Fire & Rescue NSW: Candidate Assessment FAQ’S

Fire & Rescue NSW have asked applicants to complete 4 assessments:

– Cognitive Ability Test
– Emotify (a game based Emotional Intelligence assessment)
– Work Safety Assessment
– Work Reliability Assessment

The best way to prepare for these tests is to ensure you complete the example questions presented at the beginning of the test. Also, that you feel as comfortable as possible before you begin your tests. You should also make sure you’re in a comfortable, distraction-free environment and are feeling relaxed, well-rested and ready to perform at your best.

Some assessments designed to identify your attitudes and opinions is not reflective of any prior study or learning, so there is no need to ‘study’ beforehand. We recommend reading the instructions carefully before you start the assessment and answering in an open and honest way.

The Cognitive Ability Test asks you to complete a series of questions that relate to verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning, to measure your critical thinking and reasoning ability. Research consistently shows that these skills are commonly linked to job performance across a broad range of job types. The test has 51 questions, which include numerical, verbal and abstract reasoning questions. Most people don’t complete all 51 questions in the allocated time, so we recommend moving as quickly as you can through the assessment and answering the questions you feel confident about, then attempting the remaining questions if you have time.

The Cognitive Ability Test is timed. You will have 20 minutes to complete as many questions as you can.

Emotify is an ability-based measure of emotional intelligence that is comprised of two separate mini-assessments: Matching Faces and Emotional Ties. These assessments have been specifically developed to assess your ability to accurately perceive emotions, and effectively understand the connections between emotions, and situations that lead to specific emotional reactions.

It contains two mini-assessments called Matching Faces and Emotional Ties. Matching faces requires you to quickly identify the emotion displayed on a person’s face, while Emotional Ties requires you to read a number of everyday situations and predict the types of emotional consequences that may arise as a result of these situations.

Before commencing the assessments, you will be provided with information about the games you will be playing, as well as a tutorial containing an example question so you can see exactly what is required of you.

Emotify is timed and takes approximately 20 minutes to complete.

The Work Safety Assessment asks questions about your attitudes and opinions towards safety at work. These questions allow an organisation to identify candidates that are well suited to its safety requirements and conditions.

You will be asked to indicate your opinion about a series of statements using a response scale. These response scales will vary throughout the assessment, so it’s important to read all questions carefully. Note: the assessment also checks for overly positive responses, so you should choose the answer that best reflects your individual attitudes, rather than how you think you ‘should’ answer. We recommend reading the instructions carefully before you start the assessment and answering in an open and honest way.

Should I respond in terms of how I behave at work, or outside of work?

This assessment is interested in your attitudes and opinions regarding the world of work, and your life more broadly. Some statements will explicitly refer to situations that involve work: For these statements, you should respond in terms of your attitudes about work. Other statements will ask about your broader hobbies, interests and opinions: For these questions we are interested in your attitudes more broadly.

The Work Reliability Scale includes questions about individual characteristics and work situations related to employee honesty and reliability, which are linked to important job-related outcomes, and allows an organisation to identify those candidates best suited to its specific work demands and conditions.

You’ll be asked to indicate your opinion about a series of statements using a response scale. These response scales will vary throughout the assessment, so it’s important to read all questions carefully.

The assessment is designed to identify your attitudes and opinions about a number of work-related issues and situations and is not reflective of any prior study or learning, no benefit is gained by “studying” for this assessment. We recommend reading the instructions carefully before you start the assessment and ensuring you are in comfortable, distraction-free environment.

The assessment is un-timed and takes approximately 10 minutes to complete.