Cincinnati Fire Exam, August 4, 2012

[CarnyTheKid]

Today it was announced that the fire department will hold a new exam on August 4, 2012. Sign ups will open July 2 and end July 27. The applications will be posted on the cities web site under the Human Resources Tab. As of this post they are not on the web site yet.

City of Cincinnati - Home

[Westside_35]

sucks that they only give vet preference to Ohio residents. I would get 10 points too.

[doubled8206]

where do you see dates?

[CarnyTheKid]

where do you see dates?

This was announced today within the department from the human resources chief. It has not been put up on the city's website yet. This time around all sign ups will be online.

[doubled8206]

Awesome.. I'm assuming its a typical civil service exam?

[CarnyTheKid]

Awesome.. I'm assuming its a typical civil service exam?

Yes, a written exam, physical agility, polygraph, and I am not sure if they will do an oral interview again or not.

[CarnyTheKid]

If you want something more official, here is the fire departments Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/Cincinnati....artment?ref=ts

[doubled8206]

Yeah I just saw that. I'm surprised the filing period is pretty short compared to other big city departments

[Christian1147]

Self Rescue from Floor Collapse: This event simulates a floor collapse and you pulling yourself
up through the hole in the floor. Grasp wood hoist with both hands, arms and legs fully extended.
(Ladder available to assist applicant in reaching hoist.) Pull up body and climb up on top of the platform
through the hole.

I have questions about this event that are unanswered by this vague discription
-How high is it?
-How big is the hole?
-What is this "wood hoist" that I will be grasping?

[CarnyTheKid]

Self Rescue from Floor Collapse: This event simulates a floor collapse and you pulling yourself
up through the hole in the floor. Grasp wood hoist with both hands, arms and legs fully extended.
(Ladder available to assist applicant in reaching hoist.) Pull up body and climb up on top of the platform
through the hole.

I have questions about this event that are unanswered by this vague discription
-How high is it?
-How big is the hole?
-What is this "wood hoist" that I will be grasping?

I don't have the exact measurements but the whole is roughly 2.5-3 feet wide and 4 feet long. You grasp a 2x4 (the 2 inch side) on each side and basically have to pull yourself up through the hole onto a platform. The hole is probably 8 feet high. Some people jump and grab it, others have used a ladder in the past. No fire equipment is worn while doing the self rescue.

[CarnyTheKid]

One more reminder that the sign up for the new cfd recruit class starts tomorrow. It is on the city's web site under human resources. In the event of a tie score with another recruit, your seniority will be based off of who signed up first. Good luck to all.

[mack27]

Does anyone know what the hiring situation looks like for Cincinnati? I'm taking the test this weekend but also wanted to know if there would be lots of hiring or minimal. Anyone that works there or knows the department well care to respond with their feelings on the moral and direction the department is headed in? Such as, in relation to hiring, are they fighting the politicians to hire or even keep houses open, or is their budget doing well and they expect to weather this current economic storm? Thanks for the responses and good luck to everyone on the test this weekend.

Mack

[CarnyTheKid]

Cincinnati just received a safer grant for 5.9 million dollars from the feds. This will be used to hire 40 new recruits from the list that was created from the 2009 test. This class is projected to start in October. This new test is hoped to be used to hire 40 more fire recruits right behind this class in October. They also hope to apply and get a safer grant for the recruits hired with this new testing process. That remains to be seen obviously as the deadline for safer grants is not until next year.

Reality is Cincinnati is no different than any other city when it comes to budgets. Every year there are budget difficulties. Politicians and fire/police generally do not see eye to eye anymore and are sometimes viewed as the enemy. With that being said some of your questions just can't be answered at this point. The fire department is very under staffed with 5 companies closed everyday and usually 3 or 4 companies staffed with overtime everyday.

There are projected to be about 20-30 retirements in the next year and half so this first 40 of recruits will just be to cover those. We have already had around 15 retire this year and there are more coming. It is hard to say what the direction of the department is as the Fire Chief has a very good idea and perspective of where he would like to take the CFD and has really done an excellent job of changing our inefficient procedures that have been done for years. At this point that's all I can tell you as everything is always dependent on the economy. If a safer grant is awarded for the class of this new test then you know that you have a guaranteed job for 2 years.

[nyhook1977]

I'm concerned about the video test being held in one room. I've taken it before elsewhere and it is done in smaller groups over a few weeks. This potentially is just asking for problems. I also heard the self-extrication portion of the physical has been removed, making the test much easier for those not prepared.

[nlfdrescue8]

So how did it go for anyone here who took the test?

[NORCO_LT_a]

I thought it went well. When my wife came to pick me up from the test she said it looked like a body builders convention was going on. I counted about 2400-2500. Any ideas on when the results will be announced?

[shamrocker]

I thought it went well. I can't believe they took the mechanical portion out..that was the one section I knew I'd crush..oh well, the rest of it seemed pretty easy to me, but I guess the HR portion is a hard one to call.

Results would have to be released in the next 2 weeks, because the PAT practice sessions are scheduled for Aug 18 & 19, and you can't attend the practice sessions unless you passed the written.

[nlfdrescue8]

So this was the first time I have ever taken the video test, not feeling great about the HR portion, but how is the grade used? Pass/fail or is it weighted and ranked by total score? Thanks for the input

[iwantafirecareer]

Here is the official info about the hiring process:

http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/cityhr/...r_pdf46030.pdf

[nlfdrescue8]

Here is the official info about the hiring process:

http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/cityhr/...r_pdf46030.pdf

Thanks, must have missed that.