THE FLORIDA
COMPREHENSIVE CAM
APTITUDE TEST®
A test we’ve put to the test!
To give boards the best chance of finding a Great CAM and CAMs the opportunity to prove their skills and worth, we’ve created a comprehensive gauge of manager ability.
How well are CAMs normally tested on their knowledge?
Frankly, not nearly well enough.
For a little context: The State of Florida oversees the licensing of community association managers, but they also administer licenses for barbers, tattoo artists, kickboxing referees, and cosmetologists. It all feels a bit… random.
Maybe that’s why one popular test preparation company boasts a 100% pass rate. When you look closely at the training class and examination, it’s all about memorizing the essentials -- not managing a community. That doesn’t give us much confidence, and we bet you feel the same.
A great gauge of a great CAM
A Great CAM works really hard. In the past, however, it’s been tricky for a Board to discern who’s working and who’s slacking.
A hard-working manager takes ongoing education classes and earns designations such as Certified Manager of Community Associations (CMCA), Association Management Specialist (AMS), Large-Scale Manager (LSM), and Professional Community Association Manager (PCAM). Maybe they even take extra classes in landscape maintenance, accounting, insurance, or irrigation? The list goes on for a Great CAM.
Instead of all this hard work going unrewarded, our test dives deep into the areas in which only a Great CAM will be knowledgeable. No surprise here, but “pass or fail” doesn’t exactly cut it for us. We provide both CAMs and Board members with a raw score and a percentile score to compare CAMs with every other CAM in the state.
This means Great CAMs get skyrocketed to the top of the pile, and Board members can easily identify the stars. Win win.
A tried and tested test.
Our test is very challenging, no doubt. But after thorough consultation with professional reviewers, the consensus is that it’s also fair.
The Florida Comprehensive CAM Aptitude Test® questions are created and then reviewed by community association attorneys, CPAs, landscape maintenance professionals, insurance underwriters, and others who work in our industry every day.
We have also surveyed over one thousand Florida licensed community association managers regarding the importance of our test topics.
In addition, we consult with Hoi K. Suen, a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Educational Psychology at The Penn State University regarding test development and evaluation processes.
The end result? A test that’s fair to CAMs and even more fair to the association – the ones paying their wages.