Best Firefighter Exam Prep Books

Chief Lepore's most popular book is called Smoke Your Firefighter Interview (360 pages). It provides readers with a view of the interview from the perspective of the panel raters. The objective is for candidates to see themselves through the eyes of the raters. By the end of the book, readers will understand exactly how they are being scored. More importantly, they will understand how to completely answer the types of questions that they will encounter on the fire department interview. Since it is often weighted 100% of the candidate's final score, earning a high score on the interview is essential to getting hired. In this book, Chief Lepore uses his 30 years of fire service experience to review over 90 commonly-asked fire department interview questions. The author shares not only the questions that you can expect in your fire department interview, but also how the panel expects the entry-level candidate to answer them. Most importantly, Chief Lepore explains the reasons for the correct answer. The "Reasoning" section that follows each question is often longer than the answer itself. It covers the exact key points that the interviewers are looking for in the previous question. This section includes the following: expectations of a probationary firefighter; understanding the candidate's knowledge of their position within the organization; the rank structure of the fire service; and how to expertly navigate the tricky waters of stepping up as the new firefighter when he or she identifies something that is not right.  The reasoning section is designed to provide an in-depth insight into the unique culture present in every fire station in every department throughout the country. It is expected that entry-level firefighters understand the culture prior to getting hired. For those who understand it, the interview questions make more sense. For those who are new to the fire service culture, passing the interview can be a daunting task. The interview panel will quickly i... [Read More]