I had 3 years of night school before i took my exam. Took tons of practice exams in that time. I reread all of those and highlighted the answers in my code book. EVERY single question on the code portion of the exam had the answer already highlighted in my book. Got a 98% on that portion of the exam.

 

When I write an exam, I go through and answer the easy questions first. Then I go back and work on the more difficult ones. Sometimes there are answers in other questions and sometimes answers just come into your head as your working. Calculations I leave to the end. In a multiple choice exam, ten minutes spent on calculations is hardly worth it if you run out of time and miss easy ones.

It sounds like anxiety is getting to you. You probably have the knowledge but your nerves are getting in the way.

 

You are dead on. I don't know what happened to me. I was shaking so bad I was having rouble turning pages. Fuc*ing weird I know....I just don't know how to keep that from happening again. I have one more try at it, and then have to wait a calendar year to retest. I took tons of practice exams, was averaging 80% on them, then the real test comes and 99% of the questions I never seen. I never studied motor control diagrams. I had 3 questions on that. They had a diagram, and asked "If button A was pushed it would do this" If button B was pushed it would do this" Now I know what a start and stop button looks like, I didn't yesterday. The diagrams did not say start or stop, you had to know the symbols.

 

A shot of Wild Turkey chased by a shot of Fireball on the next test.

 

He wanted to know how to pass the exam, not how survive 2 days of continuing ed:vs_laugh::vs_laugh:

 

I tried to remember some of the ones I didn't know so I could look them up later. I was so nervous that I could not find LOW VOLTAGE in the index.... as soon as I got out to my car... there it was... ugh

 

No one cares if you took multiple times to pass as long as you pass. Get right back on the horse...

 

He has one more try and then he has to wait a year to write again.

 

Ok, take a test prep class and get back on the horse. Sounds like you’re close.

 

It's interesting that you can bring your own books, with the Certificate of Qualification (Journeyman test) you walk in and are given a pencil, calculator and a new Canadian code book. When you walk out, you walk out in a daze according to most of the journeymen I've talked to.

 

The advantage of a real code book made out of paper is that you can write your own notes in it. As far as I’m concerned, you should be able to bring your own code book into the exam. If it contains notes you have written to yourself, that’s not cheating, it’s the code book you use in the real world.

 

I always found it confusing that conspicuous was to openly display while conceal was to hide. Conspicuous is suspicious indeed!

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

Get some test prep and pass it’s worth the investment. You’re close. Make the effort to to push it over the edge. Pass is good as 100%. You can do it.

 

I paid for practice tests on test.com, I was hitting 80-89%, with time to spare. then the real test kicked my butt and had me froze. I just signed up for a IN PERSON test prep class. 350 bucks, 2 days, 8 hours a day. Thing that sucks is that it is an hour and 40 minutes away from me. I am doing it anyway. Hope it works!!! Thank you for the encouragement.

 

It's an investment in yourself. I took test prep for my journeymans and it helped me get through the first time. I can't remember whether I took it for my masters or not. Can't remember what I had for breakfast either.

 

I am so happy to here you say that! I was hoping a real class would push me over the finish line. I feel better now. I was so damn nervous the first time I almost just froze up, could barely turn the damn pages..very weird..I know

 

We all have our strengths. One thing (maybe the only thing) I learned in college was how to take tests, but I still felt like I needed help. Feeling like you are better prepared will help with the nerves. The things I was worried about were the calculations, services, motors, tranformers etc, which I really didn't do all that often. I spend most of my time doing service and now generators, so I'd still have to brush up on those things if I had to take the test again.

 

I did good on the calculations. Outside of running out of time, My biggest problems were motor controller schematics, some parts of motors in general, and our state codes. All the studying I did, and I forgot that OCP for motors in the NEC was pretty much called something different. I was not prepared to be asked how big a hand hole has to be on a light pole, and had no clue where to find it, even after studying this damn NEC for a month.

 

actually, what that guy/he said would be helpful for sure. it all depends on what you know first hand. if you know your code book well enough to kno where to find stuff or where to find where you need to look, you'll be fine with that portion. but the intangibles, ie the stuff you learn on the job etc is basically the rest of it/mostly...depending on where you work, you may not know nothing about crane signals, or remember stuff about ladder safety or fire extinguisher classes or CPR.. lol,, sry.


or god forbid, stuff about motors and their winding characteristics etc..

 

You should have plenty of time to not only finish the test but to check answers as well.
Here is what I did.

When I took the test maybe like 7 out of the first 10 questions were on motors and these all required me to do calculations of some sort.
I did the first motor question and it took awhile so the little clock went off in my head because I am wondering if I will be doing calculations that take time the whole exam--this wasn't the case but what I did was skip those questions and went through the test doing the questions I knew the answers to and then went back and did the questions I skipped.

When you take the test again, try this method as it will keep you from getting nervous. I had more than enough time to check and even recheck(waste of time and not needed but your nerves kick)
Good luck.

 

So... Go through once and answer all the one's I know 100%. Then go through again and answer the one's I am sure I can find fast, then the rest? right? seems like if I can just get the first 2 steps done, I will be at or over 60 questions right, and I pass.

 

By the way, the class was great. I had a lot of fun while learning. I would recommend Dandy Education to anyone in MI.

 

Hopefully that gets you into passing territory. Best of luck. Let us know.

 

I see this posted quite often, it’s about how to take a test. I see the logic in it.




TEST TAKERS.

I've seen a lot of people lately testing. Here's a proven test taking method that produces high success rates.

Feel free to add your own tips to help the group.

Cheers.

Its a common misconception here that you need to memorize the NEC. Taking tests is an art all on its own. Here is what I have found is the best method to taking tests, especially code related tests. Its called the WAVE method. ****MAKE SURE YOU STAY DEDICATED TO THE TIMING AND POLICE YOURSELF********. 1. FIRST WAVE- You scan through the entire test from beginning to end. You only answer questions that you know off the top of your head. Do not spend more than 3-5 seconds thinking about them. 2. SECOND WAVE- same method but spend 30 seconds thinking about some of the questions you saw. DO NOT USE THE CODE BOOK YET. 3. THIRD WAVE- This is where you will use the code book. Do not spend more than 1-2 minutes searching for the answers. 4. FOURTH WAVE- Do not spend more than 3-5 minutes looking for the answers. By this time, you will have 70-85% of the test answered. 5. FIFTH WAVE- answer all of the harder questions in order of difficulty. This method has multiple benefits....You do not leave simple unanswered items; by going through in waves, you will run across the answers for other questions by happenstance. (I typically feel this happens for about 5-10 questions or so..);also builds confidence being that you have a sense of accomplishment and will not feel as rushed towards the end. I used to teach test taking classes and this method produced a high success rate.

 

I think it depends how the questions are weighted. If each question carries equal points, then it makes sense to go through the easy ones first and leave the calculations for last. But in my state, they changed the questions so that they are weighted differently. Because of that, you’d be wasting time reading through multiple times.

 

In Ohio , they are equal.

I could see how passing there would be harder.

I take it the easier ones are worth less points?

 

materials

Got a question about the test: Do you get "tables" to refer to when it come wire size, loads VA, etc?

 

Test Question - California

When taking the Jman's test do they give you "tables" to work by? I.e. cable sizing, conduit sizing, demand factor etc?

 

When taking the Jman's test do they give you "tables" to work by? I.e. cable sizing, conduit sizing, demand factor etc?

They don't tell you what table it is, but yes... you have to use the tables a lot. They will ask something like.... What size GEC do you need for a 200a service on a dwelling. Since GEC's only go by wire size on the table, you would have to go to the ampacities table, find the conductor size, then go back to the EGC table and find the GEC size. BUT WAIT!!! You forgot to multiply that 200 amps by 83% first, because it's a dwelling. FUN stuff man!:surprise:

 

Wait! I live in a dwelling! Does that count?

 

Just joking.

 

Just retook the test and passed!! It is finally over!

 

Nice Work Jarrydee




Congratulation, you put down life's distractions long enough to concentrate on the problem at hand. Keep that attitude in the back of your head as you progress through your life and career.



You can do whatever you set your mind to. But don't quit learning now. The more you know, the more valuable you become to society.

 

how much for your study materials?

 

I failed after spending money on on-line practice tests, I have the mike holt book to.. That in person prep class is what did it for me. i ran out of time last time. this time i was done and still had 80 min. left. I passed with 85% after an hour and 10 minutes. Find a local prep class. I had to drive 2 hours to my prep class, and stayed in a hotel for the weekend. it was worth it

 

Oh yeah, congrats!!

 

Awesome