Guide
FDNY FIREFIGHTER INTERVIEW: WHAT TO EXPECT
At FDNY, the interview does not decide whether you get hired. Your written exam score sets your list number, and the department works down the list in that order. The interview is a gate you need to clear, not a ranking mechanism. If you are choosing where to spend three months of preparation, that belongs on the written exam, not interview polish.
DOES THE FDNY INTERVIEW DECIDE WHETHER YOU GET HIRED?
Not on its own. Your written exam score sets your list number, and FDNY works down that list. The interview is one of several gates, alongside CPAT, medical, psychological, and background checks, but it is not what moves your position. A candidate who spends three months polishing interview answers while treating the written exam as a formality has the priorities backward.
HOW DOES FDNY RANK CANDIDATES?
By your score on the Firefighter Open Competitive Exam. That score sets your list number, and FDNY contacts candidates for the next steps in list-number order, working down from the top. A lower list number means you are called sooner. The exam measures reading, problem solving, and application of rules and ideas.
IS THE FDNY ORAL INTERVIEW SCORED?
FDNY does not publish whether the interview is separately scored or pass/fail, what it covers, or panel size. What is public is that after the written exam, candidates complete an in-person interview with FDNY officers, as one of several steps between the exam and appointment to the Fire Academy at Randall's Island.
WHAT IS THE FDNY HIRING PROCESS, IN ORDER?
The Firefighter Open Competitive Exam sets your list number. From there: CPAT, administered by DCAS, then medical screening, psychological evaluation, a background investigation, and the oral interview. Appointment to the Fire Academy follows for candidates who clear every stage, called in list order.
THE 2026 CYCLE, SPECIFICALLY
As of the 2026 cycle: Firefighter Open Competitive Exam #4044 was established January 21, 2026. Candidates with list numbers 1 to 1,746 were contacted for CPAT, administered by DCAS beginning March 24, 2026. These numbers are specific to this exam cycle and will not apply to a future one. Confirm your own cycle's numbers at joinfdny.com before you rely on any of this.
HOW IS FDNY LIKE LA COUNTY FIRE?
The same way structurally, even though they are on opposite coasts. LA County Fire ranks candidates by FCTC written test score, with an interview that is discretionary and does not set rank. FDNY ranks by exam score and works down a list. In both departments, the number you get from the written test matters more to your outcome than anything you say in a room.
Chicago Fire goes further still: after the written test, position on the eligibility list comes from a random lottery draw, not a score at all. Three different departments, three ways of making the same point: the interview is not always the thing deciding your outcome.
HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR FDNY?
Put your real preparation time into the written exam. It is the number that actually decides your outcome, and unlike the interview, it is fully within your control to study for directly.
Still prepare for the interview, since it is a gate you have to clear, not something to walk into cold. Build a basic story inventory covering teamwork, pressure, and motivation, and practice speaking clearly and directly, the same way you would for any panel. Just do not let it eat the time that belongs on the exam.
PRACTICE FOR THE FDNY INTERVIEW GATE
Station Visit runs you through a full mock oral board so the interview stage is second nature, whatever time you have left after the written exam. Every answer is scored, with specific coaching on what a panel is listening for. Your first interview is free.
Disclaimer
Station Visit is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Fire Department of the City of New York.
Related guides
Try it now
HOW WOULD YOUR MOTIVATION ANSWER SCORE?
Reading about this helps. Finding out whether your own answer actually lands is the part that changes your score. Type a real answer below and the same grader used in the full mock board will score it. No account needed.
Want to see a full interview scored first? View a sample scorecard.
The question
Why do you want to be a firefighter?
Your answer
One free grade. No account required.
PREPARING FOR A SPECIFIC DEPARTMENT?
Panel format, scoring criteria, and passing scores vary by department. These guides cover what each one actually does:
- Los Angeles Fire Department oral interviewEight scored criteria, behavior-based, 70 to stay on the list.
- Houston Fire Department oral interviewCivil service process with a recruiter interview stage.
- Phoenix Fire Department oral interviewValues-heavy panel with a strong community service emphasis.
- LAFD vs LA County Fire oral interviewSame city, opposite hiring logic: interview score vs written test score.
- Orange County Fire Authority oral interviewTwo interviews: a scored panel, then a Chief's interview for fit.
- Long Beach Fire Department oral interviewCaptain's interview with a community member, then a Chief's interview.
- City of Sacramento Fire Department oral interviewChief's interview weighted 60 percent against the oral board's 40.
- San Diego Fire-Rescue oral interviewRuns its own Civil Service Exam, not FCTC. Applications open every 1 to 2 years.
- San Francisco Fire Department oral interviewTwo interviews, and the oral board explicitly scores your knowledge of the city.
- San Jose Fire Department oral interview5 to 8 panel questions, not necessarily fire-related, then a Chief's interview.
- Austin Fire Department oral interviewNo live panel. Your answers are video recorded and rated by assessors later.
- San Antonio Fire Department oral interviewA 230-question written exam gates everything before the interview.
- Dallas Fire-Rescue oral interviewDoes not publish its interview structure. Hard eligibility gates before you apply.
- Chicago Fire Department oral interviewA lottery decides your list position, not your score or an interview.
Testing somewhere else? Add that department's exact questions to a custom practice board and get scored on them before the panel asks.
About the author
LUKE — FIREFIGHTER-PARAMEDIC
Luke is a working firefighter-paramedic with several years on the job, including time on the other side of the hiring table. He has sat on multiple oral boards and run mock interviews with candidates who went on to get hired, and watched strong candidates lose spots to people who simply interviewed better. The scoring rubric behind Station Visit was built with input from captains and battalion chiefs with 20 to 30-plus years in the fire service. He built Station Visit after running out of ways to tell friends the same thing: your answers are too generic, and you will not find that out until the panel has already scored you.
Last name and department withheld. Station Visit is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or speaking for any fire department, and keeping the department out of it keeps it that way. More about Station Visit