[IPAC-List] Out-of-State Testing

[Fred Rafilson]

Folks,

I/O Solutions (for those that don't know us, we are a national provider of police and fire entrance and promotional exams) has teamed up with Pearson Vue (the global leader in computer based test delivery) to provide exams. This allows for exams to be delivered nationally, even internationally, and also throughout an extensive military base network worldwide. This might be a good solution for many agencies.

Fred M. Rafilson, Ph.D.
CEO
I/O Solutions, Inc.
888-784-1290

On Aug 16, 2013, at 11:56 AM, "keith.poole at phoenix.gov<mailto:keith.poole at phoenix.gov>" <keith.poole at phoenix.gov<mailto:keith.poole at phoenix.gov>> wrote:

Susan,
We have a procedure that was in the process of being updated but, similar to your situation, it's just not real relevant anymore with our ongoing partial hiring freeze in place since 2008.  The last out-of-state trips we did (2006-2007 time frame) were specifically for Police Recruit, back when it was nearly impossible to hire in our part of the world.  Other than that, over the years we've done a handful of single test administrations for City employees on military leave (which is specifically allowed in our procedure).   I've attached it so at least you can see a rough idea of what we used to do.

On the computerized testing question, we have recently been using existing functionality in our HRIS and applicant tracking system (PeopleSoft) to start introducing multiple-choice type questions into the online application process, basically making it an unproctored 'mini-test', for low stakes jobs.  For example, for a Library Page (book shelver), maybe 10-15 questions where they have to alphabetize a series of titles.  For customer service clerk, we provided a series of customer service scenarios where they had to pick the best approach to deal with a situation.  Yes we realize candidates can cheat but taking a casual look at the range of scores, I'm not sure that's happening to any great degree.  I think there must be a pretty large group of people in the population who don't really know that they don't really know.

We did some research a couple years ago into different computerized / online test services which I've attached.  The only thing we've done since then due to affordability is the above mentioned online test.  A couple departments that do have some funds have purchased the OPAC and CritiCall software for testing of relatively small numbers of candidates and have been happy with it.



Keith Poole
Human Resources Supervisor
City of Phoenix HR Department
135 N 2nd Ave
Phoenix, AZ  85003
Phone: (602) 262-7140
Fax: (602) 495-5498
Email:  keith.poole at phoenix.gov<mailto:keith.poole at phoenix.gov>



From:        "Maxfield, Susan - Office of Human Resources" <Susan.Maxfield at denvergov.org<mailto:Susan.Maxfield at denvergov.org>>
To:        "ipac-list at ipacweb.org<mailto:ipac-list at ipacweb.org>" <ipac-list at ipacweb.org<mailto:ipac-list at ipacweb.org>>,
Date:        08/16/2013 08:52 AM
Subject:        [IPAC-List] Out-of-State Testing
Sent by:        ipac-list-bounces at ipacweb.org<mailto:ipac-list-bounces at ipacweb.org>
________________________________



The City and County of Denver would like to know if anyone has policies in place with regard to out-of-state testing.  In particular, for those who conduct a high volume of testing (typically entry level classes).    We used to provide for hard to recruit positions but have not  done for years.  We have been receiving many requests now due to the surge of job seekers.   Currently, Denver tests approximately 10,000 job applicants a year (less than 10% of our yearly applicant pool).

In addition, we still conduct a majority of our tests in written format and are beginning to research options to integrate and computerize all of our testing.  We would like to know where other municipalities are with respect to pre-employment testing and computerized vs. written book --- or other alternatives.

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

        Susan Maxfield | Human Resources Specialist
Office of Human Resources | Talent Acquisition
City and County of Denver
720.913.5616 Phone | 720.913.5992 Fax
susan.maxfield at denvergov.org<mailto:susan.maxfield at denvergov.org>


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