Fire Fighter Trent

Throughout this class, testing and measuring has been one of the most interesting parts of the class to me because of how I am in the middle of this process right now as I test and interview to get into a fire job. Many of the questions fellow recruits and I have, have been answered through this course! Many of us have been confused and frustrated with the tests. We question the validity and relevance of the tests, and how on earth this could actually help me as a firefighter. Having gone through the class, I realize a cognitive abilities test is actually one of the top predictors of job performance. Furthermore, tests which don’t seem relevant may have strong predictors as well, for instance personality tests, and while it felt silly at the time; it makes sense now. They are extremely careful about making sure we do not discuss the questions on these tests; I see now this is because it takes a lot of time to create these tests in a way that actually predict job performance because they have to sample new hires and wait to see their job performance over a course of time to see if the test is a good predictor. We have this physical ability test, which is somewhat difficult, even if you’re in shape; and I can see how it imitates general movements that might be made in the job.

It’s really interesting because fire interviews and tests actually follow a lot of what this class advises to a “t”. It seems like they take these attributes very seriously. I’m sure for reasons like we have learned in class, to try to be as unbiased as possible; to avoid adverse impact.

It was also really interesting to learn about interviews. Fire interviews are extremely structured and very formal. They had specific score cards for every question. While it is historically typical for fire interviews to try to unnerve you and make you feel stressed, I have noticed the most successful stations are leaning towards making you feel relaxed. They are avoiding “gotcha” tactics and are leaning in to try to get the biased picture of who you are.

Fire interviews use almost every test brought up in this class. From jerk tests to polygraph tests, we have to do them all. I think taking this test was perfect timing as I’ve been going through the interview process. It has allowed me to look at these tests more objectively and without resentment because I have a better understanding for what the organization is attempting to do.