Fire Fighter Airport Interview Preparation Guide

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saving human life is the primary goal. A firefighter must stay fit – firefighters exercise daily. Ability to work with a team, follow orders without fail, bravery, quick thinking and acting, calmness in emergency are all essential qualities.

My last boss taught me the importance of time management – he didn't pull any punches, and was extremely driven. His no-nonsense attitude pushed me to work harder, and to meet goals I never even thought were possible.

I'm more interested in the role itself than the pay. That said, I'd expect to be paid the appropriate range for this role, based on my five years of experience. I also think a fair salary would bear in mind the high cost of living here in New York City.

I'm a people person. I was always happiest and most satisfied when I was interacting with community residents, making sure I was able to meet their needs and giving them the best possible comfort in a tough situation. It was my favorite part of the job, and it showed. Part of the reason I'm interested in this job is that I know I'd have even more interaction with the public, on an even more critical level.

I've been a firefighter for the past five years – my boss has said time and time again that without me, the department wouldn't function as well. I've also taken the time to educate myself on some of the non-standard techniques used in first response. I can react quickly in hectic situations, and handle the responsibilities of a leadership role. What's good enough for most people is never really good enough for me.

In five years I'd like to have an even better understanding of fire and rescue. Also, I really enjoy being the first to a scene. I work very well under pressure. Ultimately, I'd like to be in a commander-type position, where I can use my organizational skills and industry knowledge to benefit the people working with me, and those we are there to help.

There was nothing about my last job that I hated, but I guess there were some things I liked less than others. My previous role involved traveling at least twice a month. While I do love to travel, twice a month was a little exhausting – I didn't like spending quite so much time out of the department. I'm happy to see that this role involves a lot less travel.

The fire department is one of the most important institutions in a society. With the fire department in place, fires can be prevented, minimized, and lives can be saved.

even people who answer this question positively can still be part of the firefighting force, as there are education programs, and desk job. Discuss your limitations with the interviewer.

☛ Tell us about yourself.
☛ Why do you want to be a firefighter? When did you decide on this career?
☛ What is the job of a firefighter? Are you qualified?
☛ What have you done to prepare for this position?
☛ What are you bringing to the job?
☛ Why do you want to work for this city or agency?
☛ What do you know about this city or agency?
☛ What do you like to do? What are your hobbies?
☛ What are your strengths? Weaknesses?
☛ What would your employer say about you?
☛ What are the attributes of a firefighter? What is the most important one to you?

☛ What motivates you to be a firefighter?
☛ What can a firefighter do for fire prevention?
☛ What are the challenges that fire departments have to deal with nowadays?
☛ Do you know the mission statement of our agency?
☛ What’s the most important duty of a firefighter?
☛ What piece of firefighting equipment is most difficult to operate and why?

☛ Drinking or drugs on the job?
☛ Stealing on the job?
☛ Conflict with another employee?
☛ Irate citizen?
☛ An employee crisis at an emergency?
☛ Sexual harassment?
☛ Racial situation?
☛ Conflicting orders at an emergency?
☛ An order that could place you in great danger or be morally wrong?
☛ What do you say when you don’t know an answer to a question?
☛ Are you on any other hiring lists? What would you do if another city called you?
☛ When can you start if we offered you the job?
☛ How far do you want to go in the fire service? Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
☛ What are the quality traits of a firefighter? Which one is the most important to you?
☛ Have you ever been in an emergency situation? Tell us what you did.
☛ What word would best describe you in a positive way? A negative way?
☛ How do you handle conflict?
☛ Why would we select you over the other candidates?
☛ Do you have anything to add?
☛ Define commonsense.
☛ Define diversity.
☛ What is the Mission Statement of our Fire Department?
☛ What is the Vision Statement of our Fire Department?
☛ Who is the Fire Chief?
☛ Who makes up the Command staff of this Fire Department?
☛ What type of City Government is this city?
☛ What class department are we? (ISO Rating)
☛ Tell us about the job announcement.
☛ What are you short, mid-range and long term goals?
☛ The Star of Life represents what?
☛ The Maltese cross represents what?
☛ What is insubordination?
☛ Define Teamwork and why is Teamwork important in the fire service?
☛ What is your strongest communication skill?
☛ Define Character.
☛ Define ethics.
☛ Can you explain the Fire Tetrahedron?
☛ Describe a typical day of a firefighter.
☛ Define Customer Service, and how does it relate to the fire service?

☛ Imagine that you’ve been called to extinguish a fire at a building and one of the residents that were taken out starts to panic and wants to go back inside. How do you handle this?
☛ What would you do if you noticed a fellow firefighter stealing something during a fire extinguishing operation?
☛ How would you care for an unconscious person?
☛ Imagine you receive two different orders from senior firefighters at the same time. What do you do?
☛ How would you deal with an order that you think is wrong and would put you in unnecessary danger?

☛ Give an example of a time which you were faced with an emergency situation.
☛ Explain the circumstances and your actions.
☛ What kinds of personal conflicts/problems might arise in a firehouse and what could you do to minimize such problems?
☛ What personality traits do you possess that make you feel you would be a good firefighter?
☛ If hired what would you give to our department?
☛ What are some of the important traits a firefighter must possess?
☛ What is the most important trait a firefighter must possess?
☛ How could you help maintain good relations around the firehouse?
☛ What is a typical daily routine in a firehouse?
☛ What will you do with your spare time while on duty?
☛ What duties does a firefighter perform?
☛ What is the most essential duty a firefighter performs?
☛ What type of person would you find it most difficult to work with?
☛ Would you ever disobey an order?
☛ When would you disobey an order?
☛ What do you know about the city of ________?
☛ What do you know about the organizational structure of the ____ Fire Department?
☛ What are your hobbies and/or interests?
☛ Define harassment/sexual harassment.
☛ What would you do if you were witness to someone being sexually harassed/harassed?

☛ Have you ever been directly or indirectly or known someone who was involved in a sexual harassment/harassment dispute? What were the circumstances?
☛ Honesty and Integrity, define them and why are they important in the fire service?
☛ Pride and Loyalty, define them and why are they important in the fire service?
☛ What are the advantages and disadvantages of similar groups vs. diverse groups of people when working as a team?
☛ What do you think the future holds for the fire service?
☛ Where do you see the fire service going (how do you see it changing) in the next 5-10 years?
☛ If we were to contact your present or former employer, what would be one negative point they might raise about you?
☛ Are you currently on any other fire department eligibility list?
☛ What would you do if we offered you a position, and then soon after, you were offered a position with a bigger and better paying department, why would you stay?
☛ As part of the hiring process we will be doing an extensive background investigation. Is there anything in your past that you would like to discuss or explain to this panel?

☛ Tell me about a conflict you had with a colleague. How did you resolve it?
☛ Give me an example of a time you had to deal with an emergency
☛ Recall a time when you made a mistake in using rescue equipment. What should you have done differently?

☛ Please prioritize the following in order of importance to you: Career, Family, Friends.
☛ Suppression, Prevention and Public Education, rank them in order of importance in the Fire Service and explain your reasoning.
☛ Describe a difficult decision that you've had to make in your life. What were the circumstances and what was your decision? Would you make the same decision again?
☛ Tell us about a conflict you've had with a co-worker or supervisor. What actions did you take to resolve this conflict? What did you learn from it? What would you do differently if the same situation arose again?
☛ Tell us about a mistake you've made in your past and what you learned from that mistake.
☛ What have you done to prepare for this interview?
☛ What have you done to prepare for a career in the fire service? What have you done to prepare for a career with the _______ fire department?
☛ Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years?
☛ Why do you want to be a firefighter?
☛ Why do you want to be a firefighter for the City of _______?
☛ What is the most appealing aspect of being a firefighter?
☛ What is the least appealing aspect of being a firefighter?
☛ What do you consider to be your strongest asset? your weakest?
☛ Why would you be a good firefighter?
☛ Give an example in which you had to work as part of a team in order to achieve a common goal.
☛ What is the advantage of working in teams?
☛ Why is teamwork so important in the fire service?
☛ How do you and your family feel about you working 24 (or 48) hour shifts?
☛ What makes you think you would be able to deal with the stresses of being a firefighter?
☛ How have you prepared yourself to remain calm and react effectively at emergency scenes?

☛ Why do you want to work for X Fire and Emergency Services?
☛ Describe in your own words Professional Firefighter.
☛ Two words to describe you personally and professionally.
☛ Why do you want to be a firefighter?
☛ Discuss a time when you persuaded others to see your ideas.
☛ An individual is consistently eating their lunch by themselves what would you do?
☛ You are outside doing yard duties when fellow Fire Fighters make a racial slur to an individual walking by. What do you do?
☛ A teammate removes their SCBA in a volatile environment. What do you do?
☛ The chief orders a directive you do not agree with. What do you do?
☛ Describe a time, in detail, when you took on a leadership role.
☛ What role does public education and prevention in firefighting today?
☛ What are you most proud of with regard to your accomplishments so far in firefighting?
☛ What will you do with your down time during a shift?
☛ Why should we hire you?
☛ If you were working with us and a job closer to home came up what would you do?
☛ We work with the OFM curriculum, what have you done to work towards this?
☛ We work a night and day shift rotation will this be a problem?
☛ In the work environment how do you deal with stress?
☛ How do you like to be supervised?
☛ How will your family deal with rotating shifts?

My friends would probably say that I'm extremely persistent – I've never been afraid to keep going back until I get what I want. When I worked as a program developer, recruiting keynote speakers for a major tech conference, I got one rejection after another – this was just the nature of the job. But I really wanted the big players – so I wouldn't take no for an answer. I kept going back to them every time there was a new company on board, or some new value proposition. Eventually, many of them actually said "yes" – the program turned out to be so great that we doubled our attendees from the year before. A lot of people might have given up after the first rejection, but it's just not in my nature. If I know something is possible, I have to keep trying until I get it.

When I was in college, I took an art class to supplement my curriculum. I didn't take it very seriously, and assumed that, compared to my Engineering classes, it would be a walk in the park. My failing grades at midterm showed me otherwise. I'd even jeopardized my scholarship status. I knew I had to get my act together. I spent the rest of the semester making up for it, ended up getting a decent grade in the class. I learned that no matter what I'm doing, I should strive to do it to the best of my ability. Otherwise, it's not worth doing at all.

Fire prevention, education programs in schools and for groups, and of course rescue of people, pets, and household goods are the main thrust of the firefighter’s tasks.

I have always appreciated and admired those who put their lives on the line to protect our communities. My interest piqued in firefighting after I witnessed a post-crash rescue. I heard the calling as I watched the first response team pull civilians to safety. It was then I knew that this is what I was meant to do.

I used to lock heads with a fellow EMT. We disagreed over a lot of things – from the care of civilians to who got what shifts to how to speak with a victim's family. Our personalities just didn't mesh. After three months of arguing, I pulled her aside and asked her to lunch. At lunch, we talked about our differences and why we weren't getting along. It turns out, it was all about communication. We communicated differently and once we knew that, we began to work well together. I really believe that talking a problem through with someone can help solve any issue.

I've never been very comfortable with public speaking, which as you know, can be a hindrance. Realizing this was a problem, I asked my previous department if I could enroll in a speech workshop. I took the class, and was able to overcome my lifelong fear. Since then, I've given a lot of safety presentations to school children across the county. I still don't love it, but no one else can tell!

This would be the first question asked in any interview. Therefore, it is important that you give a proper reply to the question regarding your education. You should have all the documents and certificates pertaining to your education and/or training, although time may not allow the interviewer to review all of them.