ANNUAL CIVIL SERVICE FIRE EXAMINATION SCHEDULE

Examinations are provided by the State upon request of local civil service agencies. Because examinations are generally scheduled by the local jurisdictions when their fire departments have staffing needs, not every jurisdiction will necessarily hold an examination for a specific title each year. In addition, the schedule is sometimes amended by State Civil Service to meet the needs of the local jurisdictions. When a change in schedule is necessitated, local civil service agencies are notified by State Civil Service in a timely manner.  The following is the regular annual schedule of examinations for the fire service provided by the New York State Dept of Civil Service:

January: Upper-level promotional titles (Chief, Battalion Chief, Assistant Chief, Deputy Chief, Division Chief).   See guide at

  http://www.cs.ny.gov/testing/test_guides/Fire%20Chief%20-%20Asst%20Fire%20Chief%20test%20guide.pdf 
 March: Entry-level firefighter   (see guide at   http://www.cs.ny.gov/jobseeker/local/test_guides/fire_test_guide_01_09_06.pdf )

 June: Fire Lieutenant, Captain
October of odd-numbered years only, for example 2009, 2011 etc:  Special fire titles including Fire Investigator, Fire Inspector, Fire Marshal, Fire Training Officer, Airport Firefighter, County Fire Coordinator
As needed: Fire Protection Specialist and other jobs with State agencies like Codes

The above schedules and titles do NOT apply to New York City, which produces and administers its own exams. See http://www.nyc.gov/html/fdny/html/community/firefighter.shtml  for FDNY. Anyone interested in taking these tests should contact local civil service or personnel offices; NewYork State Civil Service does not make available all listings of exam locations.

The State Civil Service Exam Info Desk number is 518-457-6216. (Or find NYS Civil Service on the Internet at http://www.cs.state.ny.us  ). The “Municipal” section lets you look at open exams by county, but not all counties participate or keep their information current.

SO, HOW DO I PREPARE???

Although it might be convenient to have a list of books, do you really want the highest scorers to be the candidates who could memorize texts?   As frustrating as it is, your best bets are to

• Take the practice exams provided by Civil Service (see above)
• Make sure you're prepared on all subject areas listed on the exam announcement.  If the announcement doesn't list the scope, ask your jurisdiction's civil service/human resources department.
• Read a selection of high-quality texts over a long period before the exam.  (No cramming!)  You may even find some in audio format so that you can study on the go.
• Talk to people who last took the exam.  
• Use the relevant CSEA Test Prep Booklets (below) to get used to the way NYS CS phrases their questions. 

Want to help your fellow firefighters and fire officers? 

If you'd like to share your experiences, advice or comments about a test you took recently, please email us!  

Please, no posts about specific questions -- we're looking for what preparations worked (or didn't work!) for you.  

Other tips from people who've taken exams in the past:

• The entry-level “Firefighter” test as given in NY State (except NY City and 3 Westchester departments ) DOES NOT include any "fire" questions!  The test is really meant to judge reasoning, math and reading skills.  See “Guide to the Written Test for Firefighter Series” ( http://www.cs.state.ny.us/testing/test_guides/fire_test_guide.pdf  )
  Nationally-published books and the firefighter test at the Learnatest.com site may include tactics and terminology questions you will not see on the State exam!  Entry-level exams given for FDNY, Mount Vernon, White Plains, New Rochelle (and Yonkers?) are a different story...they DO include fire questions!
• CSEA Test Preparation Booklet Series:  26 booklets written specifically for the NYS civil service tests. The  titles relating to supervision, reading comp, understanding/interpreting tabular material, etc. are very useful.  Available from CSEA or other union offices or at a small charge from CSEA Education Dept (518-434–0191), and from many local libraries.  Free to CSEA members on their website; others may still find them at http://web.archive.org/web/20060524032029/http://www.csea659.org/books.htm . CSEA also offers to e-learning courses on many of these titles; see http://www.csealearningcenter.org/default.cfm.  Cost is $9.99 a month for CSEA members, $19.99 a month for non-members.
• Nationally-published exam prep book (like Arco, McGraw-Hill and National Learning Corp.) and the firefighter test at the Learnatest.com site may include tactics and terminology questions you will not see on the State exam!  The questions will also be written in a completely different style from what you’ll see on your exam. They won’t hurt, but may not help much. Your time may be better spent with other resources.
• You might try some of the "courses" at http://app.qstream.com/tags/firefighter, which deliver test questions to your email or a mobile device once or twice daily.  (Topics somewhat limited at present, but will grow.)  
• For the entry-level Firefighter exam, you could try to find "The Complete Preparation Guide: Fire Fighter, New York"  (304p., 2006. LearningExpress).    NY City version (1996, 288 pages) is also available.  National edition not recommended.  NYS version (1996) is much more useful as it contains general information on the career fire service in NY State and specific city departments.  See note about electronic version (Learnatest.com)
• Learnatest.com (Learning Express) has practice exams you can access free through many public libraries or with your NYPL card.  Skip their firefighter exam, but their exams for EMT-Basic, Paramedic and CDL (Commercial Drivers License) are quite good!  They also have academic tests (SAT, GED, etc.), and basic skills (grammar, reading comprehension, math). You may have seen their print versions of these exam prep books published by Learning Express.
• The Jones & Bartlett "Exam Prep" series by Hirst is great for National Cert prep...not so much for civil service exams.  TIP: When using the J&B book to study for the Firefighter I exams, you should also use their "Hazardous Materials Awareness and Operations" book for the hazmat questions.  (Delmar's FFI/II exam prep book with CD can be used by itself, as it does include hazmat.)  If you prefer nonprint, we also have "Firefighter I & II Review" by Kidd & Czajkowski (DVD with CD-rom, 2004, McGraw-Hill) but again you'll have to supplement it with hazmat review.   
• Some people find test prep software from Knightlite ( http://www.knightlite.com/ ) to be helpful, but we've not seen their programs. 
• For those taking downstate promotional exams (FDNY, Yonkers, etc.), try McAniff's "Strategic Concepts in Fire Fighting" and his "How to Score High on Reading Interpretation".  Both are dated 1974 and out of print, but available used and in libraries (including the OFPC Fire Academy Library).
• Some fire officers find fire simulation or “gaming” software useful in preparing for the written simulation test portion of promotional exams; see below!

Download or read unofficial tip sheets for specific NYS Civil Service exams:

Captain's promotional exam.pdf

Chief's promotional exam.pdf

Fire coordinators CS exam.pdf

Fire Protection Specialist I.pdf

Lieutenants promotional exam.pdf

NYS Civ Serv special fire exams.pdf

For assessment center, in-basket exam prep and simulation exercises:  

We don’t have much specifically on in-basket, but have quite a bit on assessment center prep.  Am under the impression assessment centers generally include in-basket exercises.  The book we have that comes closest on in-basket is probably “Assessment Center Strategy and Tactics” – Terpak, 2008 (126 pages, mostly what I’d call in-basket prep).  There’s also:

• “Mastering the Fire Service Assessment Center” – Kastros, 2006 (179 pages, about 20 pages on in-basket)  Available in print, as an MP3 CD or standard CD audiobook format, plus a 44-minute DVD of tactical simulation exercises
• “Company Officer Promotional Case Studies” – Becker, 2005 (120 pages, about half are practice scenarios to consider)
• “Preparing for Fire Service Testing” – Morse, 2004 (113 pages, 3 pages on in-basket)
• Preparing for Fire Service Assessment Centers” – Maher & Michelson, 1992 (115 pages, 11 pages on in-basket)
• “Fire Assessment Centers” by Tielsch & Whisenand, 1979 (239 pages, 16 pages on in-basket)

You might also read:
http://www.fireengineering.com/index/articles/display/7745079589/articles/fire-engineering/volume-162/issue-10/features/fire-service_assessment.html (Kastros)
http://www.fireengineering.com/articles/print/volume-159/issue-7/features/so-you-want-to-be-promoted.html (DeMint)
http://www.fireengineering.com/articles/print/volume-159/issue-7/features/promotional-assessment-centers-understanding-the-process.html (Terpak)
http://fireengineering.com/display_article/366004/25/none/none/Feat/The-Oral-Communications-Assessment-Center:-Strategy-and-Tactic (Terpak)
http://www.fireengineering.com/articles/print/volume-161/issue-7/features/assessment-center-strategy-and-tactics-engine-company-operations.html (Terpak)
http://www.fireengineering.com/articles/print/volume-161/issue-8/features/assessment-center-strategy-and-tactics-ladder-company-operations.html (Terpak)
http://firelink.monster.com/benefits/articles/1843-step-2-assessment-centers---in-basket-exercise (Lepore)
http://www.aspiringfirefighters.com/downloads/in-basket-exercise.pdf (Lepore)
http://www.firehouse.com/forums/showthread.php?t=76626  (McNea)

Some candidates like to prepare using computer simulation software.  (Apparently a few cities even conduct their assessment centers using simulations.)   There are many of these for the fire service: they vary in quality, theme, sophistication and level of interaction.  The following are meant to help practice incident command, size-up, etc.:

• "Incident Commander" (CD available for loan from the Academy Library or free on request from http://www.incidentcommander.net/ )
• The Kastros “Mastering the Fire Service Assessment Center: tactical simulation exercises” DVD mentioned above. (Available for loan from Academy Library.)
• “Fully Involved: Incident Command Training for the Company Officer” by CompellingTechnologies.com (Available for loan from Academy Library.)
• Fire Engineering scenarios free online at http://www.pennwellblogs.com/fireengineering/simulations/
• http://www.fullyinvolvedfire.com/ online simulation training for a fee. (Not the same company as the “Fully Involved” CD above.)
• The Library has CDs for loan of 6 USFA “Incident Command and Control Simulation Series” titles distributed in 2000.  Titles are: Casper Hall Dorm; Mansion Fire; Ranch House Fire; Stripmall Hostage/Arson Fire; Townhouse Fire; Wildland Fire; Tutorial.  These and a 7th (Nursing Home) are also online at http://www.usfa.fema.gov/nfa/nfaonline/browse/im.shtm

Examples of sim programs available for sale are: http://www.action-training.com/firesimulator.asp , 

http://www.action-training.com/product.aspx?training=First_On_Scene&pid=539 , http://www.commandsim.com , http://digitalcombustion.com/ , http://www.trainingfordisastermanagement.com/applications/fire-training-and-simulation/ ...there are others! 

For the NYS Fire Protection Specialist exams: 

You might go over NIMS/ICS, the laws & regs at http://www.dhses.ny.gov/laws-policies/ and contact us directly for excerpts from the NYS Fire Mobilization and Mutual Aid Plan Emergency Procedures Manual and other tips.  

National Certification exam study:

National Board on Fire Service Professional Qualifications (sometimes called "ProBoard" or "National Cert") exams and NYS Certification exams are explained at http://www.dhses.ny.gov/ofpc/training/fire-academy/certifications.cfm .

If you wish to study for a National Cert exam, the best way is to use the "Exam Prep" series of books by Ben Hirst.  The question style you see in his books will be exactly what you’ll find on the exam. Reviewing the bibliography at the end of your book will give you a good idea of where the questions were drawn from and therefore, what books to use for further study and review.  For the Firefighter I/II, Fire Officer I/II, Fire Instructor I/II or Hazmat Awareness & Ops tests, use the books sold by PTS at http://www.firetestbanks.com/exam-prep-books.html.    A full list of the titles in the series is at http://www.jblearning.com/catalog/searchresults.aspx?search=2201  but do not use or buy the Firefighter I/II, Fire Officer I/II, Fire Instructor I/II or Hazmat Awareness & Ops from Jones & Bartlett. They are older than the version sold by PTS!  Remember also that NY State does not host exams for all titles.  See the OFPC webpage given in the previous paragraph for a list.  

Download or read unofficial tip sheets for specific National Cert exams:

National cert exam Fire Investigator.pdf 

National cert exam Fire Officer.pdf