[IPAC-List] Does the day you take an oral exam matter?

[Don Nott]

Hi Elizabeth,

Our company specializes in the development of public safety (police &
fire) testing & assessment; so, we deal with your candidate culture all
the time.

Simple answer: the more the candidate's understand the process, the less
likely they'll complain; assuming the process is objective and fair.

We provide a candidate orientation to candidate's so that they A)
understand how the exercises were developed, and B) understand that
assessors are using objective, job-related, behavioral criteria when
scoring; therefore, it doesn't matter the time/date that they are
tested.

My quick answer is that you need to start with a good process and ensure
that you educate candidates.  This reduces candidate skepticism and
increases their understanding that, hey, the process/exercises are fair
and objective.


:Don


-----------------------------------------------------
Donald M. Nott
I/O Associate
  
Fields Consulting Group
7926 Jones Branch Drive
McLean, VA 22102
(703) 506-9400 

-----Original Message-----
From: ipac-list-bounces at ipacweb.org
[mailto:ipac-list-bounces at ipacweb.org] On Behalf Of Reed, Elizabeth
Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 2009 11:47 AM
To: 'ipac-list at ipacweb.org'
Subject: [IPAC-List] Does the day you take an oral exam matter?

IPAC members and friends:

The City of Columbus utilizes oral exams in all of our promotional
testing for both police and fire.  These oral exams usually consist of
either two role-play exercises or one role-play exercise and one
structured interview.  Depending on the number of candidates, these
exams can take up to six full days to administer.  Over the years,
candidates have complained about being assigned on either the first day
of testing or the last day of testing.  The candidates' perception is
that the day of the exam makes a difference in the score that they
receive.  Questions for you:

Is this a common perception?  Is anyone aware of studies conducted to
analyze this?  What do you believe would be the best approach to study
this situation?

Thank you,
Liz Reed

Elizabeth A. Reed
Police and Fire Assessment Supervisor
Columbus Civil Service Commission
750 Piedmont Rd.
Columbus, Ohio 43224
Office: (614) 645-6032 Fax: (614) 645-0866
Email: Ereed1 at columbus.gov


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