Oral Interview for Prospective Firefighters

The oral interview is an important part of the hiring process for prospective firefighters. Many employers use a personal interview as a way to get to determine which candidate is the best fit for an available position.

In the case of an oral interview for the fire department, oral interviews may be conducted by a panel of between two and seven people. Each person being interviewed is asked the same series of questions.

Since the score you get on the oral interview is crucial to the hiring process, you will want to make a good impression on the panel. Just like any other job interview, you want to make sure that you arrive on time for your appointment. Being late for any part of the hiring process may be enough to eliminate you from consideration by some departments.

The panel will be evaluating your listening skills, and it’s important to make sure that you understand the question you are being asked before you start answering it. Make sure that you can are expressing yourself clearly and speaking confidently. Your grammar and language skills are being considered, as well as the content of your answer.

It’s important to show the panel that you have considered your choice of career carefully; they want to make sure that you are willing and able to commit to the fire department for the long haul. Firefighter training programs are costly for the agency involved, and they want to make sure that the investment being made in new recruits is a sound one that will result in several years of service.

Don’t be afraid to show the panel that you are deeply passionate about wanting to make a difference in your community through your choice of career. Firefighting is not something that you will succeed in by being wishy-washy. You have to really want it to go through the rigorous selection process and the training involved to get to the point where you are fully trained and on the job.

Remember, your performance is being evaluated from the moment you walk into the room for your interview. Do everything you can to make sure that you making a positive first impression and showing them that you would make an exemplary firefighter and you greatly improve your chance of being hired.