So you’re thinking about advancing your career in the Florida Fire services by becoming a Fire Officer. Whilst you’re pretty confident in your technical skills, having spent many years as a frontline fire fighter, you’re not so sure about the human relationship side of things. You’ve also never been very good at taking tests and you’re concerned that these things combined will prevent you from passing the Fire Marshals Office / Fire Standards Bureau test to become a Fire Officer. Or perhaps you’ve had a quick look at the course material and requirements for the role and found it all overwhelming, especially knowing where to begin studying for the exam. This is where fire officer test prep study guides can help.

These are e-learning study guides, specifically written to help candidates prepare for taking the Bureau of Firefighter Standards and Training tests. The guides have been written by experts and contain sample questions, narration and interactive memory aids that have proven to be invaluable in helping countless people successfully sit and pass these exams. The Florida Fire Officer 1 study guide

However, study guides aside, there are other ways in which you can prepare yourself for this next step up in your career. It’s a pretty safe bet that whilst your technical skills may be excellent, you won’t have had much opportunity to get involved in issues relating to conflict resolution, discipline, counseling or coaching. These however are the areas in which you need to become proficient if you’re going to be a good Fire Officer.

How To Prepare Yourself For The Fire Officer Test

How does one become proficient in these areas, much less prepare yourself for this part of the test.

First of all, try and find out more about the particular testing process you will be taking. Will you be required to respond in person or by video to certain types of scenarios and what types of problems might you be called upon to ‘solve’? Is there some role-play involved? Getting a handle on this type of information well in advance will allow you to practice beforehand so that you go into the testing process confident in your abilities to handle these types of situations.

The types of ‘problems’ you may be asked to deal with during the testing process could include decision making, conflict resolution, ethical dilemmas, coaching and counseling. These are all the sorts of general issues that will arise when dealing with human relations. An example of dealing with conflict may be acting as a mediator to sort out some interpersonal issues between team members. Ethical dilemmas could include being offered a bribe to turn a blind eye to something you come across in the line of duty. Or you could be dealing with an angry member of the public who is venting on the fire department. Maybe even disciplining a team member who has crossed the line between right and wrong. These are all the types of human relationship issues that may confront you at some point during your Fire Officer career.

Preparing for these types of situations involves knowing departmental policy and where the Fire Officer stands with respect to enforcing them. If department policy says for instance thou shalt not accept gratuities then that’s a pretty clear indication of what action you have to take if confronted with the situation. But you first need to know that’s what it says in order to enforce it. You also need to know what is required in the way of discipline, reporting, documentation, follow up and who needs to be informed of what in the chain of command.

You may also at times be asked to make a judgement call. Do you specifically need to report this particular incident up the chain of command or is it sufficient that you’ve dealt with it appropriately. What do you need to do if one of your team suddenly explodes into anger at an emergency scene? And most important, how do you handle complaints from the public. At what point does an incident or complaint need to be referred to higher authority.

Be Prepared With The Current Fire Officer Prep Test

Once you’ve got a feel for what is going to be required of you to pass your officer test, research and practice. If there is role-play involved, start practicing with potential scenarios until you feel comfortable enough that you know your stuff and can communicate that knowledge easily. The same applies to individual presentations as well as group problem solving tasks. Practice, learn and get some solid preparation in. Purchasing a copy of the latest Fire Officer Test Prep module will help you out considerably with this preparation too by outlining the types of questions and hypothetical situations you’ll be asked to ‘deal with’ in the test.