Reaching For The Gold

As you know, during an interview, you must articulate your core values, share your experience and creative ideas, and in an organized and crystal clear manner, demonstrate your technical abilities, while simultaneously exhibiting energy, leadership abilities, and great interpersonal skills and passion for your profession as you enthusiastically establish an instantaneous bond with the panel—all within a specified period of time!

All of this is actually achievable if you are willing to put forth the required time to master and practice the suggested concepts within this book. The even better news is that after putting in the work, it will immediately begin to catapult you above all other potential candidates.

Why? It is because most candidates fail to apply the necessary time to this critical phase of the hiring or promotional process. Most improperly plan and prepare for these interactions. In fact, many will put forth more effort filling out their submitted application and resume, than they will for the interview. When candidates fail to properly prepare, they misread or completely miss the many dynamics that are occurring right before their eyes as they go through the interview process. Some become completely absorbed in their fear. Many others try so hard to convince the interviewers of their abilities that they forget to manage the process and fail to fully respond to questions being posed to them. Consequently, their verbal and non-verbal responses begin to conflict with one another leaving the panel feeling disappointed and confused.

The simple truth is that for one to have a powerful interview, it will require you to demonstrate substance, ability and confidence. Each one of these attributes can be demonstrated if you carefully plan and prepare in advance of an interview. Yet, even with this knowledge, it has been suggested that less than five percent of those preparing for upward mobility in any profession are willing to put forth the necessary time and attention to achieve desired results.

Someone once aptly stated, “we are all capable of high achievement, but only the successful will admit to it!” Stated differently, only the successful are willing to pay careful attention to the detail and special nuisances that make one stand out above others. They prepare by carefully studying and understanding past issues and trends within the city and department they hope to join and lead. They stay abreast of their industry trends and directions of their profession. They broaden their reading to include issues outside of their industry so that it not only broadens their knowledge base, but it also provides them with an endless reservoir to draw from when considering creative ways in addressing problems. Then, considering past and futuristic trends within and outside of their industry, they are able to make educated projections about how a community can best position itself to meet the needs of the future. They carefully develop a plan that reflects the industry trends, while also tailoring it to factor in the current culture of the city and department so that neither is shocked or resistive to the change. They develop meaningful strategies to ensure that the City and the Department are in a position to benefit from these predictive possibilities derived from the trends. And then, unlike most, they develop strategies about how to articulate these insights and possibilities in the interview process. Through proper preparation, they essentially help the panel to embrace their vision by painting, through the use of carefully chosen words, massive results in advance! Successful chiefs also understand the importance of preparing both mentally and physically in advance of their interview. Through the development of a wellness and interview strategy, you too will become unbeatable!

Regardless of whether you are a chief of the department who is ready to take on a larger department, a deputy or assistant chief who is ready to lead your own department or an entry level police officer or firefighter, your decision to read this book and begin applying the recommended strategies and building blocks will immediately move you into that five percent of persons who routinely commit to taking the necessary steps to ensure their future success!

In utilizing these concepts and strategies, you will be quite amazed at how quickly you will begin to take control of your career path. No more wishing and hoping, just careful planning, execution and succeeding.