Lima Civil Service board members met Tuesday evening to discuss the new testing program for city employee candidates.
Precious Grundy | The Lima News
LIMA — Local government entities are expanding their tent pegs to reach candidates outside of the area. The Lima Civil Service board met Tuesday evening to discuss a new test for employees. Previously, the City of Lima held paper testing exams on Sundays for potential workers before they could be selected for a position in the city. The new program will broaden that horizon. The Lima Civil service board approved the use of the National testing network for employment. Lima Police Department Major John Bishop weighed in on the change.
“National testing network is a way for us to get more candidates in for our law enforcement positions,” said Bishop. “It becomes difficult sometimes for people to make it to the police department or to make it to the city. In order to take the test we try and have it on the weekends when people are available but it still becomes difficult. The national testing network opens that up and allows many more people across the nation to take our tests.”
The new exam is held at various test centers across the United States. According to Bishop, Rhodes State College is currently a center for the exam. The exam will not only help police candidates but other employee candidates for the city.
“This test means a much bigger pool of candidates,” said LPD Major John Bishop. “There is a need for law enforcement everywhere. Our numbers across the country are down and we need to get good quality people in and this is how we hope to do that. The test is a video-based test the participant will sign up and take the test. There might be, for example, a traffic stop and then it will ask questions about that traffic stop and look for the appropriate answer. I believe there are parts of it that cover report writing and proper grammar.”
While taking the exam, candidates are able to choose multiple agencies around the United States to work.
“Now all of our tests are paper tests,” said Bishop. “We give the test to however many people can take it. When I took the test a couple of decades ago, we would get 400-500 people to take the test; now we get 10 or 12.”
The Lima Civil Service board also approved having an intern for the Human Resources Department and seasonal positions in the city for the GenNext program.
For more information on the exam, contact Lima Civil Service Board secretary Debra Vobbe at 419-223-7271.
Reach Precious Grundy at 567-242-0351.
