Jason Wong L2 Tester Coordinator

My name is Jason Wong, and I’m the Canadian L2 Tester coordinator. I’ve written this post to explain how the L2 Tester certification process will work in Canada. If you’re interested in certifying for L2 Tester and haven’t already done so, please start by reading up on the official L2 Tester certification requirements.

First of all, thank you for your interest! Due to our lovely country’s size, most judges won’t have many opportunities to test for L2 in-person unless they’re willing to drive (or in many cases, fly) several hours. L2 testers will increase those opportunities. Ideally, we would have an L2 Tester or L3 in every city that has a large population of judges.

Do you find yourself working with many L1s whom you think would make good L2s if only they had the opportunity to test? Do you enjoy community-building and mentoring other judges? Would a trip to the nearest L3 mean you’d have to take at least a day off work? If you answered “yes” to those questions, L2 Tester may be right for you! And if you have certified multiple L1 candidates, some of which are now L2 then you might be well on your way to having the skills and qualities necessary.

1. Knowledge of rules/policy
2. Understanding what a baseline L2 is
3. Ability to evaluate candidates
4. Proficiency at mentoring/providing feedback

The evaluation will consist of four segments, each covering one of the four areas, and each segment will last approximately 45-60 minutes. Overall, with introduction, evaluation, and summary, expect to spend about 4-5 hours talking with the interviewer. This of course can be split up into multiple sessions. If you want to prepare, here are some topics that might be covered during the interview:

• Common mistakes made on the L2 test (Note: you won’t be expected to know *what* the common mistakes are, but rather what the correct answer should be)
• Understanding why someone answered a question incorrectly, and ability to explain why they were mistaken
• Strengths and Areas of Improvement of past/current candidates for L1, and potential candidates for L2
• Baseline skills required for an L2, and how you would evaluate someone on those skills
• Examples of skilled diplomacy or conflict resolution
• Dissecting your reviews for accuracy, objectivity, significance, tone etc.
• History of mentoring other judges
• How do you mentor candidates *after* the test? How will you setup your new L2s for success?

In order to obtain the L2 Tester certification, you must demonstrate that you are sufficiently skilled at all four areas of evaluation. Put another way, if your evaluator believes you are deficient in any one of the four areas, you will not be certified as an L2 Tester. From there, you will be given a path forward and an approximate timeframe for re-testing (usually around 3 – 6 months).

If you made it through all that and are still interested in certifying for L2 Tester, please fill out this form to get started.

Good luck!