Happy Holidays
May the magic and the wonder of the holiday season stay with you throughout the coming year.
As the year ends, we think about all that we are grateful for. Our relationship with you is one thing we treasure. Thank you for the opportunity to serve you and meet your testing needs.
All of us at IPMA-HR wish you and yours a safe and happy holiday season and much success in the new year.
Happy Holidays!
Your Friends at IPMA-HR
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.
A Roundup From Across the Web
Police Chiefs, Looking to Diversify Forces, Face Structural Hurdles
Anti-patronage ordinances, funding restrictions and tensions between law enforcement and minority communities reaching back decades impede efforts to build police departments that reflect the populations served. Read More…
Background Checks What Employers Need to Know
A joint publication of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Federal Trade Commission
When making personnel decisions – including hiring, retention, promotion, and reassignment – employers sometimes want to consider the backgrounds of applicants and employees….Except for certain restrictions related to medical and genetic information (see below), it’s not illegal for an employer to ask questions about an applicant’s or employee’s background, or to require a background check. However, you must be in compliance. This publication explains how to comply with both the federal nondiscrimination laws and the FCRA Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Read more…
Meetings: How to make them more efficient and effective!
The Condensed Guide to Running Meetings
We love to hate meetings. And with good reason — they clog up our days, making it hard to get work done in the gaps, and so many feel like a waste of time. There’s plenty of advice out there on how to stop spending so much time in meetings or make better use of the time, but does it hold up in reality? Can you really make meetings more effective and regain control of your calendar? Read More…
Two Things to do After Every Meeting
Steve Jobs insisted that every item on a meeting agenda have a designated person responsible for that task and any follow-up work that happened. He called that person the DRI—the Directly Responsible Individual. He knew the public accountability would ensure that a project or task would actually get done, and he wanted to set clear, organized instructions for his team to follow.
It sounds simple enough, and yet the majority of managers and leaders completely fail to do this. We’ve all left meetings feeling good about what we discussed only to later wonder why so little happened as a result. Where did the momentum go? Read More…
Legal Update: including Big Data, Transgender Workers, and Intern Pay
“Big Action” on “Big Data” in Employment Contexts
Several recent Federal government activities have shown an increased concern over the use of big data. In May, the White House issued a report Big Data: Seizing Opportunities, Preserving Values which detailed the results of a 90-day study examining how big data will transform the way we live and work, altering the relationships between government, citizens, businesses, and consumers. A significant finding of the report was that big data analytics have the potential to eclipse longstanding civil rights protections pertaining to how personal information is used in housing, credit, employment, health, education, and the marketplace.
In September, The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) hosted a public workshop entitled Big Data: A Tool for Inclusion or Exclusion? While no obvious policy initiatives came out of the conference, it seems clear that regulators such as the FTC and EEOC are paying close attention to big data. During the work shop the EEOC’s Assistant General, Carol Miaskoff, noted that big data is not inherently discriminatory. However, she went on to say that if measures or factors used to analyze that data are not job-related and consistent with business necessity, and they create a disparate impact on protected classes, an employer’s personnel decisions based on big data analytics can violate the law. Ms. Miaskoff also cautioned that employers that look at social media, which could be considered a source of big data, in the screening process might put themselves “in a vulnerable position” because social media offers “a plethora of information about protected statuses.” (more…)
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.