Finished the Fire Defense Equipment Officer Class Otsu-4 Exam. Reflections on taking three certification exams.
The Fire Defense Equipment Officer Class Otsu-4 exam is over.
With this, I have taken three consecutive Fire Defense Equipment Officer exams every two months: Otsu-6, Otsu-7, and now Otsu-4.
For the first exam, Otsu-6, I was quite nervous as it had been a long time since I last took a certification exam.
However, by the third time, I had become accustomed to the atmosphere of the exam venue and felt almost no nervousness.
This time, I traveled to the exam venue by bicycle, which took about 40 minutes.
Rather than feeling like I was 'going to take an exam,' I was able to head to the venue as if it were an extension of my daily life.
My study method this time
The study material I used this time was also only the past question collection from Koron Shuppan.
My study flow was as follows:
1st pass
→ Checking the content, summarizing it in my own way, and then solving the problems.
2nd pass and beyond
→ Focusing on solving the problems repeatedly.
I proceeded with this method.
By the time I finished three passes, my correct answer rate was about 80%.
I took the day off work before the exam and did a fourth pass as a final touch.
At this point, I was able to reach a state where I could answer over 90% of most problems correctly.
By repeating the past questions, I was able to face the exam day with confidence.
The actual exam
When the exam started and I began solving the problems...
I thought, 'Aren't these all the same as the past questions?'
There were so many familiar problems that I felt that way.
As a result, I was able to solve them with the most ease among all the Fire Defense Equipment Officer exams I have taken so far.
Of course, I won't know until the results are announced, but I felt quite confident about it.
The importance of new question collections
For the Otsu-7 exam I took previously, I used the 2025 edition of the Koron Shuppan question collection.
At that time, there were several questions I had never seen in the collection, and I struggled a bit.
This time, I used the 2026 edition.
I realized that for certification exams, it is important to use a question collection that corresponds to the latest information.
While past question preparation is extremely important for the Fire Defense Equipment Officer exam, there are changes in laws and standards, so I think it is safer to use the newest materials possible.
A milestone in obtaining Fire Defense Equipment Officer qualifications
If I pass, I plan to make this the final milestone in obtaining Fire Defense Equipment Officer qualifications.
I have obtained Otsu-6, Otsu-7, and Otsu-4, but I still don't know if I can actually utilize these qualifications as a side job.
However, the time I spent seriously studying for the first time in a while was very refreshing.
Now in my 50s, I have been thinking more about my work and physical strength.
In that context, the experience of challenging myself with something new and working hard toward a goal was very meaningful to me.
Obtaining the qualification is not the goal; it's about how I will utilize it from here on.
I would like to think about that in the future.
I will report on the results after the announcement.