First Oral board

[sleflar]

I have my first oral board interview on Nov. 5. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on how I should prep.

[nbfcfireman]

I do CaptBob's job for him. www.eatstress.com
His site helped me alot before I had my interview. If nothing else it convinced me that I was confident in my responces and didnt show much nervousness.

Oh Yeah. Wear lots of Deodarant. You will be sweating from moment you get up till you finish the interview.

[TotalChaos]

That 2nd part may just have been the most true/useful advice I have heard yet!!

[nbfcfireman]

Hell yeah, I sweated like a pig in an oven for like 5 hours before me orals

[sleflar]

lol- thanks i will make sure i am well protected there...does anyone know the differences in a paid department oral board and a volunteer department oral board.?

[nbfcfireman]

yeah the difference is that in a paid department oral the questions are well thought out and actually decide if you get in or not.

[CaptBob]

First, it’s expected you could be a little nervous.

One of the raters will usually come out, escort you into the room, and introduce you to the other panel members. As you stand up wipe any clammy sweat off your hands on the back of your pants. Don’t try to turn your self inside out trying to remember their names (they are often on cards in front of them). As you’re introduced, look the rater in the eye and give a firm handshake. Handshakes are thought to be a judge of your character. Practice them. Too many times candidate give dead fish handshake. Come on folks. When shaking hands with a female rater don’t wait for the high beams to come on in her eyes because of too much pressure. Just match the pressure in their handshake. At the end of the interview they will usually stand and shake hands again. Same eye contact thanking (by rank if you know) them for the opportunity.

Master the First Impression

I spoke to a group of volunteers who were mostly aspiring firefighters
recently. As I was greeting several members before I started, I shook
hands with a big strapping lad who had firefighter written all over him.
He had that kind of firm handshake, smile and focused eye contact that
can cause an oral board panel to want to hand him a badge.

A few moments later I turned to shake hands with another big guy. His
handshake didn’t carry the same message. The big problem was he didn’t
know. No one had told him. I had him go over and shake hands with the
first guy. They worked on it for a few minutes and he returned with a
more confident handshake.

The following is from Work Your Network, by Joe “Mr. Network” Pelayo
available on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/097...books&v=glance : A UCLA study found that when 2 people meetfor the first time they make 20 distinctions about each other in the first 20 seconds, then spend the next 20 minutes finding out whether or not they were right! The same study found that a handshake is worth an hour’s conversation between two people, because handshakes are thought to be a judge of your character.

Use that handshake to make the right first impression.

[sleflar]

thanks for the tip....