Louisiana 8100 Professional Level Exam Online Prep

Written Communication (English Grammar): This section of the PLE exam covers candidates’ proficiency of English usage and ability to identify grammar-related errors. Questions may vary between sentence-completions (identifying the best word to complete the “blank” in the sentence), spotting errors in sentences (vocabulary, punctuation, grammar), or organizing a set of sentences to form the most coherent and logical sequence.

Interpreting Written Material (Reading Comprehension): This section on the PLE may present candidates with several reading passages, which they are required to evaluate and sequentially draw logical conclusions in order to answer questions. These questions essentially measure candidates’ abilities to understand the complex material, similar to the documents of policies, reports, and procedures that they may encounter in the professional career.

Communication and Interaction with Others: Questions of this sort are similar to situational judgment questions; candidates must imagine themselves in the role of professional state employees and answer these PLE questions based on typical situations they may encounter during the work day. They are required to choose the answer that they deem best achieves the desired objective of the situation or the most appropriate and professional reaction to a certain problem. Professional level jobs require high skills in communication, cooperation, understanding, and resolving disagreements.

Problem Solving: These PLE exam questions are presented in a wide variety of formats that will test a candidate’s logical reasoning, critical thinking, and data analysis skills. Often, information will be presented in the form of a chart, table, or graph that requires candidates to analyze and manipulate the data. This may include interpreting the larger objective the information presents, or mathematically computing basic arithmetic such as ratios and averages. Civil service professional jobs available through the Professional Level Exam require employees to be able to conceptualize and accurately evaluate certain needs, circumstances and concerns, analyze data, and see the “bigger picture.” In order to best prepare you for the PLE Problem Solving questions we have included Logical and Critical Reasoning questions, Tabular Analysis, and Tabular Completion questions in the PLE preparation package.

• Logical & Critical Thinking: This section of the Professional Level Exam requires candidates to employ their reasoning skills and draw logical inferences based only on the information given. They may also present a candidate with a list of information and rules and require the candidate to organize the information correctly. No outside information is required to answer these questions as conclusions can only be drawn from the premises.
• Tabular Analysis:  These questions test one’s ability to understand and analyze data presented in tabular form. Information will be presented in form of a table or graph and questions will be asked that may require candidates to perform basic arithmetic operations on the given data.
• Tabular Completion: In these questions candidates may be presented with data in the form of a chart, table, or graph containing several “blanks” or missing values. Based on analyzing the data, comprehending the concept of the given information, and understanding the relationships between the different parts of the table, candidates must correctly identify the answer for each missing value.