Written Test Information Booklet - Derbyshire Fire …

1 Firefighter (Wholetime Duty System) Written Test Information Booklet You will be required to complete 4 online Written tests as part of the recruitment process. These tests are:- situational Judgement Risk Assessment Working with numbers (Numerical Reasoning) Verbal reasoning (Understanding Information ) This Information Booklet will give you an idea of the type of questions that will be asked within each paper In this test you will be presented with the type of situations you could face in the role of a Firefighter at Derbyshire Fire Service and will be asked how you think you should react to each situation. Please identify what is the most effective and what is the least effective response to each situation.

2 Please note that no prior knowledge of the Fire Service is required, and you are asked to take each presented scenario at face value. All the Information you need to answer the question will be presented in the scenario. You are not being assessed on whether you know the right answer based on knowledge or experience. You are being assessed on how you judge a situation and whether you can recognise the most effective or least effective reaction. There are 13 questions in this test. The test is not timed but should take you between 20 and 30 minutes to complete. AN EXAMPLE: You are trialling a new presentation in the community. You are about to speak to a room full of school children about arson and the importance of fire safety. Their ages range from 8-11. You re aware that your presentation contains some quite frightening images but are equally aware of the importance of fire safety.

3 You know that this presentation has been delivered successfully many times before. Do you: Possible actions: Most Least 1. Take the teacher aside and talk them through the presentation, asking if they think it s appropriate to show. 2. Go ahead with the presentation. Fire safety is extremely important and this presentation has been delivered many times before. 3. Deliver your own censored version of the presentation as you don t want to damage the relationship with the school. 4. Deliver a presentation on a different topic and arrange a later time to come back in and do the original. In this example the participant has felt that the first action is the most effective and that the last action is the least effective. situational JUDGEMENT TEST INTRODUCTION 2 This test is designed to assess your situational awareness , including your attitude to risk.

4 Please carefully read each question and rate the four possible options in terms of the degree of risk you associate with this option. Please note that no prior knowledge of the Fire Service is required, and you are asked to take each presented scenario at face value. All the Information you need to answer the question will be presented in the scenario. You are not being assessed on whether you know the right answer based on knowledge or experience. You are being assessed on how you judge a situation and whether you can recognise the degree of risk associated with the various response options. There are 8 questions in this test. The test is not timed but should take you up to 15 minutes to complete. AN EXAMPLE: You're part way through an important drill at the station and an emergency call has just come through.

5 There is a report that the local hospital has been evacuated due to the fire alarms being activated. This happened 4 times last week and every time was a false alarm. The care home thinks that one of the residents is deliberately activating the alarm. You have to respond to every call but you know it's highly likely to be a false alarm again. Please rate the follow options in terms of the level of risk you perceive. Possible actions: Least Risk Slight Risk Moderate Risk Most Risk 1. Encourage your colleagues to finish the drill quickly so you can all respond to the call. You assume it's a false alarm but you still have to attend. 2. You don't want to leave the station again for a false alarm as you may not be there if a real emergency comes through. Call the care home first to see if anyone knows if it's a false alarm again.

6 3. Leave the drill and respond to the call as you normally would in an emergency situation. It's too risky to just assume it's a false alarm again. 4. Ask one of your colleagues who has finished the drill already to drive down to the care home and understand what the situation is. They can call for back-up if it's a real fire. In this example the participant has felt that the third action holds the least amount of risk, the first option has a slight degree of risk, the second option holds a moderate degree of risk and the fourth option holds the most amount of risk. RISK ASSESSMENT TEST 3 This test is set to last 25 minutes. It is a measure of your ability to interpret numbers and carry out calculations quickly and accurately. You will be presented with four blocks of Information which will each have a number of questions associated with them.

7 You will need a mouse, a calculator and internet access to complete this test. You may want to have some paper for rough notes. You must complete this in one sitting. Ensure you are somewhere quiet where you will not be disturbed. You should read through each block of Information and answer the questions associated with this block. You should base your answers only on the Information provided to you in the passage, rather than using any prior knowledge or experience. This is a timed test and you will have 25 minutes to complete the questions. AN EXAMPLE: Derbyshire Fire Service: Appliance fuel costs per period EG1. Approximately what percentage of the total fuel cost across all periods did Period 4 account for? a)24% b) 25% c)29% d)32% e)35% EG2. It is expected that fuel costs for period 7 will increase by 15% from period 6.

8 On that assumption what will be the approximate fuel cost for period 7? a) 45,074 b) 58,790 c) 60,550 d) 64,828 e) 65,219 WORKING WITH NUMBERS (NUMERICAL REASONING) 4 This test is set to last 18 minutes. It is a measure of your ability to interpret and make sense of Written Information . You will be presented with four passages of Information which will each have a number of questions associated with them. You will need a mouse and internet access to complete this test. You may want to have some paper for rough notes. You will not be allowed the use of a dictionary. You must complete this in one sitting. Ensure you are somewhere quiet where you will not be disturbed. You should read through each passage of Information and answer the questions associated with this passage.

9 You should base your answers only on the Information provided to you in the passage, rather than using any prior knowledge or experience. This is a timed test and you will have 18 minutes to complete the questions. Please ensure you work as quickly and accurately as possible. AN EXAMPLE: All fires in buildings, vehicles and outdoor structures or any fire involving casualties, rescues, or fires attended by five or more appliances are referred to as Primary fires. Secondary fires are the majority of outdoor fires including grassland and refuse fires unless they involve casualties or rescues, property loss or five or more appliances attend. They can include fires in single derelict buildings. Chimney fires are any fire in an occupied building where the fire was confined within the chimney structure (and did not involve casualties or rescues or attendance by five or more appliances).

10 A false alarm is defined as an event in which the fire and rescue service believes they are called to a reportable fire and then find there is no such incident. The term outdoor fires is commonly used to refer to primary and secondary fires in road vehicles, other outdoor property, derelict buildings and derelict vehicles and more minor refuse, grassland and intentional straw/stubble fires. EG 1 Based on the passage, majority of secondary fires include: Outdoor structures and grassland Single derelict buildings, refuse and grassland Grassland and minor refuse Property and refuse Outdoor structures, grassland and refuse EG 2 Based on the passage, what one of the following does "Primary" and "Secondary" fires have in common? Fires attended by five or more appliances Fires not involving casualties or rescue Fires caused by false alarms Can be referred to as "outdoor" fires Dwelling fires VERBAL REASONING (UNDERSTANDING Information )