TVA EEI Test: POSS and MASS Practice

Which jobs take the EEI test at TVA

The Tennessee Valley Authority is a federal corporation rather than an EEI member utility, but it uses EEI's tests for its operations and maintenance training programmes. Its selection testing page says: "The EEI (Edison Electric Institute) POSS (Plant Operator Selection System) and MASS (Power Plant Maintenance) tests are used for the following positions":

• Student Generating Plant Operator
• Instrument Mechanic Trainee
• Electrical Technician Trainee
• Mechanical Technician Trainee
• Hydro Technician Trainee
• Combustion Turbine Technician and Combined Cycle Technician Trainee

If you apply for one of these and are selected for testing, TVA sends the invitation by email. TVA's Groundman Trainee, Lineman Apprentice and Electrician Apprentice positions use a different test, the Electrical Training Alliance Aptitude Test, which is not EEI.

What the sitting covers

TVA's EEI testing FAQ names the forms, MASS and "POSS C", and lists five areas across the sitting: Mathematical Usage (arithmetic, basic algebra and basic geometry), Mechanical Concepts, Reading Comprehension, Figural Reasoning and Assembling Objects. In EEI's own brochures, Figural Reasoning belongs to POSS and Assembling Objects to MASS; TVA runs both batteries in one sitting, so you meet all five.

Results, and why one good sitting lasts

Results typically arrive by email in seven to ten business days. And TVA's rule is unusually generous: "Test results are good forever. If you take the EEI more than once, TVA uses the results from your highest scoring test regardless of when you took it." There is no education or experience exemption: TVA uses the EEI alongside them.

How the EEI tests are marked

Every subtest is scored as the number you get right, and EEI's brochures say "There is no penalty for guessing or wrong answers", so leave nothing blank. The utility never sees a subtest on its own: the subtests in a battery are combined into one index (1 to 10 on CAST, 0 to 15 on POSS, Recommended or Not Recommended on SO/PD II), and the utility sets its own cut-off. Neither EEI nor any utility we have read publishes that cut-off, so aim to do well on every subtest rather than at a number. EEI does not give results to candidates; the utility does.

Practise for the TVA EEI test

Each game below is one EEI subtest on EEI's own clock where EEI publishes one, with free movement between questions as on the paper and no penalty for a wrong answer. Together they are every subtest we simulate from POSS and MASS.

• EEI Mechanical Concepts (44 questions · 20 minutes · free) - In CAST, CAST-R, MASS, POSS and TECH: 44 drawings in 20 minutes, three options each. Free, and the one to start with.
• EEI Reading Comprehension (26-36 · 22-30 minutes) - Choose your battery: 32 questions in 30 minutes for CAST, 36 in 30 for MASS and POSS, 26 in 22 for SO/PD II.
• EEI Mathematical Usage (18-46 · 7-17 minutes) - The short form, 18 questions in 7 minutes, or the long POSS form, 46 in 17. Formulas are given; the fifth option is N, none of these.
• EEI Assembling Objects (20 questions · 15 minutes) - MASS only: 20 puzzles in 15 minutes, joining labelled or unlabelled parts.
• EEI Figural Reasoning (20 questions · 10 minutes) - POSS only: 20 picture series, comparisons and progressions in 10 minutes, about 30 seconds each.

Which subtests make up each battery, and what we do not simulate, is on the EEI practice page. The EEI test guide covers calculators, scoring and retake rules across utilities.

Common questions

Can I use a calculator on the TVA EEI test?

Yes, a basic four-function one that TVA provides. You may not bring your own.

Is there a preparation course?

TVA says an EEI test preparation course may be available at some community colleges, and links EEI's own practice tests from its selection testing page.

Applying to a utility as well? Our Entergy and Georgia Power guides cover POSS and MASS too.