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The Fighting 6019 is holding a protest rally at noon today in Union Square. Who are the Fighting 6019? They are a group of FDNY hopefuls who are upset with the Firefighter civil service exam given in January by the Department of Citywide Administrative Services. Among the problems alleged with the exam: nearly half the questions had more than one correct answer, 105 of the 150 questions were hypothetical in nature, proctors were ill-prepared, and the widespread use of cellphones during the exam.
Previous exams, which are given only once every four years, consisted of multiple choice questions designed to test reading comprehension and basic learning skills. Candidates who used exam prep materials were surprised to see questions such as "Imagine you are a senior firefighter witnessing a heated dispute between firehouse members over whether to buy a communal big-screen TV or workout bench. Would it be: A) highly desirable B) desirable, C) neutral, D) undesirable or E) highly undesirable to raise your hand and say that 'only lazy couch potatoes would be in favor of the television?"
The DCAS counters that the questions were designed to assess "a variety of abilities, including memorization, reasoning and judgement" and was developed with input from firefighters and fire officers.
An anonymous FDNY source told the Post that the changed format suggested that the city saw the test as less of hiring filter than the training period, which was recently extended from 13 to 23 weeks.
The correct answers for the question are D and E.
Firefighters battling a car fire on Third Ave by jeanettics on Flickr.
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This is surprising?
Did any of them ever taken a civil service exam before? Those are the type of idiotic questions one should expect.
The reason? It's an OPEN exam, meaning anyone can take it. It's very entry level.
Or, maybe these guys didn't have a good ole boy network to help them.
No, many open competitive civil service tests are quite difficult. But these are in titles where the city hasn't been sued for discriminating against black applicants. As DCAS is surely aware, a challenging exam means an exam which few blacks pass.
And you would rather have have an idiot come fight your fire or save your life?
Firefighting is VERY technical. Questions like that should not have been on the test, and there many other completely irrellavant questions. No I am not on the FDNY. No I did not take, nor ever have taken the test. DCAS F'd this up big time, all the way down to administering the test.
You know, it helps to read the entire article rather than Gothamist's summary. The article says the test was dumbed down, most questions had more than one correct answer, and only 490 of 23,000 test-takers are protesting. Sounds like sour grapes to me rather than any kind of legitimate problem.
The real problem is the prep materials issue. I had the same problem with a different open competitive civil service test -- the materials that the union used had absolutely nothing to do with the test itself. DCAS needs to put together a legitimate study guide, especially if they've created a new test that is radically different from ones given in the past.
Quit bitchin ! You all complained that the FDNY was discriminating against Women, Blacks, and Asians . You finally get the chance to take the test with a real chance to get the damn job and what happens ? You all cry about how stupid the questions are ! If the planners constructed the questions to be difficult those complaining would say "It's to hard, They purposely put questions that were to hard for us to answer correctly "! Just go to the store (Where they sell the study manuals for these exams ) buy your copy, Study it and prepare yourself for the test like I did . Hopefully then you'll past and get the job .
On a side note, If you want to complain about something the city does . Try complaining about what happens after you take the test, Get your results a few months later, Realize you've passed with a high mark, Then watch as those that scored way lower then you get the job while your still waiting for the call ! By the way it's called the "One in three rule" . Where the administrators making the decisions choosing who gets the jobs based on their ideals. Sometimes they start at the top of the list, Sometimes it's the middle, Other times it's the bottom .
Still Not Amused: that's not how things work. They call groups of people, starting from the top of the list. Then they have to interview 3 people for each position and choose 1 of them. That's the 1-in-3 rule.
To be technical about it (on DCAS's website):
One in Three Rule: Under New York State Civil Service Law, this rule provides City agencies with the discretion when hiring to select one of the three eligibles scoring highest on the ranked eligible list of exam passers.