Coaching

• • All-risk tactical simulations developed using computer software that you are likely to see in your promotional exam. All-risk scenarios include most major types of fire situations you can imagine. In addition, we will cover hazardous materials incidents, multi casualty and WMD incidents, high-rise, trench and confined space rescue, wildland, and marine incidents. After developing the basic skills, you decide which incident types you want to include or where you would like to concentrate your efforts. You are welcome to provide digital photos of your buildings to use for your simulator practice.
  • Complex personnel issues that include a description of the employee, their past performance and the issue at hand. We will teach you the 8-step counseling process to use to manage any personnel issue you may face. Even if your promotional exam does not include a personnel issue with role-players, most promotional exams incorporate managing personnel issues as part of their process. After all, it’s a large percentage of a Fire Officer’s job.
  • Oral Interview preparation, using a bank of over 100 questions and answers that we have developed. These questions, or similar versions, have appeared in promotional exams around the country. You will learn how to break down each oral interview question and identify what the promotional exam raters are looking for.
  • Oral presentations are an often-overlooked portion of promotional exams. Are you prepared? We can discuss a variety of topics with you to help you prepare, and offer pointers on how to make your presentation stand out.
  • Writing exercises are increasingly commonplace. We assist you by providing topics for you to research and then write about. Once you complete an assignment, we review your work and offer suggestions on ways to improve.
  • In-basket exercises will determine how well a candidate has learned how to prioritize tasks and put systems in place to avoid repeating issues. This is a vital part of the Fire Captain, Fire Lieutenant or Battalion Chief’s day, and is a very common component of the promotional exam. We can teach you a system to identify important issues and manage them.

The cost for individual private coaching sessions is $85 per hour.

For groups, the hourly rate is the initial base rate of $85 for the first person plus $25 for each additional person. A group of two would cost $110 per hour, or $55 per person per hour. A group of three would cost $135 per hour, or roughly $44.00 per person. Our goal at the end of the group session is to prepare your study group so you are all practicing correctly. Group coaching is particularly successful when there is a good ratio of predicted openings to the number of candidates taking the promotional exam.

We highly recommend that coaching occur in-person. If you are unable to meet in-person, we offer phone coaching or online videoconference services for the same hourly rate. We also email you a series of personnel counseling scenarios or oral interview questions, depending on where you would like to focus our efforts.

Note: Due to the coronavirus pandemic, in person coaching is not available at this time. Coaching is available via online videoconference and phone.

The way private coaching works is fairly simple. We put our calendars together and pick a day that works for both of us. We like to work in at least 3-hour increments at Chief Lepore’s home in Dana Point, California or at Chief Fedak’s home in Corona, California. We use the Digital Combustion software or SimsUshare for practicing tactical scenarios. We also have dozens of photos of buildings, hazmat, and MCI scenarios. If you prefer, you can take digital photos and we can practice using your own buildings.