Prepare for the next rank
Plain-language guides to promotional processes in police and fire, with checklists you can tick off as you go. Every agency is different: your announcement, civil service rules and contract always come first.
Law enforcement
Detective / Investigator
Detective is often an assignment, not a rank. That changes how you prepare: your file, your reports and your reputation do most of the talking.
Sergeant
The sergeant's test rewards people who stop thinking like the best patrol officer and start thinking like the person responsible for six of them.
Lieutenant
At lieutenant, panels stop asking whether you can supervise officers and start asking whether you can supervise sergeants and manage risk.
Captain
Captains are judged on outcomes over months: crime, complaints, morale, overtime and how well their lieutenants run without them.
Deputy / Assistant Chief
Above captain, most agencies appoint rather than test. Preparation becomes reputation, executive education and a record of results.
Chief of Police
Chief selections are part job interview, part public audition. Most use a recruiter, a screening panel, a community forum and final interviews with the appointing authority.
Fire service
Fire Lieutenant / Company Officer
The company officer test checks whether you can run a crew safely on the fireground and handle the people side back at the station.
Fire Captain
In many departments captain is the station or program manager. The test leans harder on administration, budgets and multi-company tactics.
Battalion Chief
Battalion chiefs command incidents and manage several stations. Assessment centers test both in the same day.
Every discipline
Any rank
Police, fire, EMS, dispatch and corrections promotions use the same building blocks. Learn how assessors score, and practice the way they score.
Paid prep courses compared
What paid promotional prep actually offers, what it costs and when free resources are enough.