Insight, NEOGOV’s online applicant tracking and career portal, is now fully integrated with the Biddle Consulting Group employment assessment and test validation suite including:

• OPAC Office Skills Testing
• CritiCall Dispatcher Testing (if your organization has an emergency service or dispatch environment)
• ENCOUNTER office and interpersonal competence video testing
• AutoGOJA job analysis software
• ExamIn skill and ability testing scales
• TVAP Online test validation and analysis program

Earlier this week Mike Callen, Vice President of Biddle’s Product Division, and Michelle Cline, NEOGOV’s Product Manager, presented an overview webinar introducing the NEOGOV- Biddle integration. If you missed it or would like a review, the video and presentation slides are  below.

As always, please reach out to us if you have any questions!

Download the webinar presentation slides (PDF)

Additional Resources:

Video: Working Together: Biddle Consulting Group & NEOGOV
In this video, Biddle CEO Dan Biddle and NEOGOV President Scott Letourneau discuss the benefits of our new partnership and specifically what it means to clients.

 

Additional Martin Luther King, Jr. Resources:

• The King Center
• I Have a Dream
• Nobel Peace Prize 1964

Biddle Consulting Group will be closed on Monday, January 21, 2013
for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Would you like to learn more about
the TactiCall Dispatcher Training Software?

• Download the TactiCall information flyer (PDF)
• Call Jerry or Kim at (800) 999-0438 ext. 124 or 139

With Biddle Consulting Group and NEOGOV working together, public and private organizations are offered a fully integrated HR solution. Our partnership integrates Insight –  NEOGOV’s recruiting, selection & applicant tracking tool –  and the Biddle Consulting Group pre-employment testing products consisting of  OPAC Office Skills Testing, CritiCall 911 Dispatcher Testing,  and ExamIn online pre-employment assessments. Also included in the integration is the AutoGOJA job analysis software by Biddle. 

For more information on how this could benefit your organization, 
please contact us at (800)999-0438.
Also visit www.criticall911.com/neogovpartner.

Resource for developing balanced & defensible assessments

Dan Biddle, Ph.D. and Stacy L. Bell-Pilchard, M.S. recently published Testing in the Fire Service Industry: A Handbook for Developing Balanced and Defensible Assessments.  It provides steps that will help ensure that your public safety selection procedures are developed in a fair and valid manner.  In addition, the authors give step-by-step guidelines on how to complete a defensible validation study using court-endorsed methodologies.

Book features include:

• Up-to-date information on EEO testing in the fire service industry
• Identification of testing issues that will likely trigger a lawsuit
• Steps on validating tests using content and criterion-related validity
• Results from a national study which reveal the key competencies that should be measured to identify successful firefighter candidates
• Appropriate uses of test results
• Detailed description of validating a physical ability test for candidates and incumbents
• Checklists to use for evaluating the validity of pre-employment and promotional selection assessments

Visit http://fpsi.com/fire-service-testing-book.html to purchase Testing in the Fire Service Industry: A Handbook for Developing Balanced and Defensible Assessments by Dan A. Biddle, Ph.D. and Stacy L. Bell-Pilchard.  ISBN: 978-0-7414-7349-3

About the Authors:

Daniel A. Biddle, Ph.D. Dan is the CEO of Fire & Police Selection, Inc. (FPSI), a firm dedicated to providing fair and defensible testing solutions to the protective services industry. Dan is also the CEO of Biddle Consulting Group, Inc., (BCG), a consulting firm specializing in the areas of test development and validation, Equal Employment Opportunity compliance, and Human Resource software development. Dan has over 20 years of experience in the EEO analysis and test validation fields.

Stacy L. Bell-Pilchard, M.S. Stacy is the Executive Vice President of Fire & Police Selection, Inc. (FPSI). Stacy has a Master’s degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology and 15 years of experience in the field. She is an expert at developing and validating tests and measures for pre-employment and promotional processes with the protective services industry and is the project manager of all test development and validation studies conducted at FPSI.

Contact information for Fire & Police Selection, Inc.:

Fire & Police Selection, Inc.
193 Blue Ravine, Suite 270
Folsom, CA 95630
U.S.A
800.990.3473

www.FPSI.com

I have been involved with test writing and development in the public sector since 1992, and CritiCall is one of the best testing tools for public safety dispatching I have ever seen. Not only does it allow for customization to the individual organizational needs, it provides a built-in validation module which is extremely easy for subject matter experts and HR analysts to use and understand. Candidates frequently tell me they have never taken a test which is so closely relates to what they do on the job. After I demonstrated this product to another agency in our valley, they purchased it immediately! I’d recommend this product to any public sector organization that wants a valid and reliable tool for their public dispatching recruitment process.

Jeanne Hudgins
Senior Employment Analyst
City of Henderson (Nevada)

From: **********
Sent: Friday, February 17, 2012 6:50 AM
To: Info@CritiCall911.com
Subject: Thank you
To whom it may concern,

I just participated in a testing session with the ******  Police for a position as a Dispatcher. I have 6 1/2 years experience in this field. I have been actively looking for a new job in this same field. In the process, I have taken numerous different tests. For the first time I tested with the Criticall software system. I have never been impressed with testing….until yesterday! I believe that you have hit the nail on the head with this testing system. It covered ALL of the areas that are necessary for a successful Dispatcher. I was thrilled to see a spelling section (one of my pet peeves). Thank you for providing a program that should be used by ALL agencies in their hiring process for Dispatchers.

I normally don’t take the time to write to a company, but felt this time it was warranted. My husband told me I should be a representative for your company since I came home so excited about the program. I wish you success and hope to see this type of testing at the remainder of the positions I apply for.

H**** P****
____________________________

Thank you, HP! We truly appreciate your taking time to share your feedback with us.
We wish you all the best in your career!

The following is quoted directly from http://www.911dispatch.com/info/QandA3.html. 

Q. How much does it cost to train a dispatcher?

A. I think the question you’re really asking is, “How much did we spend when a dispatcher leaves just after we finished training him/her?” Well, the basic question is pretty simple to figure out, based on your local pay rates– we’ve used the national average from our Job Openings page and training period of six months–plug in your own cost figures.

• Pay of the dispatcher in training x 6 months = $14,268
• Pay of trainer = $14,981 (+5% bonus)
• Pay for dispatcher to fill empty position of trainer = $21,402 (time and one-half overtime)
• Miscellaneous overtime for trainer = $983 (2 hours per week)
• Miscellaneous supplies (books, binders, etc.) = $100
• Supervisor admin time = $1,081 (2 hours per week, +10% pay step)

Total =$52,815

Note that this does not include the cost of overtime to fill the empty position the trainee will eventually fill. It also doesn’t include the pay of anyone assising in the training, such as firefighters, officers or paramedics.As mentioned above, if a trainee drops out after the training is completed, you’ll really end up adding this person’s cost to the cost of the next person you train. If you end up training four people to get one dispatcher who stays on, you’ve spent over $200,000 for one position. Yikes!

Find out how CritiCall can help your agency save money in the dispatcher hiring process. 

Request more information today!

CalNENA Conference
January 30, 2012
San Diego, CA
Presentation: Jim Kuthy, Ph.D.

NENA Conference
June 11-12, 2012
Long Beach, CA

APCO International Conference
August 7-9, 2012
Minneapolis, MN