MCG Principal and NICET Fire Alarm Exam Review instructor Dave Miller often refers to himself as the “poster child” for how not to obtain a Level IV in fire alarm. Dave had heard of NICET during his four-year tenure in Cincinnati, Ohio, but no one seemed to have any real information on it, and this was before the internet was a common point of information gathering.
Upon returning to Portland, Oregon, which is also the area where he attended junior and senior high school, Dave’s new boss had achieved a Level IV in Special Hazards, and his new mentor was progressing towards a Level IV in Fire Alarm. They both encouraged him to start testing. Pre-Exam preparation at that time was essentially signing up for elements, and you took the Exam to the best of your ability with as many standards and references as you could lug into the test center.
Between 1995 and early 1997, Dave actually signed up for two or three Exams, and on the Friday before the test date, would scramble around the office attempting to secure the most up-to-date standards. Due to the intense workload as a systems sales representative, which included selling $5.1 million in turnkey and “parts and smarts” in 1996, the decision was made, typically around 7 PM of that Friday evening, to abandon the effort to test.
By early 1997, Dave did make it into a test center, literally pulling a luggage cart with two milk crates filled with standards and references, and another large stack under his arm. With no strategy or preparation, Dave secured his Level I and made to significant progress on his Level II. According to Dave, “Had I known of a strategy for taking the appropriate number of Elements, I believe that I would have achieved Level II or been within two or three elements of achieving it on that first Exam.”
With a new child and the changes of his employment, which included two “buyouts” within six weeks of each other, Dave held off on progressing further with the NICET Certification process. Dave's accomplishments within this period included being named to the Cerberus Pyrotronics' President's Club in 1999 for outstanding sales achievement.
By 2000, Dave was ready for new endeavors, and formed Miller Consulting Group, LLC (MCG) . MCG was formed as a specialty low voltage design firm focusing on fire alarm and security system design for the engineer, architect, and end user market segments. As Dave likes to reflect, “As a consultant, I quickly realized that I needed more initials behind my name than the 'Jr.' that my father had given me, and the completing the NICET certification process to Level IV made the most sense.”
Again, by simply charging forward, but also having purchased almost $2,000 in codes, standards, and references, Dave achieved his Level IV in three more Exams. Ironically, his last exam only required the passing of a Level III core element and a Level IV core element. Dave has been a Level IV since 2001.
In 2005 the opportunity to provide live NICET Fire Alarm Exam Reviews throughout most of the U.S. was made available to MCG. Dave quickly realized that a systematic process for understanding the NICET process and the information required to achieve Certification would be invaluable to the industry.
Dave believes that the benefit of understanding the Certification process and the Exam requirements will prevent many new Candidates from making the same mistakes that he made early on. His goals for Exam Review attendees are:
- They obtain a solid understanding of the Certification process.
- They have comprehension of the information that will be tested in the various Elements.
- That they take the information from the Exam Review and implement it in their daily professional lives.
Dave views the NICET Certification process as an industry wide “raising the bar” for all concerned parties. MCG's tag line, “…helping to raise the bar in fire protection…” accurately reflects his belief that each NICET Certificant, no matter the level, is helping to raise the professionalism and understanding of our industry.