Kinetic News: July 23, 2024
In this issue:
• Find Your Focus
• API 570 Pressure Piping Inspector Training Course Options
• Ask Me Anything (about exam prep)
In This Issue:
- Find Your Focus
- API 570 Pressure Piping Inspector Training Course Options
- Ask Me Anything (about exam prep)
1. Find Your Focus
Study is hard. Focus is harder.
Few people enjoy studying, and even fewer people truly know how to do it properly. In future newsletters we will discuss more about the methods of productive study, but today I want to talk about focus.
All of us have many responsibilities and demands on our time, and we all have the same number of hours in a day. When it comes time to prepare for an exam, we may schedule time to study, but the issue often comes with being able to focus properly during our study sessions.
And when I say focus, I mean to be able to concentrate, free of distractions, applying your mental energies to the task at hand, and not allowing your mind to wander. This can be very difficult for many people.
So, what should you do?
Everyone is different, but here are 4 suggestions that work for me. I apply them in varying degrees whenever I have to prepare for an exam or am writing course material. I have found that if I consistently practice these things, my focus improves, much like an exercised muscle.
- Start relaxed. I take a few minutes and do something that relaxes me, so I start my focused session clear-headed. My main go to for accomplishing this? I go to the nearby lake and watch the birds for 20 minutes. It is time well spent, as I can clear my head and start a study session in a relaxed state of mind. If you have water near you, try it. (The photo above is a mated pair of red-neck grebes with chicks sheltering on the mother’s back. I took the photo with my cell phone, so it is not documentary quality, but it was fun and helps me relax!)
- Be hydrated. Your brain needs water. I am not a doctor, but I know if you drink nothing but coffee or pop all day, you will not focus well. Lay off the coffee (a bit, at least while you study) and drink a lot of water on study days. You will notice an improvement in how you focus! (I also keep a thermos of Tazo Refresh Mint tea in my office each day. Caffeine free, uplifting, warm, it is a great replacement for coffee!)
- Put the phone away and close the email tab on the computer. Studies show that we are easily distracted and take an average of 15 to 20 minutes to truly get back on task. So, it is not just one email or text, it may destroy any benefit from your study session!
- Use focus music. Personally, I use Brain.fm, which is an app containing music designed to increase focus, mental performance, creativity, and relaxation. It is something that I have used for several years now, and I truly believe it makes a difference for me.
2. Training Spotlight: API 570 Pressure Piping Inspector Exam Preparation
The API 570 Pressure Piping Inspector certification is a great certificate to obtain. It is a highly employable certification, and many employers look for inspectors who have this certificate or can get it. In some jurisdictions, such as Alberta, Canada, the API 570 is a gateway certification to jurisdictional certification as well.
This is a challenging examination, which includes the use of eleven reference documents. (5 ASME Codes, 1 API Code, and 5 API Recommended Practices)
Kinetic offers 3 different course options to prepare for this examination.
6-day Live Webinar: https://www.kineticinspection.ca/courses/view/api-570-piping-inspector-exam-preparation-course-9/
Evening Classes: https://www.kineticinspection.ca/courses/view/api-570-pressure-piping-inspector-combination-exam-preparation-course-26/
To write this exam, you need to meet the experience requirements and get permission from API. The exam is written three times per year, and there is a deadline to apply for each exam window. Once you have permission to write, you need to book your actual examination appointment through the testing company Prometric.
Our API 570 courses begin August 13, 2024 with the evening classes. The deadline for applying for the API 570 examination in October is August 9, 2024.
The link to the API 570 program on the API site is here: https://www.api.org/products-and-services/individual-certification-programs/certifications/api570
3. Ask Me Anything (about exam prep)
Please send me your exam and study related questions. I will feature one question in each successive newsletter.
The two most common questions I get asked are:
- Which API certification should I get?
- Which API exam is the hardest?
Let’s start with the first one – which certification should you pursue?
There is no complete, one-size-fits-all answer to this, as every employer, job, jurisdiction, and specific slice of industry you are part of will need something different. However, in my opinion, there is one certification that stands apart in terms of employability and money-making potential. The API 510 Pressure Vessel Inspector Certification.
The API 510 certificate is highly employable. It is recognized internationally. It allows the holder to inspect multiple types of equipment across multiple industries. And this is the best part. Many times, a holder of an API 510 certificate will also be able to achieve a piping inspection certification because of possessing the 510 certificate. An example of this is how, with an API 510 certificate, an individual can become an Alberta Inservice Pressure Vessel and Pressure Piping Inspector after passing the jurisdictional ABSA Inservice examination.
Now for the second question – which certification exam is the hardest?
For simplicity’s sake, I am limiting the scope of this question to the Big Three, the API 510, 570 and 653. (There are a lot of other exams out there, and the point of the question gets lost if we compare too many.)
Simple answer: It is the API 653 Above Ground Storage Tank Inspector examination. It is harder than the API 510 and 570 exams. In fact, the API 510 and 570 exams are very comparable in difficulty, but the 653 stands apart.
It seems like it should be simpler. After all, the 653 exam is about tanks, and tanks are simpler than vessels, right? Not really. It comes down to the codes that are used in the exam. API 650 is a relatively difficult code to become familiar with, and the related repair code API 653, cannot be used properly unless an individual has a very firm grasp on API 650, and when to reference it. Many of the repair criteria, such as weld sizing and spacing for repairs, are not found in API 653, rather, they exist in the construction code API 650. This is why our API 653 course starts out with a very thorough consideration of API 650. We spend a lot of time establishing the connections between API 650 and 653 in a repair setting, so exam candidates know what to do in the exam.
Do you have a question about how to prepare for an industry examination such as the API 510, 570, 653, 1169, 1184, National Board, or Alberta Inservice exams? Do you have a question about the best way to study? If so, I want to hear from you. Please email your question to [email protected] and include the subject line: Ask Me Anything (about exam prep). Maybe it will get included in a future edition. Submissions that are picked will be notified and receive a discount to the course of their choosing.
4. Contact Information and Links
Please reach out to us! We want to hear from you.
website: www.kineticinspection.ca
email: [email protected]
email: [email protected]
phone: 780-213-0292
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