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reason, but not in a goofy way), and ensure
that when you are answering questions,
your passion and enthusiasm for the job is
showing in each of your answers. Sadly,
most candidates only smile and show their
passion and enthusiasm when walking into
or leaving the room, and NOT when they
are sitting in the chair when they should be
doing it the most to show their true
personality.
• Remember the oral board raters want you
to be successful. They have a long day, if
not a long week or even more. It’s great to
be an oral board rater when most
candidates are hitting a home run each
time, and are making a connection with the
oral board. Unfortunately, most don’t. It’s
very painful to be an oral board rater most
of the time when many candidates are
putting you to sleep with their babble and
rambling on and on of whatever it is they
are attempting to say.
November 2017
day with 3 different oral board raters that give
you a score in the mid 70’s and then take the
same interview later in the week with 3 different
oral board raters who fail you. You would never
get that chance, but the point is that it’s like the
football movie that starred Al Pacino, “Any
Given Sunday.” You can do all you can to
prepare for the interview, but it all comes down
to game day and the factors that are involved.
Some days you connect and win, some days
you don’t connect and you get to try another
day. There is a dream department out there for
you – are you willing to stick it out long enough
to find it? Give up and somebody else will get
your opportunity you worked so hard to try and
obtain!
• Remember the oral board is grading you on
a number of things, including but not limited
to oral communications, problem solving
ability, decision making ability, judgment,
maturity, interpersonal ability, listening
ability, and time management.
While most of the above is focused on entry-
level firefighter candidates, some of the
information may also apply to promotional oral
interviews one may be faced with.
The above is not an all-inclusive list to let a
candidate know what “they” (the oral board) are
looking for, but it will hopefully take some of the
mystique out of the process. Remember that
every department is different, as is every oral
board. You could take an interview with a
specific fire department on Monday with 3 oral
board raters that give you a score in the high
90’s, and then take the same interview the next
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