Free while in beta · Real candidates, real feedback
Practice the oral board the way it's actually scored.
It's the part most candidates walk into blind, and the part that most often costs them the job.
The oral board is the most subjective-feeling part of fire hiring. First Call scores your spoken answers against the same competencies panels use, criterion by criterion, the moment you finish. You see what landed, what didn't, and what to fix before it counts.
Free while I run live beta testing with real candidates. No credit card.
Built by an active firefighter, on a research-backed rubric sourced from published fire-service hiring frameworks. Not generic interview tips.
The difference
Anyone can hand you a score. We show you why.
The same answer, two kinds of feedback. One tells you you're great. One tells you the truth.
Question
Tell us about a time you worked through a conflict with a coworker.
Answer
“I always get along with everyone on the crew. If there's ever a problem I just stay professional and handle it. Being a team player is one of my biggest strengths.”
Most tools
“Great job. Strong teamwork and professionalism. You're interview-ready.”
Right keywords, confident tone. Never notices the answer describes no actual conflict.
First Call
What the panel heard: a claim about being a team player, but no real situation and nothing you actually did. Boards read this as dodging the question.
To reach a 3: name one real disagreement. What it was, what you did, how it ended.
The first score feels good. The second one gets you hired.
Illustrative example. Try it free to see the full feedback on your own answers.
Why First Call
Built to grade like a board. Not like a chatbot.
Two things separate First Call from every other way to prep. Both are things a keyword grader or a busy coach can't give you.
Research-backed scoring, not a vibe check
Every answer is graded on behaviorally anchored rating scales, the same 0 to 3 anchored method used in formal hiring research, built on published fire-service competency frameworks.
Each question carries its own rubric. You're scored on what it actually tests, never dinged for what it never asked.
Progress you can see, rep after rep
Every answer feeds eight fire-service competencies, tracked across every session. You watch each one climb over time, and see exactly which keep costing you points.
Practice becomes a plan: drill the weak competency, watch it move, walk in with all eight dialed.
Instant tools score fast but grade shallow. Human coaches grade deep but can't be there at 11pm for your hundredth rep. First Call is the only one that grades with real rigor and remembers everything, as many times as you need it.
How it works
Every session, end to end.
01
Practice
Answer real oral board questions out loud, on the clock. Recorded, transcribed, and ready to grade. The way you'll have to deliver it in the room.
02
Score
Every answer broken down criterion by criterion. See which parts landed, which fell short, and exactly what to fix, the moment you finish.
03
Track
Every answer feeds eight fire-service competencies, tracked across every session. See where you keep losing points, drill those, and walk in with all eight dialed.
3 to 8 questions per session. Criterion-level scoring on every answer. Eight competencies tracked across all of them, so you know exactly what to sharpen before the panel does.
No more guessing.
Walk in knowing exactly what panels are scoring.
The rubric
Not a vibe. A rubric.
Most tools give you a number and a pat on the back. Here's what's actually behind your score.
A defined bar, and where you landed
Every answer is scored 0 to 3 on each criterion, against written anchors that define exactly what each score looks like. No mystery number.
Eight real competencies
Drawn from real fire-service hiring criteria, not a generic interview template. The areas boards actually weigh, scored the way they weigh them.
Graded on what the question actually asked
A teamwork question is graded on teamwork. A decision-making question is graded on decision-making. Every question carries its own rubric, so you're never dinged for missing something the question never asked. You get scored on what was actually being tested.
Sourced from published fire-service frameworks and the interview research behind them. Not generic tips dressed up with a score.
About
Why I'm building this.
I'm Scott, an active firefighter. Before I got hired, I went through hiring process after hiring process, different departments, different formats, the same panel asking variations of the same questions.
I learned the prep gap firsthand. The advice online is generic. The good coaching is expensive and books out. And the scoring criteria panels actually use have been public for decades, rooted in real fire-service competency frameworks, but no tool ever used them to grade your practice.
So I built the one that does. First Call grades against those frameworks the way a board would, so you get real signal on every rep instead of a pat on the back.
Scott Shimala · Active firefighter, building First Call.
Free while I test it with real candidates.
Start now
It's built. It's free. Go use it.
First Call is live and free while I test it with real candidates. Real questions, real scoring, real feedback on every answer. No credit card, no catch. I'm looking for candidates who'll actually use it and tell me what's working.
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