By Chief Dean Guccione - 

You may or may not have heard the saying that “you haven’t failed, you just learned what not to do.” This statement cannot be any more accurate. So, what I want to do today is help you through those times, especially with the hiring and testing process. Those times when you weren’t successful at either passing a written exam, or finishing at or near the top on your oral interview, or even your Chief’s interview.

The Perception of Failure is About Learning

If you’ve watched any of my videos, you know that I believe preparation is the key to getting hired on your target department, or at least getting hired at that stepping stone department, so you get your foot in the door, which will better prepare you when you do start with your target department. This has never been more true as I’m sure you’ve taken a written exam or had an oral interview where you’ve come out and thought to yourself “Why didn’t I say this, or why didn’t I study that!” And you know what? It’s okay. Gaining experience in fire department testing is all part of the process of being prepared.

The point I want you to take away today is that when you’re not successful in a written exam or oral interview, it’s not a failure. You just simply learned what not to do the next time. Or transposed, you look at the areas where you were strong and continue honing those areas, and then you look at the areas where you need more study or more preparation and really focus your attention to getting better in those areas, so you’ll do well next time. It’s that simple.

There is ALWAYS a next time. You should not and cannot look at anything that doesn’t work out for you as a failure. You’re not a failure, you’re just learning how to become a better firefighter candidate. You’re just learning what not to do next time and learning what you need to do to not only improve, but excel when you’re invited to the next testing process.

At this point in your journey to becoming a firefighter, you’re further along than many people, but maybe not as far as some of the other candidates who have been preparing and testing for a while.

Life Is About Always Learning

Life is a series of learning events. When you first learned to ride a bike, you started with a tricycle, then you got a two-wheeler with training wheels. And when you felt comfortable and confident with the training wheels, one day your mom or dad said, “Today’s the day your training wheels come off!” You were excited and scared at the same time, but you knew your mom or dad had a hand on that seat, so you wouldn’t fall. And when you slowly got the hang of it, they let go and off you went. You were riding your own two-wheeler at 5 or 6 years old. But, look how long it took for your parents to take the training wheels off, and how long it took before they took their hand off the seat and let you go by yourself.

Fire service testing is no different. The more you study and prepare, the better you get. You may make some mistakes along the way, but you shore up the areas where you are weak and then go to the next written or interview. The more you learn about the process and what the written tests are like and what the oral interviews are like, the better you get and the more confident you get, and eventually you get hired. That’s how it works.

Final Thought

So, the next time you’re feeling like a failure after the written or interview, do some serious evaluating of what you did well, and where you need to improve. Then really study those areas where you’re not as strong and you’ll be surprised how quickly you will improve your written and oral interview scores.

You have to tell yourself every day that you can do this, and that you will do this. Set time aside every day to study and prepare. If you have a written test coming up, study for at least a month, so you can do well and get that invitation to the interview. And start preparing for your interview as soon as you fill out and submit your application. You need at least 2 to 3 months of preparation to earn a top score on your interview. Your goal is to be better than everyone else going into that interview and preparation is the key.

If this is truly your passion and you want to become a full-time, career firefighter, then commit to making the time to get better and see yourself as learning how to ride that bike. Don’t beat yourself up over not doing well on a test. Just look at where you did well and where you need to improve and keep that positive mindset and you will reach your goal and you will earn that badge!