FIREFIGHTER INTERVIEW GUIDE

Problem Solving

Working through a situation using the right information and a clear method, including under time pressure.

Panels are not marking whether you reached the correct answer. They are marking whether you can show them how you got there.

What a panel is listening for

You gathered the right information before deciding rather than acting on a first impression
You weighed more than one option when time allowed
You adjusted the plan when new information changed the picture
You can explain the reasoning, not just the outcome

Questions you might be asked

Tell us about a time you solved a problem others had not managed to solve.
Describe a time you had to make a decision on incomplete information.
Tell us about a time several urgent things demanded your attention at once.

How people lose marks

The decision appears from nowhere. "I decided to do X and it worked" skips the entire thing being assessed. What did you consider and reject, and why?

No constraint. A problem with unlimited time and information isn't one. Say what you didn't know and what you couldn't wait for.

Hindsight dressed as judgement. Describing the decision as obvious removes the evidence. It wasn't obvious at the time, or it wouldn't be your example.

A real answer to one of these questions has been marked in full, start to finish. See a real answer marked in full

Unlock 112 questions — every one marked

Write your answer the way you'd say it. Get it assessed against the behaviours a real panel uses, and see exactly what would lift it a band.

See how it works

How to answer it

Narrate the decision in the order you made it, including the option you didn't take. A panel can only mark reasoning you actually say out loud.

Unlock 112 questions — every one marked

Write your answer the way you'd say it. Get it assessed against the behaviours a real panel uses, and see exactly what would lift it a band.

See how it works