Getting back into the world of academics to begin your firefighter promotional exam prep can be overwhelming at first. As you begin this journey to passing your firefighter promotional exam be sure to avoid these common study mistakes to save yourself a lot of time and energy.
Over Studying
One thing you want to avoid, especially as you just get back into studying, is studying too much. This may seem misleading, because the more you study the more you know right, but when you first begin to study the chances of getting overwhelmed by the material are much greater. Start with short study sessions to see how your brain can handle all of the new information. Studying too much at once can ultimately reduce retention of the information because it is just too much for your mind to handle. This ultimately results in you needing to study more in the end than if you had just studied in more manageable chunks of time. Your brain needs time to process all that it is absorbing and essentially to learn and adjust to studying. As you go you may be able to study for longer chunks and even more material.
Shortcuts
As a new learner you may hit the internet to find new ways to study and come across many shortcut methods of studying. While some of these shortcuts may be effective and worthwhile, you will still need to put in the full workload if you want to pass the firefighter promotional exam and go on to be successful in your new career. You cannot skip the reading and jump straight to just taking online practice tests and still succeed. While online practice tests are an amazing resource that you should utilize to help you study for your exam, they shouldn't be the only thing you do. You still need to read, make your own study guides, and so on to actually be successful and master the material. You may scrape by and pass the written exam by taking shortcuts, but in the end your lack of true knowledge of the information will come at some point during the promotion process if you take shortcuts. You may end up having to do the process all over again if this happens.
Ignoring Feedback
Studying for your firefighter promotional exam can be a lonely journey. There is no teacher to guide you and no classmate to go to for help, you are on this journey alone at the end of the day. There are ways to find people to help you on this journey such as a mentor who has been through the process before and other firefighters you can make study groups with. However, these people will only benefit you if you allow them to by taking their feedback to heart. It is hard to hear negative feedback from your peers and mentors, even when it comes from a place of support. However, the biggest gift you can give yourself during this promotion process is to listen to the feedback others are giving you and work on those areas of yourself. Whether a study buddy tells you you need to work on a specific topic before you study again, or your mentor points out that you seem distracted lately and need to refocus. Take those words to heart, because at the end of the day you asked these people for help, so let them help you. In the end you will likely realize they were right at some point and wished you had listened.
Disorganization
Disorganization can be a killer when it comes to studying for your firefighter promotional exam. If you want to be successful and not waste a whole lot of time, you need some sort of study organization. Know where your study materials are, have a special place for them such as a backpack or spot in your office. Know when and where you are going to study and even what material you will be covering before you start. Make a plan at the beginning of each week or even month. If you don’t know where your stuff is or when and what you are going to study you will spend so much time each time trying to figure it out. Time that could be better spent studying and learning. It can also just be really frustrating and leave you feeling flustered by the time you actually start studying which can ruin your entire study session before you even start.
The Takeaway
Getting back into the habit of studying can be an adjustment. Save yourself a lot of time and energy by staying organized, taking feedback from those around you to heart, putting in the real work and skipping the shortcuts, and not overwhelming your brain by taking it slow and steady. If you avoid these common study mistakes the chances of passing your firefighter promotional exam are high.