Working in a federal department is incredibly satisfying, making federal jobs attractive to a large number of people—generally more than the available vacancies.
Federal departments use DCAS exams to filter out the best candidates from the thousands that apply for a position. In this article, we’ll walk you through the general process of DCAS exams. We’ll also talk about the skills you’ll need to ace the exams and how to train those skills.
So without further ado, let’s jump right into it.
Federal Exams: What You Need To Know
Civil service exams usually have strict and well-defined assessment criteria which you have to meet to pass the exam. For example, in the written part of the upcoming sanitation exam 2060 DCAS, you need at least a score of 70% to clear it. Other exams, such as the physical FDNY exam, also have a time limit, and you fail if you can’t complete all the tasks before the clock runs out.
These strict criteria eliminate a lot of candidates, but still more people pass all the exams than the available vacancies. This is why passing the exam doesn’t guarantee a position in the federal department. Those who pass are competed against each other based on their performance in different parts of the exam, the written exam being the most important. Those with higher scores get recruited, while the rest get rejected.
So how do you pass the exam and beat the competition? Well, the first step is knowing the skills they test in the exam.
Skills You Need to Pass the Federal Exams
Observation Skills
The written exam is the first and most important part of all civil service exams. This exam is nothing like what you’re used to. The exam gives you all the information you need to answer the questions, and you don’t need to know any technicalities about working in the department to pass the exam. Instead, these exams test your ability to process the information given in the exam.
The first set of skills you need for this is observation. You have to observe and make notes of all the information you’re given in the exam. Every bit of information can prove useful somewhere, and you can’t afford to waste time reading again and again.
Cognitive Abilities
Cognition is absolutely essential for NYC police officers and firefighters. Cognitive ability questions form a good portion of the Suffolk Police Exam and the FDNY Exam, but they’re also common in the NYC Sanitation Exam. Here’s how the exam tests your cognition.
First, you’re asked to read a passage that gives you all the information you need to answer the associated questions. After the passage, you’re given some multiple-choice questions related to it. The problem is that the answers to these multiple-choice questions are not directly given in the passage. You have to use your cognitive abilities to deduce new facts from the given ones. This ability is fundamental to intelligence.
Health and Physical Abilities
Civil service entrance exams include a medical assessment that looks for any long-term, genetic and degenerative diseases that may impair your ability to do the job. However, some departments also have a dedicated physical exam that tests your ability to perform physical tasks. These exams usually give you limited time to complete all the tasks, and if you get exhausted in the middle, you fail.
The FDNY exam has the Candidate Physical Ability Test, while the NYC Sanitation exam has its famous “superhuman test.” In most physical exams, strength isn’t the limiting factor for most candidates; it’s endurance. The time limit usually ranges from 3 to 7 minutes, and you have to have a constant energy output throughout this duration. People who don’t exercise or only do hypertrophy training often find the physical exams difficult.
How to Train For the Federal Entrance Exams
Getting proper sleep every night can make a huge difference in observation skills, cognition, and physical abilities. You can increase your endurance for the physical exam by going on a run every day or doing high-intensity interval training. However, the best way to train for exactly what they ask in the written exam is by taking preparation classes. We recommend Civil Service Success.
Civil Service Success has been hosting civil service preparation classes in NYC for over 45 years. Their preparation classes for the upcoming Sanitation Exam 2060 DCAS and starting soon, and the admissions are open. They also host Nassau and Suffolk Police Exam Prep Classes and NYC Firefighter Exam Prep Classes.
Want to train yourself to give your best performance on the exam? Contact them now!
