Anyone test for big city fire jobs?

I am gonna be testing for Seattle fire (written, first stage) this sunday, just looking for any general tips. By the time I got my application in and got all the emails it was too late for me to attend any of the written exam study workshops, so my chances are pretty low. But I won't get anywhere if I don't try anyway. From what I understand it's mainly general apptitude, as well as memorizing blueprints and room layouts, and writing them down on a diagram.

The first 2.5 hours is studying and writing down notes. They supply the study materials and blueprints you need to memorize. Then they take away all your notes and everything and hand you a test for 1.5 hours.

I have never tested for any fire jobs yet and I expect there to be plenty more tests coming in my future. But I would like a good shot at this one, because you never know. Seattle makes great money, and their schedule is better then most.

Any tips from someone in the field or currently testing?

 

I've done a few tests here in Texas even scored pretty high for Houston's exam. Really all you can do is take your time and try and do some of the online practice tests. But don't expect all the tests to be the same, I've taken 5 different ones so far and none were what I'd call the same. They al have the basic personality questions, reading, writing, math, and problem solving but the amount and difficulty of each question is a total crap shoot. Houston's was mostly map reading and easy conversions but the recent test I took with another city was heavy on the basic situational problem solving and a candidates mechanical aptitude. Take as many tests as you can bro, every test I've taken I've done a few points better every time. And do not stop working out, too many guys will just put off training until it's too late. If you pass the first section they are going to get you in as quick as they can.

 

When I was studying for entrance exams I would go to bookstores and read the study guides and practice exams. I tried to expose myself to as many different types of questions as possible. Brushing up on some algebra may help too. That was one of the harder parts of my last exam. Such as 'firetruck a left the station going 30mph to the scene and arrived in 15 minutes. How many miles did they travel."

The first year I tested I was ranked in the 600s, the next year I was ranked in the top 50. Just keep testing, thats just the way it is for big city jobs. In the meantime if you dont make it, try the smaller cities too!

Have a family member draw or print out blueprints and then you try to memorize and redraw them.

 

My dad runs a fabricating company so he could probably help me out with the blueprint part. As far as this particular city, they take the top 20% of testers and advance them to the oral board exam. From what I hear, they get up to 2000 testers a year, and only hire 50 to start the training.

 

Competition is tough, but if you know your shit, it's a big help.
When we have an opening for a signal tech, we'll get 300 applications.
Only about 60 get called in for written, and of those, only the top 8 go to the panel interview (and we're usually lucky to have 8 score the required 70% mininum).
Of the 8, three go to the supervisor for the final interview, and one gets the job.

 

Well I just took the written today (along with about 3000 others) and I actually feel like I did really well. It was a lot of math (like mph, percentage, etc) remembering blueprints of houses and office buildings, remembering pictures of scenes, reading articles and remembering details. I feel like I did really good and may actually have some kind of shot. But out of the 3000 or so that showed up to test, only 600 move onto the next stage. Do I think I made it into the top 20%? Maybe. Did I think I was going to have a chance at all before I took the test? Not at all.

 

Both times I have tested with them it was 5000 people. 1000 moved on the the first interview, 800 onto the second and then they made a large cut.

Good luck with the rest of the process. I've made it to the interviews bit not past the 2nd one

 

3000 showed up.
2000 were completely unqualified with no training or experience.
Of the 600 who passed, 400 are qualified on paper, but are over 40, either already retired or are close to it, and are looking at this job as a way to relocate from BFE, put in 5 years, and retire in the PNW with the better pension offered by the larger agency... or are physically incapable of doing the job.

 

Yeah I did notice quite a few older guys (by older I mean 40+) and a lot of guys that I could just tell had no experience or were nowhere near physically qualified. The room I tested in had about 350 people

 

Yep sounds about right. I notices people who normally just wouldn't fut that "firefighter" look. But they see 60k pay and say what the hell

 

We had one guy apply for a tech job who had been out of work for 6 years.
He had zero experience working traffic signals. He had telecommunications experience with AT&T. On paper? In the 6 years he was out of work, he had taken EVERY class and received every certification offered by the IMSA (including fire alarm and sprinkler systems). He passed written, but the panel interview went horribly. It was very apparent that he had never seen the inside of a signal cabinet. He expected us to hire him because he was smart and would be able to figure it out.

 

Well guys, about 3000 people came to take the written test. And it turns out I made it in the top 20%. I now move onto the first round of oral board exams. The reason I am so excited/optimistic is because this is the first major fire job I have tested for, and I didn't expect to make it past the written stage.

Any tips for the oral board would be awesome. They are being scheduled around the second week of january, So I don't have a lot of time to prepare.

 

Be yourself. Don't give them answers because you think they want to hear that. Give them answers that you believe in (I know it sounds silly but I see it all the time)

Prepare your self to possibly have to speak into a tape recorder. I've had a couple interviews with Seattle and they were both panel, but I've had some friends who had an interview where it was not a panel but you spoke into a tape recorder.

They are very straight forward during the interview. Usually no emotions and stick strictly to the questions.

Prepare an opening statement about yourself (age, family, married, kids, hobbies, etc). Use that time if they give it to you to sell yourself and to inform them about yourself. Not why you want the job, but strictly about you. You have 20-30 minutes to sell yourself to them. And they have the same 20-30 minutes to learn as much about you as they can.

They are looking for men and women who they can live 24 hours a day with. Who they can put their own lives in their hands.

Go in with confidence but not cockiness. Wear a suit, clean pressed and looking good. (I've been to a couple interviews where people walked out in kakis and a button down. No tie)

I've interviewed for jobs in Seattle x2(didn't pass the final interview), Kennewick x2 (was ranked #1 and missed the final interview by 5 points), Portaland x3(made the hiring list and list expired), Gresham x2(On their current list), Corvallis, TVFR x3(Hiring list once) and a couple more

 

Our panel interviews are all live, but also on a digital recorder, just for HR to cover our asses in case someone doesn't get the job and cries that they were more qualified than the guy who got it.
You don't have to speak into it, it's just resting on the table.

Be well rested. Dress nicely, keep any aftershave VERY low key, and avoid cologne (personally I would just use witch hazel that day and avoid any scented aftershave)... as mentioned, they are looking for someone they will be living with for 3-4 days and nobody wants to bunk next to "that cologne guy"

Other than that, be honest and be yourself. Panelists are good at spotting BS artists. If you don't know the answer to a question, be honest and tell them that you are sorry but you do not know and don't want to guess. Our panel interview is pretty basic, but the final interview with the shop supervisor has about 5 out of the 35 questions that we honestly don't expect anyone to get (and every now and then, someone does).
Someone guessing looks worse than an honest "I don't know"
The "I don't know" guy is going to find the answer when he needs it in the field.
The guy that guesses in the interview is going to guess in the field, and that could be a big problem.

 

Yeah they specified in the email that it will be a panel of ff's. The top 20% of the first board exam move onto a second board exam, where there is a huge cut from there.

 

Sounds about the same. When I did mine in Seattle last time they interviewed 950 the first time then cut that down to 800 then made a major cut from there

 

So they cut 3000 to 600.
First panel cuts 600 to 120.

Ours is even faster, but fewer applicants.
We might have 400 apply, but HR pre-screens those that do not meet the minimum qualifications and they are not even invited to take the written test.

On the written test, passing score is 70%. Very few make that.
Those scores are ranked... #1 automatically goes to the panel.
If only a couple of people score identically high, then they move to #2, and #3, until they have 6-8 people to send to the panel.

Our panel is made up of 3 supervisors and engineers from neighboring cities. This helps to eliminate nepotism.


From there, the top 3 go to final interview if we have only one opening. If we have two or three openings, they'll send as many as 12 to the panel and 6 to the final interview.