KEEPING ON YOUR GAME
Testing is a hard, frustrating and some times a depressing process. Even if you’re good there are some test with a 100% fail rate. Because of lawsuits, budget cuts, hiring freezes, and who knows what other outside influences, there might not be one person hired off of the list. Taking promotional exams can be just as frustrating. Because the nature of this business of getting hired is so trying, you need to do some things to take care of your attitude. You exercise your body physically. You keep your mind sharp. Do the same with your frame of mind. The thing that will help you the most is to be successful. It may sound obvious, but if you know you have done everything you can to prepare for your test, you can look forward to the oral interview. It’s difficult, at times, to deal with the let down. We will all be disappointed from time to time. But people don’t remember you for what happens to you, they remember how you reacted to the things that happened to you. So keep up your chin and understand that you’ll never know why they hire or promote the people they do. But, it’s not a reflection on you personally; you may have been on the list that they were only going to hire Canadians. Someday you'll have it all come together.
ATTITUDE VS. APTITUDE
Which is more important. Obviously you need to have both, but where should your attention be. Assume you are the best firefighter in the world. They could make an IFSTA manual by just following you around all day. You eat breath, and sleep fire service. But you aren’t the nicest most personable guy. This will get you a front row seat to watch the guys with minimum skills with a good attitude, get and keep the good jobs.
The Fire Service can take just about anyone off the street and make them into a firefighter in a year, as long as they can go into a burning building and see blood. Usually a poor attitude is a long-term thing. Attitude is your rudder through life. Be aware most departments already have enough people working there with an attitude problem, and don’t need any more.
For example, I am working with a newly hired firefighter. He’s working through his probation and has a great attitude. He doesn't sit in the recliners in front of the T.V., ever! If a training video is being reviewed he brings in a kitchen chair. He is aware that other peoples perceptions are very important to your reputation in the fire service. Another example of this is; an engineer, from another shift was working with us and told him to relax nobody would care. Not 15 seconds latter he began telling us that someone else just hired was spending all their time in the easy chairs. I asked him if he’d seen this. He said no, he’d just heard about it. He proved the point right there. You could do something once and have someone see it, tell someone else, and suddenly your “ Easy chair Charlie”. Probation is hard enough. Don’t make it harder than it has to be. “Attitude is such a small thing that can make such a huge difference.”
Courtesy of Captain Rob, NRTC@SONIC.NET, www.eatstress.com