The Oral Interview

Finally, don t forget to read Chapters 15 and 16, which cover the ins and outs of the Physical Ability Test and the oral interview. 

Make a commitment now You need to work hard, in advance, to do well on the written exam, the physical ability test, and the oral interview (if there is one), so that your name will stand out at the top of your agency s eligibility list. 

For more information about the oral board or interview and how to prepare for it, see Chapter 16, The Oral Interview. ... 

Like many candidates, you may think that the oral interview is just like any other job interview, that it s not a major part of the hiring process for firefighters, or that compared to the CPAT or the written exam, it isn t all that critical. 

But did you know that many departments use the oral interview to eliminate the largest percentage of applicants Did you know that in some places, the interview is used to choose those who will be allowed to take the CPAT The point here is Don t take any chances. It is not worth risking your future as a firefighter by not taking the interview seriously. 

In most municipal or county departments, the oral interview is a very important part of the application process, so important that there may be two of them—a qualifying interview and a selection interview. Each jurisdiction will have different priorities, and each interviewing panel will ask different kinds of questions and have different standards in judging the answers, especially in a first interview. But all of the questions will focus on essentially the same factor the character of the applicant—who you are as evidenced by what you have to say for yourself... 

It is most likely impossible, and a waste of time, to anticipate the exact questions you will be asked during the oral interview. But it is still possible, and important, to prepare yourself for it. You know the panel has the information you gave them on your application form. Think about that for a minute. What did you tell them about your background, your skills and abilities, and your character ... 

In addition to oral interviews, there is a new trend that is becoming more prevalent throughout the country the use of video-based tests for observing and assessing interpersonal skills and judgment under standardized testing conditions. These sessions may be used subsequent to the oral interview, or in lieu of it, depending on the department s individual require-... 

The oral interview is a crucial step on your way to becoming a firefighter. You can and should prepare for it. So, do some research both on the life and work of a firefighter. And do some research on yourself—your background, opinions, strengths and weaknesses. Self-awareness leads to self-confidence, especially in an interview situation. Seek experience in areas where you think you need it. Practice interviewing skills. Demand the best from yourself. The panel and the profession certainly will. 

Figure 2 shows the percentage of seientifie elements for the multiple choice test, the oral interview, and the probing-acceptance part of the oral interview. Only the three interview questions were considered in this comparison. 

Egypt. Dried gum is applied vaginally as a contraceptive before or after coitus. Fifty-two percent of the women interviewed practiced this method, and 48% of them depended on indigenous methods and/or prolonged lactation . Hot water extract of the dried root is taken orally as an antis-... 

In most cases, there are far more applicants for each position than can be appointed. The selection process may be made up of an initial application, background checks, a written examination, an oral interview or board, a physical ability test, a drug screening, and psychological tests. Being informed and prepared will help you to remain confident through every stage of the process. 

The selection process in your fire department is likely to include one or more oral interviews. There may be an individual interview with the chief or deputy chief, or there may be an oral board, in which you would meet with several people—or you may face both. Whether it is an individual interview or an oral board, the interviewers are interested in your interpersonal. skills— how well you communicate with them—as well as in your qualifications to be a firefighter. 

The oral board typically assesses such qualities as interpersonal skills, communication skills, judgment and decision-making abilities, respect for diversity, and adaptability. The board itself consists of two to five people, who may be firefighters or civilian personnel or interview specialists. There is usually some variety in the makeup of the board It usually consists of officers of various ranks and/or civilians from the personnel department or from the community. 

Increasingly, cities have standardized the oral board questions. The same questions are asked of every candidate, and when the interview is over, the board rates each candidate on a standard scale. This procedure helps the interviewers reach a somewhat more objective conclusion about the candidates they have interviewed and may result in a score that is included in the factors used to rank candidates in the eligibility list. 

Similarly, if you are having an oral interview, there is no point in playing psychological games with someone who is better trained at it than you are. Just answer openly and honestly, and try to relax. The psychologist isn t really interested in your feelings about your mother, unless they are so extreme that they are likely to make you unfit to be a firefighter. 

If you fail the oral board or interview, try to figure out what the problem was. Do you think your answers were good but perhaps you didn t express them well Then you need some practice in oral communication. You can take courses or enlist your friends to help you practice. 

The qualifying interview—also known as the screening interview—is the first, and sometimes the only, oral interview that fire departments use in their hiring process. By the time you are contacted to go through this interview, you will have completed your application form, you probably will have taken the written examination, and it is possible that you may have taken the Candidate Physical Ability Test. 

Video-based testing may or may not be announced beforehand many agencies post a list of specific requirements for candidate selection, such as a written examination, an oral panel interview, and video testing, and some substitute the video-based test for the preliminary interview. 

Hamilton, S. (1982). Interviewing the middle class Women graduates of the Scottish universities c.1910-1935. Oral History 10(2) 58-67. Reprinted here and subsequently with permission from the Oral History Society, www.ohs.org.uk. 

Henry Francis du Pont (Figure 2) worked fervently to get the more than 195 period rooms and display areas completed in his lifetime. Often he would express to his closest staff (I), Do it now because it won t be done after I die. When asked by Harlan B. Phillips in a 1962 oral interview for the Archives of American Art about his feelings on... 

The chapters that follow use this framework to examine how agencies attempt to reconcile diverse viewpoints to make sense of accidents (chapters 4 and 5) how embodied sensory experience is rendered invisible in writing (chapter 6) and how speakers gestures help them understand the temporal and spatial complexity of a hazardous environment (chapters 7 and 8). In chapter 9, I analyze 31 oral interviews with miners following the South-mountain disaster in Norton, Virginia (January, 1993), in order to show how embodied experience and gesture are documented in writing at one critical moment of transformation. 

The survey instrument, drafted by the principal investigator and the survey contractor, went through 15 drafts and three rounds of peer review at the NIH. The instrument was pretested in 20 interviews for length (under 15 minutes) and clarity. The instrument was translated and back-translated by separate translators into Spanish, Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean. The instrument received approval from the Human Studies Committee at the University of Louisville. All interviewees gave oral consent at the beginning of the interview. 

Ibid., p. 353 Interview with Maud White Katz, Oral History of the American Left, series I, no. 130, TL. 

Closely related to an ability to analyze and to understand people is an instinctively curious mind. Both facilitate investigation and revelation of facts—an important function of any lawyer, which like other aspects increases in importance with increasing complexity of subject matter. Chemists inherently tend to be inquisitive. This trait will help the chemist-tumed-lawyer during interviewing of witnesses, examining of witnesses by oral depositions, or in open court. When cross-examining witnesses, he will follow the witness s mental processes, learn what he may be holding back, and perhaps extract testimony that will be helpful to the lawyers case. 

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