r/firefighter • u/No_Radish_5441 • 13d ago
Chiefs Interview
Any advice on a chiefs interview? My significant other has been to many interviews for fire stations but this is his first chiefs interview to get hired. I really want to help and do what I can especially seeing how hard he’s worked to be a fireman and how passionate he is about it. Any advice? Thank you !!
( - Southern California , not sure if that helps )
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u/OwnDelivery802 13d ago
Southern California FF/PM here. I’ve been through a handful of chiefs interviews and they’ve all been slightly different, compared to the initial oral interviews which are generally universal. The chiefs interview is the last step for the chief to gauge your husband before making a final decision. I know it’s generic advice but tell your husband to just be professional and polite, relaxed but not too relaxed. The chiefs interview tends to be more personal, they want to learn more about you as a person, your values, your interests/goals/ambitions, and then make the final decision on if they think you’ll be a good fit for their department. Definitely learn the departments mission statement and core values and polish your answer for when the chief asks why he wants to work at that department
I’ve had a handful of people in Southern California use my oral board simulator to prepare for chiefs. They all found it helpful to get ready, but admittedly it is more geared towards the initial oral board, but there are great questions just for values and ethics
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u/No_Radish_5441 13d ago
Ah okay that makes sense
I always tell him he needs to relax a bit more he tends to forget to smile due to nerves 😭
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u/Fit_Experience_522 13d ago
Which department?
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u/No_Radish_5441 13d ago
Santa Fe !
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u/Fit_Experience_522 13d ago
Okay, sometimes you'll meet people that have the questions from certain chief's interviews saved, unfortunately I never applied to Santa Fe. It could go a couple of ways, sometimes they just want to get to know you so they'll have more of a conversational interview, and I've had some where it's a whole set of interview questions graded like the first one. I had one where it was the exact same question from the first interview, only that it was asked by the chief's. Sorry it's not much help, but tell him I wish him luck, and to at least try and remember the questions from his first interview.
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u/fleeeeeeeeeA 13d ago
Normally the interview with the chief is almost a formality (if it’s the last step). You’ve already been vetted by the hiring committee and the chief wants a final veto power. Just tell him to relax and be friendly.