BAA Interview

[Yeebsy]

Ignore him, white watch are pussy cats really.

[swiftfire]

Best of luck Pukka, let me know how you get on. And so it begins lol

[swiftfire]

Hi All,
Speaking of Teesside...whats it like? General daily routine etc? Do you have to drive there or can you fly to Durham Tees Valley. How is the course set out? Monday-Friday with weekends to go down the pub? Or do most go back home? Any info would be great!

Thanks

[Yeebsy]

How to get there depends on you. If you want to fly then the company will organise tickets. Once again if you want to stay up there at weekends then you can, but I believe you will have to find a B&B. White_Elephant will be able to shed light on this. General routine? Dunno really as I never done my basic up there but I should imagine, death by PowerPoint, fire ground, death by PowerPoint again!!! Oh and make sure you get into Yarm on Tuesday nights.

[swiftfire]

Oh Yarm...Ive heard too many stories about this place. Sounds "interesting" to say the least. Thanks for the info Yeebsy

[White_elephant]

Nope you can stay weekends and most people do, TRUST me you dont want to miss the weekends in Yarm.

Ok its Mon-Friday except for week 6 which is Mon-Thurs, Friday, you spend an hour getting your results then its all over.

Parade in the morning, kit must be spotless, ironed, shoes polished, after the 1st week you dont have to do this, but for week one you do it every morning.

Brekkie/Lunch/Dinner all laid on, and its good food, have a big brekkie, a light lunch and a big evening meal, especially on Tuesdays! Do not have the semolina, you have been warned.

Morrissons supermarket is just up the road, there is a pizza place that delivers to the bar, dont fly up, drive, it will give you loads more freedom.

If you stay the weekends, get into Newcastle for the night, get a travel lodge and enjoy! ;-)

Week one is basic firemanship, hydrants/ladders etc
Week two I cant remember!
Week three is Aircraft Construction (death by powerpoint)
Week four is BA
Week five is first aid
Week 6 is fireground week and tests/exams

At the end of every week there is a written exam, at the end of the BA week there is also an oral and practical don and start up test as well as a test on the BA board ECO etc.

The final oral exam is a test on all 6 weeks, but it is NOTHING to worry about, unless you are seriously stupid you will not fail this course.

On a serious note spend 1 hour every day going through your noted/revising, get together with the other lads/lasses and do some Q&A every night too. Do not spend the whole of the evening stressing about the exams and the final oral, get an hour's work done then get to the bar and have a beer, or get into Yarm.

Tuesday nights = YARM/BEER/LADIES do not miss out, even in week 6, its a great chance to let your hair down.
Black Bull first, then 11pm into the Cross Keys/Claggy Mat.

Listen to the instructors, work hard and revise little and often, dont cram for 5 hours on the last day, do an hour every night, trust me.

You will love it, by the end of the 1st week it will be like home!
Any questions email me

[Harwichfire]

Hi white elephant, im not going to teeside yet. although im keeping everything crossed i get to. i have my fitness and final interview on monday. just out on interest though if you know. Yeebsy mentioned if u fly up, the company will organise your tickets. does that mean they just sort it out and we pay for it, or is it on the company. Also if you know, what is the wage structure now for stanstead, and how much annual leave days do you get?

[pukka]

Swiftfire,

just to give u an update mate...was successful at medical end of last week but have not been contacted as yet to say im on the 7th july course. doubt very much i will be as its quite short notice now! rang up just to see if i was; and was told that should a vacancy become available i will be contacted by email. so there u go! bit disappointed but just have to wait and see if i get contacted for any future courses.

best of luck mate, put a post on here saying how its going up there.

kind regards,

[Harwichfire]

Had my fitness and interview at stanstead on monday morning, passed both, so really pleased. Just got to wait for a medical date now and keep my fingers crossed i can get through that. Has any body else been for interview etc at stanstead and heard about medicals?

[swiftfire]

Pukka,
Sorry to hear that mate but congrats on the medical! Yeh il keep you updated with all the fun and games. Hope to see you soon mate

[swiftfire]

Congratulations Harwichfire!

[firedaven41]

I have my fitness test on Friday, any last minute tips from anyone? I am not very confident, as i am still struggling with bleep test, despite nearly killing myself for the last 3 months training!!

[graham31]

I have my fitness test on Friday, any last minute tips from anyone? I am not very confident, as i am still struggling with bleep test, despite nearly killing myself for the last 3 months training!!

Don't worry about the bleep test.I trained for the bleep test in-particular and struggled to manage to complete it 3times despite training hard.But when it actually came to doing it i sailed through it and was hardly blowing at all compared to others that where their.

I'd say you do fine in the fitness test it's not as daunting as you think

[swiftfire]

I agree with graham31. Dont worry about the bleep test! If thats your only concern then my advice is to get a good nights sleep, eat lightly before the physical and hydrate well! Make sure you warm up...the last thing you want is a cramp whilst half way through! The key is pace. The first 3 levels you can slow jog...and i mean slow! practice a good turning technique at the lines and try to time it so that your foot crosses the line as the beep sounds, not before. You all run together so work together in terms of pacing and encourage each other, it can make a big difference! All the best.

[firedaven41]

Thanks for your positive comments, i'll let you know how i get on!