NYPD car parked outside a station

4 Ways to Improve Your Chances of Getting a Federal Job

New York City employs more than 325,000 civil service workers in different federal departments. The busiest city in the US is also home to some of the highest-paying civil service departments in the country.

This is why thousands of interested candidates appear in DCAS exams held throughout the year. Every candidate is evaluated strictly based on their competence for the job. The only way to increase your chances is actually to get better at the required skills. There’s no way around it.

This article discusses four ways to improve your competency in the recruitment process and increase your chances of landing the job. However, before we get into that, let’s take a moment to discuss what exactly increases your chances.

A parked NYPD vehicleHow You’re Evaluated For a Federal Job 

Federal departments have well-defined point-based criteria for evaluation to give all interested candidates a fair chance. After applying for a civil service department position, you become eligible to appear in the next entrance exam. Federal departments evaluate your candidacy purely from the entrance exam.

In the DSNY, you become an eligible candidate once you do competitively well in the written exam (we’ll get to what that means in a moment). In the fire department, too, you have to do competitively well in the computer-based FDNY exam. There are other stages of the hiring process, such as physical and medical exams. However, whether you get there depends on how you do in the entrance exam.

Here’s what we meant by “competitively well.” Once you pass the entrance exam, a ranking report is created for you, and all the other candidates, called the hiring list. This list ranks all the candidates in terms of their scores in the exam. When there is a position in your interested department, they call the candidate from the top of the list to continue their recruitment process. The physical exam, the medical tests, the psychological evaluation—everything comes after.

So, if you’ve just applied for the NYC Sanitation exam, your primary focus should be on preparing for the written DCAS exam. If you did good in the exam, you could be called any day for physical and other exams. Understanding this is important. Knowing which of the ways discussed below is important in the recruitment process phase.

With that out of the way, here are some ways to do competitively well in the recruitment process and improve your chances of getting the federal job you want.

Person sleeping with low-blue light glasses in hand1. Get Plenty of Sleep

You might not realize this, but proper sleep is your greatest ally for NYC civil service exams. The computerized exam doesn’t have any descriptive questions. You’re not asked anything technical about the department or the job either. There are only multiple-choice questions that test your cognitive capabilities in different ways. These include memorization, problem-solving, spatial orientation, arithmetic ability, and various other natural abilities depending on the department.

You can improve these abilities by taking preparation classes. However, your ability to train yourself for these exams is limited. Your brain can only potentially solve problems if you have enough working memory and analytical ability. The easiest way you can improve this potential is by improving your sleep.

This means taking more or less 8 hours of sleep every night, depending on your needs. Sleeping at the same time every day can also help you get appropriate amounts of NREM and REM sleep. If possible, try not to set alarms and let your circadian rhythm wake you when it’s time. Also, limit your exposure to blue light before going to bed.

2. Exercise For Endurance

If you excel at your DCAS exam, it won’t be long before you’re called to continue your recruitment process. The NYC Sanitation Exam, the Suffolk Police Exam, and NYC Firefighter Exam are all followed by a physical exam as the next stage. The rigor of the exam depends on the department, but they all have one thing in common.

Person performing endurance exerciseThe physical exam for federal jobs tests your endurance more than anything else. You need some strength to perform the tasks—but you don’t necessarily need to be Arnold Schwarzenegger to pass the physical FDNY exam. Most people struggle with having to perform demanding tasks for several minutes straight without catching a breath.

You can improve your endurance by performing physical activities that improve your lung function. Exercises such as brisk walking, jogging, running, high-intensity interval training, and rope skipping improve your body’s ability to use oxygen for energy. This limits the amount of lactic acid produced from anaerobic respiration and allows you to produce large amounts of energy for longer. This is just what you’ll need in the physical exam.

3. Figure Out Your Motivation

The FDNY conducts an interview right after you attempt the NYC Firefighter Exam. Other departments may call you for the interview at other points of the recruitment process. One of the most important qualities these interviews look for is motivation.

If you want to become a firefighter to save lives, you’ll probably do amazing in the interview. However, if your main motivation to join the FDNY is being able to brag about it, you have some work to do. Figure out what exactly it is about the job that connects with you. Most civil service jobs are, of course, civil services. You won’t have much trouble finding the right motivation if you consider it.

Person preparing for the Nassau Police Exam4. Enroll in Preparation Classes

These ways can only get you so far. Enroll in preparation classes for DCAS exams that teach you how to give your best at every step of the process. At Civil Service Success, our classes are taught by instructors who’ve led successful careers in various federal departments. We’re uniquely qualified to prepare you for the NYC Sanitation Exam, Nassau Police Exam, FDNY Exam, and various other civil service exams in NYC.

Want to maximize your chances of getting a federal job? Get in touch now!

  • Scroll to Top