The firefighter oral interview is a major component of a fire department’s hiring and screening process. Score high enough and you move to the next test. Receive a good score but not a high enough score and you try again with another fire department. One point could make the difference of moving onto the next hiring and screening test. Yes, one point.

The firefighter oral interview is usually one of the first tests given by hiring fire departments. After completing a very thorough application with a complete background investigation, a firefighter candidate will be required to appear before a panel of fire department firefighters, first-line supervisors, Lieutenants, Captains and/or Chief Officers. The firefighter candidate will have approximately 30 – 45 minutes to demonstrate that they are the best candidate for the job.

On most professional exams a score of 90% will give a job candidate strong consideration for the job. However, in the fire service, a 90% may send you packing. Fire service jobs are extremely competitive. In many instances, there are one hundred candidates testing for one job. When I tell you that one point makes a huge difference on an oral firefighter interview, I am not exaggerating.

For example, if ten candidates score 100, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 91, and 90 respectively, and there is only one position available then only the 100, 99, and 98 will move on to the next hiring test, as long as their applications and background investigations are approved. Keep in mind that if 100 candidates tested, there may be 10 candidates who scored 100, 10 candidates who scored 99, 10 candidates who scored 98, etc. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that one point makes a huge difference on a firefighter oral interview test.

For this reason, a firefighter candidate must maximize his performance on every question by the oral interview panel. A candidates goal should be to score a 10 on every question asked. This requires knowledge, preparation, and lots of practice.

Got Job’s Oral Interview Prep program provides an excess amount of information to help a firefighter candidate maximize their oral interview performance. Read on to understand the information in our manual.

Firefighter Oral Interview Prep “You never get a second chance to make a first impression”. This certainly applies to the entry level firefighter oral interview, where you have one opportunity to make a “hireable” first impression. $45.00 Read more >>