07 May 2020
Chief Brent Collins, President, www.FirePrep.com
Fire Department Testing in Tough Economic Times
Over the last 20 years, we have seen through some tough economic times that have affected departments hiring and even laying off some members, specifically, September 11th and now the Coronavirus.
Many departments have postponed their firefighter entrance examinations to be held at a yet-to-be-determined date, putting you in a state of limbo. These exams will take place in the future, but I’m sure many of you are sitting back and wondering, “What do I do now?”
The competition will be a little tougher now. With the postponement of many exams, there will probably be an increase in the number of applicants once testing resumes.
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What do you do with this down time? Are you going to just sit back and wait or are you going to decide to improve yourself by strengthening your weak testing areas? If you are working from home or have been laid off, you may have some extra time to work on your testing skills.
There are many different test consultants who give tests across the country. They each have a different testing format. Are you going to use this time to prepare for those exams? Are there certain areas you struggle with – such as reading comprehension or mathematics, mechanical? Some exams are now including questions on stress tolerance, team orientation, motivation/attitude. Below is a link to our written exam preparation:
https://www.fireprep.com/entry-level-written-exam-prep/overview-exam-prep
Are your resume and certifications current? Have you recently completed certifications or will complete one in the very near future that need to be added to your resume? Are there any online courses that you can take to add to your resume?
Are you practicing for your oral interview exam? Are you practicing your responses and recording yourself to help fine tune your oral presentation skills? How do you sound and how are you presenting yourself to others? Many times, the oral interview will come after you have done well on the written exam and be the final factor as to whether or not you get the job.
If you are finishing up your EMT and want to take your paramedic, don’t stop! If you stop now, you will only be setting yourself back when cities open testing windows again.
On our website, www.FirePrep.com, we have our free Hiring Guide Notebook that contains informational sheets to help you keep track of department testing details as well as test-taking and oral interview strategies.
Now it's up to you - you can fall into two categories. One is the 90% of fire applicants who never prepare for an examination and are extremely disappointed in their results.
Or, are you going to be in that 10% that starts preparing for the examination early and are confident, relaxed and ready to meet this very important testing challenge? That 10% represents most fire applicants that get the job - those that really want it!
Remember that luck goes to the prepared!