What this preparation does not cover
RankHigh prepares all five subject areas of the written examination. There are two things it does not cover, and both are worth knowing before you buy rather than after.
- Written subject areas prepared
- Five of five
- Typing performance test
- Not prepared
- Database performance test
- Not prepared
The typing and database performance tests
Some jurisdictions attach a separate performance test for candidates who want to be considered for particular titles. Sullivan County requires candidates to qualify on a typing performance test at 35 words a minute to be certified for typing positions, and runs a separate database performance test, rated pass or fail, for database titles.
Neither is part of the five written subject areas, neither is taken by every candidate, and RankHigh does not prepare either. If your announcement mentions one, it is a keyboard and software skill to practice on a keyboard.
Which subject areas your own examination uses
RankHigh prepares all five because the guide publishes all five, and it cannot tell you which ones your exam will carry. Only your examination announcement can, and it is the first thing to read.
The same goes for anything dated or local: the fee, the sitting dates, the minimum qualifications, how long the eligible list lives and which employers it covers. Those are set by your local civil service agency, and a preparation company quoting them for you would be guessing at facts that differ county by county.
What is not published at all
It is worth being explicit about the limits of what anyone can know. The Department publishes no number of questions for this examination, no duration for any individual subject area and no weighting between them. The only time figure in the guide is an overall allowance of three hours.
So any product telling you the exam has a particular number of questions, or that one area is worth a particular share of your mark, is inventing it. RankHigh's practice tests are 50 questions in 75 minutes, and both of those figures are ours rather than the Department's.