IPMA-HR’s Assessment Services Department Launches New Electronic Scoring Service
IPMA-HR’s Assessment Services Department recently piloted a new electronic scoring service in December 2019. The goal of the pilot was determine whether the new service would be implemented permanently and replace the old one. The results of the pilot were overwhelmingly positive, with test security agreement signers applauding the following features:
- Eliminates Shipping Costs. The new electronic scoring service eliminates shipping costs associated with mailing the answer sheets – you can now upload them electronically!
- Results in 1 Business Day. Now that you do not have to mail answer sheets, you can enjoy a significantly shorter turnaround time to getting your results. Results are delivered within one business day of receiving the answer sheets.
- Easy-to-Read Reports. The new electronic scoring service provides easy-to-interpret score and test reports, and assist with IPMA-HR’s collection of national test response data.
Utilizing the new electronic scoring service also makes it easier for your agency to participate in future criterion-related validation studies conducted by the testing experts at IPMA-HR.
Although we gave the electronic scoring service a major upgrade, we managed to keep the price the same at $50.00 + $0.50 per answer sheet. Be sure to as your assessment services representative about adding electronic scoring to your next test order!
Animated Awesomeness
If you haven’t seen the new video featuring our police assessment products, then you’re missing out on pure animated awesomeness!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09J3nV1m4tg
Want to know more about IPMA-HR’s line of police assessment products? Visit us online!
Best Practices in Police Recruitment
On November 14, Ben Haiman, executive director, Professional Development Bureau of the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., led a webinar, “Best Practices in Police Recruitment: How the Metropolitan Police Department Continues to Thrive in a Challenging Environment,” sponsored by IPMA-HR’s Assessment Services Department. Following are some of the highlights from Haiman’s talk. IPMA-HR members can access the full archived webinar through our Webinar Library.
- The MPD needed to move candidates along faster. Haiman said that the number of handoffs of an application caused serious delays. One of their primary principles moving into the new process was how to get candidates from point A to B faster and more efficiently. In an effort to increase the pool of people considering the profession, the modified application process starts with an online application that now asks four questions: first name, last name, phone number and email address. As soon as someone says they’re interested, they target them with emails.
- The MPD has taken their hiring process from 18 months to 3-4 months, reducing both time and labor.
- Prospect Day serves multiple purposes: what used to take 16 weeks, now takes one day. Everything from the written exam to preliminary screening with investigators is handled in just one day.
- Their recruiting and HR divisions are separate – recruiting takes care of quantity, HR takes care of quality. This method reduces the likelihood that the demand for quantity reduces the quality.
- You need to first understand who your customers are: Who are you trying to recruit, who are you currently recruiting, and where is the issue between the two. Then you need to figure out where the applicants are and understand the demographics of different social media platforms. For example, in the MPD’s most recent round of hiring, 59% heard of the job openings from an online source, and only 1% heard about it from a job fair.
Want to know more? Listen to the entire webinar online. Not a member? Become one!
Want to see the best videos ever?
They may not be of a baby panda sneezing, but they’re still pretty awesome! Take a few minutes to check out our new “everything you wanted to know about IPMA-HR’s assessment products in two minutes” video and our new “everything you wanted to know about IPMA-HR’s fire service products in just over a minute” video. You won’t regret it. We promise, it’s better than “CATS.”
Public Safety Voices | Fire Chief Alan Ernst
Budgeting to meet the needs of the community.
“The biggest challenge we face in the Central Valley is our budget. It’s a constant struggle to maintain the resources we need to serve our community.
“One step we’re taking to address this is fire regionalization. Two other agencies are now contracting with the Modesto Fire Department for fire services, so we’ll realize some savings and see some revenue from that.”
Recruiting is not a problem here.
“We do well with recruitment. Interest in the fire service is strong in California. We provide potential firefighters many educational opportunities, and the job itself has a lot of natural publicity that comes with it.
“Modesto also offers an explorer program for students ages 16-20 that’s affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America, and several of our employees have graduated from that program.”
It’s all about the moments.
“There’s no one rewarding moment in my career. For me, it’s all about the opportunities when you get to see that your actions affected someone’s life in a positive way. As the chief, I am honored to engage with the public and support our firefighters and the difference they make.”
The fire service is in my blood.
“I’m a fourth-generation firefighter. My great grandfather was a firefighter in Oregon, my grandfather served in Monterey, Calif., and my dad served in Sacramento. And, my son is now in the fire science program Sierra College.”
We hope the community recognizes the toll the job takes on us.
“This is a very demanding job. One concern of ours is that the community doesn’t recognize the toll it takes on us — the toll it takes on our mental health … Suicides outpaced line-of-duty deaths in the fire service last year. We see horrific scenes, and when you’re talking about a 30-year career, it just keeps building up.
“We’re paying a lot of attention to the mental health of our department. To that end, we’ve added a behavioral health specialist to our staff and instituted a health and wellness program to ensure everyone gets the help they need, whether it’s with home or work.”
Cancer rates are much higher for the fire service.
“We also started a cancer reduction program. There are many dangers that are visible, but it’s the dangers we don’t see that are really affecting us. The chemicals associated with the fires we go to are really dangerous, even at a house fire.
“As a result, the cancer rates are much higher for the fire service. We’re taking steps to reduce exposure, including emergency decontamination, cleaning equipment and clothing in an extractor, showering immediately after a call, etc.”
Getting kids involved.
“We also started a hands-only CPR program in which we taught every middle school kid in the city how to recognize the need for and initiate CPR. We’re now going to the high schools also.”
-Chief Alan Ernst, Modesto Fire Department, California
Accounting Clerk Test Development – Future Order Discount Offer!
IPMA-HR’s Assessment Services Department is developing a new accounting clerk test! In order to create top-of-the-line tests for this position, we need agencies to participate in the test development process. The next step in the process is the completion of job analysis questionnaires.
Would your department be willing to help?
We are asking for experienced accounting clerks from each agency to complete a web-based job analysis questionnaire (JAQ). The results of the job analysis will identify the most important tasks and competencies needed to perform on the job effectively. Completion of the questionnaire takes approximately 15 minutes.
Participating agencies will receive a $100 discount toward any future test order from IPMA-HR for participation. Additionally, all participating JAQ respondents will be entered into a raffle to win a catered lunch for their department!
If you are interested in participating, please complete the participation form on our webpage and we will contact you with more information on the next phase of the test development process.