situation, I will lay out my seatbelt rule for my new crew on my first day with them.”
This answer may be a little too blunt for some candidates, but it illustrates a no nonsense approach to the problem. It also shows the candidate’s commitment to safety and that he takes it seriously. Most departments have mandatory seatbelt SOPs. You can find this question and many many more in our Fire Engineer Interview Questions.
The Fire Lieutenant oral board questions are usually pretty similar to the Fire Captain oral board questions. Many of their duties and responsibilities overlap. This is a question that we have recently added to our Fire Officer Interview Questions.
As a new fire lieutenant, what will you do to improve the level of training and education in our department?
As you can see from my resume, I have attended every class or training opportunity that I could get my hands on. Many of these were attended on my days off, with my own money. My goal is learn as much as I can and be prepared for any situation. I have volunteered to teach classes based on what I learned at the lectures and seminars that I attended. By doing this I believe we can bring a great deal of outside experience and ideas into our department.
The competition to become a firefighter is fierce. Most departments in the United States will test hundreds or thousands of applicants in hopes of filling only a few positions. How do you compete against those odds? How do you make yourself stand out against other qualified candidates? Myfirejob.com got its start answering these very questions. While our products have expanded to include fire captain and fire lieutenant interview questions, and fire engineer interview questions; our core purpose remains helping people get into the fire service.
Over the years we have developed a firefighter entrance exam study guide that is quite comprehensive. Our book walks you through the entire hiring process. We begin by showing you how to find firefighter jobs around the country. Our book covers the entire application process, which can be quite extensive for many departments. We then move on to explain what the written test will be like, and how to study. The written test is difficult, and there are many variations. Our guide explains the most commonly tested subjects, such as: reading comprehension, verbal reasoning, mechanical aptitude, mathematics, and map reading skills. We explain these subjects, provide example questions, and give strategies for answering the questions.
Our firefighter entrance exam study guide also provides you with effective study habits to ensure you do your best. Our guide covers the medical and psychological exams, along with the oral interview. We provide the forty most common firefighter entrance interview questions that are asked. You will be fully prepared when you walk into your interview.
Our firefighter entrance exam guide is very comprehensive and effective. We have received a great deal of positive feedback on it. If you’re looking for a way to study for the firefighter entrance exam this guide is for you.
A customer recently sent us an email after his Fire Lieutenant oral interview.
“Jason, Thanks for your help downloading the interview questions to my other computer. I finished my Fire Lieutenant oral interview yesterday and was asked a total of twelve questions. Ten of them were covered in your guide. I couldn’t be happier with the purchase. One question that wasn’t in your guide was very specific to my department, but the other one might be helpful for other people prepping for their interview. They asked me the following question.
“As a new fire lieutenant, how will you handle crew development?”
Thanks again. Carl
Thanks for the email and feedback Carl. This is a fantastic fire lieutenant oral interview question. We like it because it isn’t specific. Crew development can mean different things. First it can mean training, team building, and teaching technical skills to help your crew become proficient together. Second it can mean developing the skills to help your crew reach their personal and career goals. You want to answer this questions by addressing both topics.
“As a new fire Lieutenant I will be very proactive with crew development. First I will evaluate my crew to determine a baseline performance. My goal will be to ensure everyone is proficient at all of their duties. I will establish a training program for my crew that compliments the department’s overall training. This ongoing training will continually improve on our skills. Secondly, I will work to help my crew develop personally and professionally. Whether their goals are to get in better shape, or promote to a new position in the future, I will utilize my resources to develop their skills and work with them to achieve these goals.”
During a recent Captain oral interview I sat in on, I witnessed a relatively simple interview question get botched by two candidates. I thought I would share the question here, with a few ideas on how to answer it.
You have been tasked with developing a training plan for a probationary firefighter who is having trouble with some of the skills required to do the job. Please give the panel a brief outline of what your plan would look like.
This question is simple, yet I watched two candidates sink themselves trying to answer it. They both essentially said “I will train him all day if necessary until he learns the skills”. While their dedication to training is admirable, I personally liked the third candidates response. He essentially answered the question like this:
“As a Captain it is my responsibility to ensure that every firefighter under my command is trained to the highest levels. All people are individuals with different learning abilities. Some people like observing while others are hands on. I would ask to have this probationary firefighter assigned to me for a period of two months or more. During that time I would evaluate his strengths and weaknesses. It might even be advantageous to have the firefighter take a “learning style test” to determine the most effective way to instruct him. I would develop a personalized plan that fits his learning style. If he learns best by being hands on, then we will give him hands on training each day. I will shore up his weaknesses and continue to build on his strengths.”
I was pretty impressed by this candidates answer. It shows a deeper level of thought and open mindedness to finding out of the box solutions to problems. His Fire Chief even commented on this by saying, “Fires are dynamic, problems are never the same, this guy seems to be a problem solver.”
We have added this question to our Fire Officer Interview Questions guide.
What the written exam is like
It’s time for all of your studying and preparations to pay off. The written test will usually be held in a conference room. You will need to pay special attention to any correspondence that the fire department sends you. It will tell you what to bring to the test. Usually candidates are required to bring a valid form of I.D. and number 2 pencils. Most tests do not allow calculators, but a few do. If you have any questions about what is allowed in the testing facility do not hesitate to ask. You can call the department, civil service, or ask someone at the facility when you arrive.
Some departments will mail out a study guide a week or so before the written test. If this is the case you need to study this information thoroughly. There are a few departments that give tests verbatim out of these study guides. Each question is specifically answered in the study guide. So take time off of work, lock yourself in a room, and memorize that guide.
The written test will evaluate your basic skills and aptitudes. The most commonly tested areas are:
- Reading tables, charts, maps, text, and graphs
- Verbal expression
- Reasoning
- Judgment
- Map reading
- Mechanical Aptitude
- Math
- Memory recall
Check out our full firefighter entrance exam preparation guide. It will prepare you for the written test by covering each of the most commonly tested areas in details. It includes a sample written test, and 40 of the most commonly asked interview questions. It also has an extensive section on how to pass the physical agility test.
We have updated and added questions to our Fire Officer Interview book using new questions from some of our customers’ interviews. As always our guide is constantly improving. Most of our customers report back to us telling us that our book covered as much as 90% of their interview questions. We always ask what questions were not covered and then add those to the our guide. Our updated guide includes many of these questions and some new scenario questions.
You can view our positive reviews here. Our book is by far the best way to prepare for your Fire Captain or Fire Lieutenant interview.
We have updated and released our fire engineer interview guide. It has over 80 fire engineer interview questions that come from real interviews. Its the best way to study for the position of driver operator and fire engineer. In addition to the interview questions it also contains strategic and tactical questions, the most common scenarios given in engineer interviews, the most common SOP/SOG questions, and strategies for the interview. Our guide gives critical insights into what the panel wants to see and hear from you. We also discuss how to answer the critical last question of the interview, and an interview dress code. By following our study system you will be the best prepared candidate for the job. Walk into your interview calm and confident knowing you’re going to ace it! You can find our fire engineer oral interview questions here.
