be a firefighter

You must be strong – very strong. Work your shoulders, forearms (grip) and legs – hard! Learn to master the CPAT (especially the stair climber). Run 1.5 miles fast until it is easy. Read, read, read – Fire Periodicals, Fire engineering. Fire Chief, etc. Practice vocabulary, IQ tests, puzzles, any kind of Q and A multiple choice test you can get your hands on, even the Arco books. You may not see any of the questions again but the practice for timing and finding the correct answer among the multiple choice distractors is priceless. Do memory tests where you look at a map for several minutes, take it away and answer questions about it. Keep your mind active, stay away from the TV. Surf the Internet – look for practice tests/questions from various departments. They are out there! Talk to people who have taken the exams. Better yet – go take an exam for a department you may or may not want to be a part of – study this test – memorize all you can. When you leave – write everything you remember down. Get a couple of guys together and you can duplicate the test. I have done it before. Finally – go into the testing process with the mind frame that if there is only 1 position available – it will be yours. Shoot for number one. Read. Workout.