7.1 Role Fitness Questionnaire, Personal Self-Assessment & PSSA Part 1
Key Takeaways
NTN's Express exam includes a Role Fitness Questionnaire that measures call center suitability, job compatibility, and work-specific personality dimensions.
The Data Entry and Computer Simulations test opens with a Personal Self-Assessment, which NTN describes as a questionnaire measuring work-specific attitudes.
Emergency Communications candidates take only Part 1 of NTN's Public Safety Self Assessment: agree/disagree statements, up to 45 minutes, timed, with no skipping.
NTN does not publish the scored dimensions, item counts, or cut points for these questionnaires, and candidates cannot see their PSSA scores.
The best approach is honest, consistent answers that describe how you actually behave at work, read carefully because wording can reverse direction.
The ECOMM's ability subtests show whether you can take calls and track units. Agencies also want to know whether the work will suit you: rotating shifts, recorded calls, strict procedures, and long stretches of routine broken by sudden crises. NTN offers three self-description tools for emergency communications candidates. Each agency decides which to use and how much weight to give them.
The Three Questionnaires at a Glance
| Component | Where it appears | What NTN says it measures or contains | What NTN publishes about the format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Role Fitness Questionnaire | Express exam | "Call center suitability and job compatibility, as well as work-specific personality dimensions" | No item count, time, or format details |
| Personal Self-Assessment | First part of the Data Entry and Computer Simulations test | "A questionnaire that measures work-specific attitudes" | Taken at home through your NTN account |
| Public Safety Self Assessment (PSSA), Part 1 | Online component of the NTN application | Statements you rate by how much you agree or disagree | Up to 45 minutes, timed, one sitting, no skipping; the timer does not stop |
Two PSSA details are easy to miss. Emergency Communications candidates take only Part 1; Part 2, a 90-minute assessment with photo-based judgment items, applies to other careers. You also cannot see your PSSA score, and NTN shares it only with agencies that use it.
What NTN does not publish matters just as much: the personality dimensions scored, the number of items, the scoring key, any cut point, or whether any score is pass/fail. Treat any source that claims to know the exact "dimensions NTN scores" or the "right answers" with suspicion.
What "Call Center Suitability" Looks Like in 911 Work
NTN's phrase points to the realities of the job. Think honestly about how you respond to each one. These are job demands, not a list of NTN's scored scales.
| Job reality in a 911 center | Work style that fits it | Warning signs to reflect on |
|---|---|---|
| Phones, radio, and computer screens for a full shift at one console | Sustained attention; comfort with sitting and multitasking | Needing frequent movement or variety to stay engaged |
| Nights, weekends, holidays, and mandatory overtime | Dependability; willingness to plan life around a schedule | Frequent lateness or missed commitments |
| Callers who are frightened, rude, intoxicated, or abusive | Patience; not taking insults personally | Quick temper; arguing to win |
| Strict procedures, recorded calls, quality review | Following rules; accepting feedback | Resenting correction; improvising around procedures |
| Long quiet periods broken by sudden crises | Shifting from calm to intense focus | Losing focus during quiet stretches; panicking under sudden load |
| A small team in one room for 10 to 12 hours | Cooperation; helping coworkers; resolving friction directly | Avoiding conflict until it boils over; refusing to pitch in |
| Exposure to traumatic calls without seeing the outcome | Healthy coping; using support | Bottling up stress; relying on unhealthy outlets |
Job compatibility is a two-way question. If several warning signs describe you, that is useful information before you commit to a career built around shift work and stressful calls (Section 7.2).
How to Answer Agree/Disagree Statements Well
Workplace questionnaires in general reward honest, consistent, carefully read answers. NTN does not describe the internal design of its questionnaires, but these habits are sound for any of them:
- Describe how you actually behave at work, not how an ideal employee would. Base answers on real situations from jobs, school, sports, or volunteering.
- Read every word. Statements can be phrased in either direction ("I stay calm when..." vs. "I get flustered when..."). Agreeing with both shows careless reading, not virtue.
- Avoid claiming perfection. Statements such as "I have never lost my temper" or "I never feel tired after a long day" describe almost no one. Many workplace inventories are built to notice implausibly perfect self-descriptions, so the honest answer is also the safer one.
- Use the middle of the scale when it is true. Strong agreement or disagreement on everything is rarely accurate.
- Keep moving. PSSA Part 1 is timed, cannot be skipped, and must be finished in one sitting. First honest reactions are usually the most accurate ones.
| Example statement style | Answer that may look implausible | Honest, credible answer |
|---|---|---|
| "I never feel frustrated when I'm interrupted." | Strongly agree | Disagree or neutral: everyone feels it; what matters is how you respond |
| "I have made mistakes at work." | Strongly disagree | Agree: everyone has; owning them is a strength |
| "I follow procedures even when I think a shortcut would work." | Depends on you | Answer truthfully; the job does require following procedures |
| "I stay calm when someone yells at me." | Strongly agree, if you have never tested it | Base it on a real example from your experience |
Can You Prepare?
You cannot study for a self-description, but you can prepare in three honest ways:
- Reflect beforehand. Recall concrete times you handled stress, criticism, a difficult person, a rule you disliked, and a schedule you had to keep. Real examples make answers quicker and more consistent.
- Learn the job's realities. Read job postings, ask current dispatchers about shift work, or ask whether an agency offers sit-alongs. Knowing the job makes "job compatibility" items easier to answer truthfully.
- Be consistent with later steps. Emergency communications hiring commonly continues with interviews, background investigations, and sometimes psychological evaluations. Answers that reflect who you really are hold up across every step.
Which part of NTN's Public Safety Self Assessment do Emergency Communications candidates take?
Both Part 1 and Part 2, in one 135-minute session at a test center
Part 2 only, because it includes photo-based judgment items
Part 1 only: agree/disagree statements, up to 45 minutes
Neither part, because dispatcher candidates are exempt from the PSSA
A candidate taking an agree/disagree questionnaire is tempted to strongly agree with "I never feel tired after a long shift" because it sounds like what an agency wants. What is the better approach?
Answer honestly: perfection claims are implausible, and honest answers hold up in later hiring steps
Strongly agree, because self-assessment questionnaires always reward the most positive answer available
Skip the statement, since PSSA Part 1 lets candidates leave items blank
Choose answers at random to avoid revealing any personality pattern
What does NTN say the Role Fitness Questionnaire in the Express exam measures?
Typing speed and accuracy on dispatch-style passages, scored in words per minute
Call center suitability, job compatibility, and work-specific personality dimensions
Knowledge of ten-codes, radio procedures, and the hiring agency's written policies
Physical readiness for long console shifts, including posture, endurance, and hearing
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.