Written Assessments

After your submission of your application form, you will get to the next step of getting hired for a firefighter’s job by way of the firefighter exam package, the written exams which you need to pass.

The results of the exams are used to weed out a certain percentage of candidates who shall be considered for the job. The main focus is to be able to score above a certain level (typically 70%) to pass the firefighter exam package.

Private companies

These written exams are not generally given by fire departments. Typically, there is a private company who conducts such exams and performs the necessary things done in an examination.

Usually, these exams can last from one hour to three hours in length, depending on the length and the number of questions asked of the examinees. The candidates are given enough permissible time to think out their answers to the questions.

Policy

There are several policies on written exams and they vary from department to department.

In some instances, the score you get on the exams will count for up to half of your overall score in the hiring process.

The other portion of the score is determined by how well you do on your oral exams. In some instances, some departments only allow candidates who score in a certain range to continue in the hiring process.

Measuring abilities

Like the other exams on other professions (law, medicine, accounting, etc.) the written test portion of the application process for firefighters include questions that are specifically designed to measure the candidate’s  abilities in many areas.

These written tests for the fireman’s application process can include questions that test the candidate’s ability to understand oral instructions, as well as reading skills and comprehension.

Also included are questions to test the examinee’s numerical ability, mechanical attitude and the ability to retain information and processing speed. They may also include the candidate’s ability to function as a member of a team.

Important skills

All of these skills are important in performing a firefighter’s function. In effect, this shows a department how the candidate can perform.

An important part of the test is the reading component. The candidate shall demonstrate that he can read something and pay attention to details. (In the job, the firefighter will need to read, understand, and retain a lot of information in a short time.)

There are plenty of study guides and practice exams available to help you. If you want to do well, you need to invest time to go over the materials that appear on the exam in detail.

Samples

For comparison, these firefighting questions cover similar information as most of the fire department tests and those on the national fire examinations.  However, these are not the likely questions that you will receive on your department or national exams.

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Included in the fire fighter tests would be some fire fighting mechanical aptitude exam, fire fighting spatial and directional orientation exam, fire fighting judgment and reasoning, fire fighter basic mathematics exam, hazardous material exam and fire fighting vocabulary, grammar and spelling exam.