It’s been said that the most important and influential job in the fire service is the captain’s position, and I wholeheartedly agree. Given this opinion, it makes sense that the promotional process for that position should be challenging and reflect the responsibilities of that rank.
Departments generally use similar testing methods to construct a promotional test, to unequivocally evaluate the abilities and leadership skills of the candidate. Those methods usual incorporate some or all of the following: a written test (for which a candidate usually must obtain a minimum score to continue); a tactical exercise; a role-play, in-basket or other interview(s) that includes evaluators (chief-level) from outside of a department; and/or an interview with the department fire chief.
To prepare for a captain’s promotional process, candidates should familiarize themselves with methods that were used in past tests.
As well, what follows is a list of lessons learned. It’s based on what I learned during my own promotional testing for captain (and battalion chief) and what I gleaned from playing a part in dozens of interviews as an evaluator and from creating a variety of testing scenarios.
Self-assured
You should understand that the captain’s position requires a person to act as a liaison for the administration and to support the department’s mission statement. Expect a test to promote the candidate that’s skilled as a communicator, manager, counselor, organizer, mentor, supervisor and incident tactician.
A consistent mistake by candidates that I witnessed during tests is their failure to “perform/answer” as a captain should but, instead, present at their current rank.
When dealing with outside evaluators who never met you, it’s important to come across confident but not cocky and to sell yourself as what you would be like as a captain. Speaking with authority as to how you would handle a situation is important. Don’t use noncommittal words, such as “I might,” “probably,” “I think I would” and “maybe.”
Answers to questions must be looked at departmentally and not just at the task or firefighter level. The position of captain has much more responsibility than the position of firefighter has, so you must own whatever actions happen on your truck, good or bad. Answer the questions or respond to the scenarios as a poised and self-confident captain.
Successful leaders have what often is described as a command presence, or a calm and confident demeanor, which when seen is very obvious. It’s obvious, too, when it’s lacking. When a candidate demonstrates confidence, speaks clearly, takes ownership of a situation and is believable, that person generates a favorable impression for the evaluators, which in turn produces higher scores. We all have seen the captain who doesn’t get ruffled and remains calm in the heat of the battle or during conflict. Be that candidate.
Answer credibility
Another common mistake: failing to back up an answer to a question—for example, how do you define your conflict-resolution philosophy?—with real-life examples to prove your point. In other words, defend your answers by “putting meat on the bone.”
Further, in my department, we let a captain candidate occasionally move up for a shift(s) to the captain position—under the watchful mentoring eye of the real captain—to make all of the real-world decisions on calls and at the station. Candidates who were afforded this experience can use it to explain to evaluators their philosophy on leadership or discipline.
Also, don’t hesitate to “borrow” current captains’ approach to resolving problems that you observed when they occurred at the station.
Too many times, people don’t defend their answer with experiences that can convince evaluators that their answer is credible.
Administrative matters
Anticipate questions/scenarios that deal with departmental changes and updates, such as new policies (e.g., COVID), ISO rating, budget constraints, organizational chart, staffing issues, training, mental health and cancer prevention. I suggest that you make an appointment with your department heads to ask them what’s important to them and how a captain can affect or help with their issues.
In reality, most captain responsibilities for during the day are administrative—managing personnel, solving customer service issues, schedule planning. I suggest that candidates spend a good amount of time preparing for questions about these things. If you contributed to a committee or in another area, this is the time to use those experiences to explain your answer or actions during the test.
Not just the tactical
In my experience, the amount of time that a candidate prepares for the tactical portion of the test (hundreds of on-scene reports and tactical simulations) is disproportionate to the amount of time for the interview, the role-play and other parts of the process. This is understandable, because tactics is a very visible skill that affects the safety/performance of the crew and is judged severely by peers. That said, almost always, the other assessment areas of the test are worth the same number of points as the tactical portion. Scoring well in the tactical doesn’t make up for scoring poorly in the interview.
Use time effectively
For some candidates, it will have been a while since they tested, and they might be rusty even if they served many years in the department.
This brings me to another important suggestion: Practice the interview answers aloud in front of people who you might not feel comfortable with, so you can replicate the nervous feeling that you will have during the test. Better yet, record yourself. It’s amazing to hear how many times that you might say “uh” or speak in monotone.
Also, remember the amount of time that you have for the entire interview and use that time wisely to give complete answers. It’s way too common for people to give short, rather incomplete answers and only use a fraction of the total time that’s allowed—because they didn’t prepare, is my guess. Evaluators can’t give points to you unless you tell them something that answers the question and enhances your score.
Also, in the role-play and other timed sections, don’t let time run out before you solve a problem.
Role-play
If you participate in a role-play, understand that it’s a scripted scenario, where the “actors” respond to your actions and decisions as you proceed to solve a problem of some sort. There usually is some type of underlying issue with a crew member, the entire crew or a customer. The role-play is designed to make you uncomfortable and to decide quickly in the heat of the moment.
Yes, your department’s standard operating procedures are great for defending your response to issues, but how you actually handle the situation is based on your leadership philosophy. For example, a personnel issue might result in one captain candidate counseling the firefighter and another candidate writing up the firefighter and yet another sending the firefighter home for the rest of the shift. There is no wrong answer, but how the situation is handled can be.
Listening to the “actors” is important, because they will give you helpful information and make sure to get all sides of a dispute, even if it means temporarily separating two crew members to get their input of the story.
In the end, the situation must be resolved. This is where you must act like a captain even if you aren’t one yet.
In-basket interview
The testing process for an in-basket includes going through a lengthy list of problems that one might incur at the beginning of a shift and solving them correctly and in order of importance. This includes notifying all of the parties who must know, such as: the mechanics for a safety issue with an engine, which must be repaired immediately or changed out to a reserve rig, and then the battalion chief as you go out of service to make the changeover; or dealing with a firefighter who lost his flame-resistant hood or in regard to expired drugs that were discovered during the morning check off.
From uncomfortable to confident
Whatever the test requires, there’s no substitute for practice—real practice—where you feel uncomfortable and can identify weak areas. It’s during that time that you build the confidence to combat your nerves and to demonstrate on test day that you are the best candidate to move to the front seat and to lead the department forward.
Gibby Gorman
Gibby Gorman recently retired from his fire service career after nearly 33 years, which began in 1986 with the Tempe, AZ, Fire and Medical Department, where he served for 27 years. During that time, Gorman: worked as a downtown ladder captain for 14 years; responded on the SCUBA Rescue Team; worked on the hazmat team; served as coordinator for the Regional Technical Rescue Teams; taught fire science classes at the community college level; and presented ladder tactics for Firehouse World conferences,, including in 2020. In 2013, he became a battalion chief for the Maricopa, AZ, Fire and Medical Department. Gorman created Southwest Firefighting Concepts. He received his bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University.
