Guide
LONG BEACH FIRE DEPARTMENT INTERVIEW: WHAT TO EXPECT
Long Beach runs two separate oral interviews at step four of an eight-step process. The Captain's Oral Interview is one LBFD captain and one community member asking structured questions. The Chief's Oral Interview is two chiefs, ranking from Battalion Chief to Deputy Chief. You need to clear both.
WHO IS ON THE LONG BEACH CAPTAIN'S ORAL INTERVIEW PANEL?
One Long Beach Fire Department captain and one community member. They ask several structured questions designed to evaluate your experience and assess your communication skills. The community member is not decoration: half the room is a civilian, and answers heavy on fire jargon land badly.
WHO IS ON THE LONG BEACH CHIEF'S ORAL INTERVIEW PANEL?
Two Long Beach Fire Department chiefs, ranking anywhere from Battalion Chief to Deputy Chief. This is the second interview, and it comes only after you clear the Captain's interview. Its focus is different, and the chief's interview covers what changes and how to prepare for that shift.
WHAT DOES LONG BEACH WANT YOU TO KNOW BEFORE THE CHIEF'S INTERVIEW?
The department states it plainly: the better prepared applicant has a good working knowledge of the City of Long Beach, its rich diversity, the Fire Department, and the many events and attractions that make Long Beach unique. That is an unusually direct instruction and most candidates ignore it.
Build a short list around that sentence before you go in: the port, the airport, the diversity of the neighborhoods, and marine safety and lifeguard operations, which sit inside the fire department here rather than as a separate agency.
WHAT IS THE LONG BEACH WRITTEN TEST?
Long Beach uses the FireTeam examination through the National Testing Network. A minimum rating of 70 is required on the Human Relations Video component. The other portions of the FireTeam exam are pass/fail. Confirm exam vendor and scoring details on the live posting when a recruitment opens, since these can change between cycles.
WHAT ARE THE EIGHT STEPS OF LONG BEACH FIRE HIRING?
Apply, written examination, physical abilities test, oral interviews, background investigation, medical screening, selection, then the academy. The physical abilities test must be completed before interviews.
- Apply
- Written examination
- Physical abilities test
- Oral interviews: Captain's, then Chief's
- Background investigation
- Medical screening
- Selection
- Academy
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE LONG BEACH INTERVIEWS?
Final candidates get a conditional offer, then a thorough background investigation and job-related medical and psychological examinations. Long Beach specifically advises candidates to order and retain their own medical records after clearing the interview stage, which is worth doing the day you are told you passed.
PRACTICE FOR BOTH LONG BEACH INTERVIEWS
Station Visit runs you through a full mock oral board built around the same structured, behavioral questions Long Beach and departments like it ask. Every answer is scored, with specific coaching on what the panel is listening for. Your first interview is free.
Disclaimer
Station Visit is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Long Beach Fire Department.
Related guides
HOW DO TEN CALIFORNIA-AREA FIRE DEPARTMENT ORAL BOARDS COMPARE?
LAFD publishes the most detail: eight named criteria, a two to three person panel, and a minimum passing score of 70. Houston and Phoenix run comparable behavioral panels but do not publish their scoring sheets. LA County is structurally different from the rest: it does not run a scored oral board at all. Rank comes from the FCTC written test score, and an interview only happens for candidates already in the top band. OCFA, Long Beach, Sacramento, and San Francisco all run a two-stage panel-then-chief (or Command Staff) structure. Sacramento is the outlier worth noting: its Chief's Interview is weighted 60 percent against the oral test's 40, making it the deciding stage rather than a fit check that comes after scoring is locked in. San Diego is the odd one out entirely: it runs its own Civil Service Exam instead of FCTC, and publishes almost nothing about the oral interview itself. San Francisco is the only department that explicitly scores your knowledge of the city. San Jose is the only one that publishes how many questions the panel asks.
| LAFD | Houston | Phoenix | LA County | OCFA | Long Beach | Sacramento | San Diego | San Francisco | San Jose | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Panel size | 2 to 3 | Panel plus a 1-on-1 recruiter interview | Panel, size not published | Not published | Not published | Captain's: 2. Chief's: 2. | Not published | Not published | Not published. Two stages: preliminary panel, then Command Staff. | Not published |
| Minimum passing score | 70 | Not published | Not published | 70% on FCTC written test | See note, verify on live bulletin | Not published for interviews. 70 on the written Human Relations Video. | 70% on the EMS Skills Test to reach the interviews | Not published for the interview | 70% on the FCTC written test | Not published by the City |
| Who sits on it | Fire Department, Personnel Department, community reps | Department staff and a recruiter | Department staff | Not published | Panel interview, then a separate Chief's interview | Captain's: 1 captain + 1 community member. Chief's: 2 chiefs, BC to Deputy Chief. | Panel of department officers, then a Chief's interview | Not published | Preliminary: uniformed members. Command Staff: Executive Officers, may include the Chief. | Oral: City and Fire Department personnel. Chief's: Fire Administration senior staff plus the Fire Chief. |
| Published scoring criteria | 8 named criteria | Not published as a list | Not published as a list | Not published | Not published as a list | Not published as a list | Not published as a list | Not published | Assessed areas named, not published as weighted scores | Competencies named, not published as weighted scores |
| Question style | Behavior-based: what you have done, not what you would do | Behavioral plus scenario and motivation | Behavioral plus scenario and motivation | No scored interview. Rank comes from the written test score. | Panel assesses knowledge, skills and abilities. Chief's assesses organizational fit. | Structured questions on experience and communication, then a fit interview | Situational and behavioral | Not published | Community knowledge, motivation for public service, problem solving, communication | 5 to 8 questions, not necessarily fire-related |
| Eligibility list validity | 1 year from interview date | Certified list, duration varies by cycle | Varies by hiring cycle | 12 months | Lists do not carry over. Previous list members must reapply. | Not published | Requires active FCTC statewide list status at final filing date | 1 year | Not published | Not published |
| Notable emphasis | Respect for Diversity and Service Orientation are scored criteria | 24 college credits or 2 years military required to apply | Heavy weight on community service record | Written score cannot be improved once you apply, so it is the highest-stakes number in the process | Biddle must be retaken with OCFA even with a current certificate | Chief's interview expects working knowledge of the city, its diversity, and the department | Chief's interview weighted 60%, oral test 40% | Runs its own Civil Service Exam, not FCTC. Applications open roughly every 1 to 2 years. | Explicitly assesses knowledge of San Francisco's population, hazards and the department itself | Invitations are by best combination of scores and qualifications, not strict rank order |
“Not published” means the department does not release that figure publicly, not that it does not exist. Confirm details against your department's own hiring bulletin, since criteria change between cycles. Heard something different at a station visit? Add those exact questions to a custom board and practice against them.
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HOW WOULD YOUR VALUES 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
What does integrity mean to you in the fire service?
Your answer
One free grade. No account required.
NOT SURE WHERE TO START?
- What to Do on a Firefighter Station VisitHow to set one up, what to ask, and why it's a real interview that doesn't feel like one.
- Firefighter Interview Prep: What Actually WorksFive real stories, said out loud, beats a question list. Includes the free grader.
PREPARING FOR A SPECIFIC DEPARTMENT?
Panel format, scoring criteria, and passing scores vary by department. These guides cover what each one actually does, or browse all departments by state:
- 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.
- 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.
- FDNY oral interviewList-number driven. Your written exam score ranks you, not the interview.
- 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