Fire Service Promotions Part 1

Posted January 5, 2023

SO YOU WANT TO GET PROMOTED

THE WRITTEN EXAMINATION

PART 1

For many of us, taking a promotional written examination brings on a state of nervousness. Woriying about what to study, txying to figure out how much time to spend on certain topics, developing a study program and all the other apprehensive thoughts that go through your mind. The first step to reduce that state of nervousness Is to identil and analyze the reasons for being nervous. The following are several of the most common reasons.

Not Prepared

Peer Pressure

Stigma associated with past experience taking examinations

Lack of knowledge of the testing process

Not considering oneself a “Good Test Taker”

Let’s analyze how to overcome the above concerns by developing a plan to get in condition for the written examination.

PREPARING FOR THE WRITTEN

The most important key to success when taking the promotional written exams Is preparation. The best way to prepare Is by dedicating quality time and by developing a study plan. For many of you reading this article, a study plan brings

THE WRITTEN EXAMINATION

For many of us, taking a promotional written examination brings on a state of nervousness. Worrying about what to study, tiying to figure out how much time to spend on certain topics, developing a study program and all the other apprehensive thoughts that go through your mind. The first step to reduce that state of nervousness is to ldentif and analyze the reasons for being nervous. The following are several of the most common reasons.

Not Prepared

Peer Pressure

Stigma associated with past experience taking examinations

Lack of knowledge of the testing process

Not considering oneself a “Good Test Taker”

Let’s analyze how to overcome the above concerns by developing a plan to get in condition for the written examination.

PREPARING FOR THE WRITTEN

to mind late nights going over all the books In the station libraiy, reading and trying to memorize detail after uninteresting detail. Highlighting until your book is completely yellow. Developing hundreds of 3×5 cards with questions and answers. Not to mention the last frantic rush to cram a mass of detail into your short-term, rote memory in order to be able to regurgitate it on exam day. All the time wondering if you are reading the right material.

Well, you are correct. Studying include all these thoughts and a little more. What is the little more”, I am referring to. It’s an organized approach for studying. The organized approach begins with developing a study schedule that is realistic, measurable and not all-time consuming. One of the keys to remember is the retention level is improved by studying one hour a day for one year, rather than 8 hours a day for one month.

There are four basic steps in a study program.

Purpose

Selection of the material

Effective reading

Review

PURPOSE AND SELECTION OF MATERIAL

The first step of purpose basically means to learn enough material to pass the examination. Purposeful study demands distinguishing the most Important material to concentrate on, then planning and organizing your work around them.

The more clearly you analyze the testing process, the more accurately you will define a clear purpose for study. Make It your purpose to analyze the history, the trends of past exams and the personality of the person or department responsible for the exam development. For example, I am aware of one departments training officer that was extremely technically oriented, or in other words a nit picker. One question he asked on a captains examination was, “How many lug nuts were there on a wheel on a certain fire apparatus?” The new training officer who was responsible for developing the next examination didn’t even know that the apparatus had lug nuts. Consequently, the test he developed was very basic and covered general fire service areas.

EFFECTIVE READING

Effective reading is the process of reading material and retaining enough of the material to do well on the written examination. One of the best ways to accomplish this is to utilize the concept of pre-reading. Pre-reading is an important technique that allows you to quickly read through, study and determine how much thorough reading you want to do.

Here’s how pre-reading works. Most authors write with a universal format of Introduction, body or content and summary. In other words the author introduces what he/she is going to tell you, then he/she tells you, then he/she tells you what he/she told you. By the way If you ever have to write an essay as part of your testing process, this is the format you should use.

When pre-reading you read the Introduction thoroughly, then read the first

sentence of each remaining paragraph until you get to the summary. The. final step Is to read the summary thoroughly. This system improves retention and provides for an efficient means to go through a lot of material in a short period of time. The concept here is that the introduction introduces the subject(s). The first sentence of each paragraph is usually the topic sentence. The main thought of each paragraph is normally identified In the topic sentence. The remainder of the paragraph supports the thought In the topic sentence. Incidentally, when test makers are developing a test the topic sentence is usually where they will get the material for the question. The summary highlights the important topics in the material.

Pre-reading provides you with an efficient, effective method of evaluating the selection of study material. By reading the introduction, topic sentence and summary you will have three exposures to the most important information within the material. Pre-reading provides you with an advanced sampling of the article or chapter format and content. This helps you to decide to read, skip or skim through the content. Pre-reading is also an efficient means to review just prior to the examination.

Remember, pre-reading is not a substitute for through reading once the determination is made that the Information Is important to you. In part two of this topic I will discuss the Impact of peer pressure on the test taken, how to become a good test taker, good reading habits, study pattern and what to do on test day.