2nd Edition Firefighter Study Guide Now Available
We are excited to announce the 2nd edition of our Firefighter Candidate Study Guide!
The 2nd edition now offer a full 100 item practice test as well as:
- 25 item answers explained
- Frequently Asked Questions about the Fire Tests
- Content area review
- Analysis of question types and answer approaches
- Test day tips
This study guide can be used to study for all 6 of our Entry Level Firefighter Exams; including the FF-EL 100, 200, and 300 series.
You can have candidates buy individual guides or as with all other candidate study guides, we offer reduced prices for agency purchases.
New Entry Level Police Test
In case you haven’t heard we now have a replacement test for the retired PO-EL 203-NC test. This new test, the PO-EL 204-NC, is an exact replica of the old test and can be utilized in the same exact way.
The new test assesses critical abilities of an entry-level police officer candidate. Criterion-related validation studies show that this test effectively predicts performance in both the police academy and on the job. No prior police training or experience is assumed.
The test is still 100 items, with a 1 hour 45 minutes time limit (plus 25 minutes for the Test Information Packet). It also features the same content areas:
| PO-EL 204-NC (TIP) Test | |
| Content Area | Number of Items |
| Observation & Memory (Wanted Posters) | 25 |
| Ability to Learn Police Material | 25 |
| Police Interest Questionnaire (Non-Cognitive) | 30 |
| Situational Judgment, Problem Solving & Reading Comprehension |
20 |
| Total | 100 |
Remember you must be a TSA Signer in order to request a FREE inspection copy or order a test.
Reading List Update: Detective Tests
Last Push for Participation – New ECC Test Validation
We are hard at work on bringing you 3 new entry-level Emergency Communication Center (ECC) tests. As you know all of our tests go through a thorough validation phase that gets documented in the free Technical Report available with every test. Now your agency can be a part of the process, have a test with direct evidence for use within your organization, and enjoy a deep discount on your next test order (plus other benefits).
All the detailed information can be found on our ECC Validation page. But to summarize, we’d need your to get together a group of your incumbent ECC staff to take the test, then have their first and second line supervisors fill out a brief evaluation for each incumbent taking the test. If you can’t commit to a large group, that’s OK, even 5-6 staff can make a huge difference if multiple agencies get on board.
We are making one last push to get enough participation to finish the validation stage of the development. If your organization can participate in the next 2 months please fill out an interest form here or email Andrey Pankov with any additional questions.
Update to PSUP Test Series Reading List
The reading list for the PSUP series of Police Supervisor Tests has been updated to reflect the release of a new edition of one of the books that appears on the list.
The updated reading list table is below:
| TYPE | TEST NAME | LAST UPDATED |
|---|---|---|
| Police | PSUP 301/302/303 | May 2015 |
| PL 301 | Jan 2015 | |
| PDET 201/202 | Jan 2015 | |
| Fire | FCO 401-EM/402-EM | Apr 2015 |
| FCO 403/404 | Apr 2015 | |
| Corrections | CF-FLS 202 | Jan 2014 |
| ECC | ECC-FLS 202 | Jan 2014 |
Introducing the new FCO 400 Series
We are excited to introduce our new 400 Series Fire Company Officer Tests. These tests were designed to assess whether candidates have the competencies to perform successfully at the rank of fire company officer (i.e., lieutenant, captain) in a fire department. FCO 401-EM and FCO 402-EM were designed for those departments that perform emergency medical (EM) services. The series is comprised of four tests:
These tests are meant to fully replace the two Fire Company Officer A and A with EM tests we’ve been offering for the past year, and more fully reflect the FCO 300 Series that were offered in Spring 2014 and earlier.
Feel free to request the reading list for these 4 tests. The reading list is quite different from the Fire Company Officer A and A with EM tests because two books are now in new editions. (more…)
Aligning Job Expectations and Reality
A look at Realistic Job Previews in public safety
Though the concept has been around at least since the studies conducted by J.P. Wanous in the 1980s, Realistic Job Previews (RJP) are quickly becoming a standard recruitment tool across industries. The reason? RJPs bring an applicant’s expectations into alignment with reality, significantly reducing turnover and creating substantial cost-savings for employers.
Often referred to as “realistic recruitment,” RJPs are especially useful in fields with higher than average turnover, such as public safety — a fact more and more agencies are taking to heart. Applicants for public safety positions — emergency dispatchers, police officers, firefighters and corrections officers — drop out of the process all too often, due to an incomplete or unrealistic understanding about what the job entails. Popular culture and the media are often the basis for candidates’ inaccurate perceptions, making the job often seem more exciting or action-packed than its daily reality.
Readibility followup Poll
Dennis Doverspike has recently written two great articles [1 2] regarding readability of assessments. If you missed them, make sure to check them out. If you missed the Poll on how your agency handles the topic, please fill it out below:
If your agency does have specific documented policies, please answer the following questions: (more…)