How To Prepare for CSS Examination

Shahid Hussain Rajawww.shahidhussainraja.com

June25,2015

Introduction

FAQs about CSS Examination

Answers to those questions

Interviews-preparation and conduct

Some suggestions

Conclusion

Sequence

Appearing in the CSS examination is an extremely rewarding experience of one’s life

Success or failure aside, preparing for this most challenging examination will open new fields of leaning which will help you in your practical life

Any examination is a science (there are rules to follow) as well as an art (practice makes you perfect)

Here are some rules and suggestions to make this a memorable experience of your life

Introduction

There are three tiers of Pakistan’s civil service structure

1. Federal Government-which has more than 12 Ministries looking after the functions allocated to them under the Rules of Business

2. Provincial Governments-of the four provinces, Gilgit-Baltistan and Federally Administrated Tribal Ares(FATA) have around 15/20 departments which run their affairs almost independently but in close coordination with their Federal counterpart Ministries

3. District Governments-which were given constitutional status in 2001 with maximum autonomy are now nominally independent, have 20 departments to look after

General Information

In order to run these departments and ministries in the federal/provincial secretariats and in the field, all these governments recruit officers and subordinate staff through various means including annual competitive examinations

Federal Public Service Commission, established under an Act of Federal Parliament, has been mandated to recruit officers to be inducted at entry level in Grade 17 for 12 federal ministries according to the vacancies indicated by them

Federal Public Service Commission accordingly holds a competitive examination for recruitment to posts in basic Scale-17 for 12 Groups/Services under the Federal Government

Federal Public Service Commission

CSS Examination consist of the written test, medical examination, psychological assessment and interviews

Written tests are normally held in the first quartet of every calendar year and are conducted simultaneously in all the big cities depending on the number of applicants for each center

However the medical tests, psychological assessment and interviews are held only at provincial capitals, usually in the third/fourth quarter

Central Superior Services Examination

Any Pakistani national or belonging to Azad Jammu and Kashmir, between the age of 21 to 28 years(with relaxation to certain persons)having at least 2nd class BA/Bsc degree can appear in the CSS Examination

Successful candidates are allocated to various occupational groups on the basis of their merit in the CSS Examination, provincial quota and their preference

Any eligible person can attempt to qualify for these examination three times before the age of 28 years

Eligibility

You must secure at least 40 % marks in any compulsory subject,33 % in any of the optional subjects and 50% in the aggregate and 100 marks out of 300 in interview to be eligible for appointment.

In fact you loose all credit in all those subjects where you fail to cross the threshold

Illegible hand writing, irrelevant writing and superficial knowledge entail punishment in the form of marks deduction

Qualification Threshold

Why to join the civil service

Am I capable to pass the CSS examination

What subjects should I choose

How to study for CSS Examination

How much time is enough for preparation

How to prepare for interviews

FAQs

Every year around 12 thousand candidates take this examination out of which nearly 400/500 pass the written examination, only 150/200 finally selected

It is a thrilling experience to compete with thousands

and be successful-accept the challenge

An institution where merit still counts. Do not believe the cynics, the cowards who did not compete or those who failed to qualify

An institution where you can serve, enjoy power and command respect-all in one

Why Civil Service

If you have been a consistently 70 % + student throughout your academic career

If you are passionate about it

If you are fairly confident about your capabilities

If you can put in 9 to 12 hours of daily study during the last 4 months

Then you are a perfect material for CSS

Capability

All subjects are equally easy or difficult if you are going to study for the first time

Competition is very intense in case of so called “easy subjects”

Try to have International Relations in any combination you choose as it will help you in three different ways

My suggestion-Triangle Principle 1.Subjects you have studied in BA/MA 2.You have passion/interest 3.They reinforce one another

Subjects

Political Science, Economics, International Relations, American History

Economics, European History, International Relations, Journalism

Economics, Political Science ,Sociology, International Relations

Psychology, Sociology Journalism, International Relations, American History

Some Examples

3 to 4 hours daily if you have one year to study

6 to 8 hours if you have six months to go

12 hours during the last 3 months-no compromise on that

Concurrent preparation of all subjects

Time

Concentrate on finishing your studies first and then prepare for the CSS examination.

Do not try to ride two boats simultaneously If you have all the three chances, do not waste

any one by appearing earlier than due

Best time to take the CSS examination is right after your MA/MSc examination

When to take the examination

Syllabus and past papers

Guides and notes

Internet resources

Newspapers and magazines

Prescribed books(at least two in each subject)

What to study

CSS is all about focused study for which syllabus and past papers provide excellent guidelines

Go through these two at least once a fortnight to ensure you are not reading irrelevant material

Try to answer the questions which appear regularly

in past papers to have first hand experience

Prepare a guess paper of your own and solve those in simulated conditions for practice

Syllabus and Past Papers

Do buy them and go through them when starting the preparation. They will give you an overview of the subject matter of the paper

However these are just what they say-guides and notes-and that’s all

You must supplement your study with other relevant material

Guides and Notes

Internet is now what used to be libraries in our days. There are virtual libraries everywhere on the net

But there are three problems-information overload, biased views and surfing temptation

Be very selective-start with Wikipedia and browse the websites and sources suggested there

Cross check the facts, figures and opinions given by an

author with other sources

Avoid surfing when studying-the biggest time waster of modern times

Internet

Despite the availability of information on internet, these have not become irrelevant

Although available at internet, yet you must have a home-delivered subscription of one good English newspaper and a weekly

Do keep clippings of relevant articles in files

Make notes from these magazines as you will be doing from the internet

Newspapers and Magazines

Most of the books prescribed are text books and can be used for background knowledge about a subject

You must thoroughly read at least two books out of all the books prescribed for a subject

However buy their new editions if published

Also buy one or two relevant books which have not been listed as suggested reading

Prescribed Books

Reading and highlighting

Summarizing and note taking

Self lecturing and teaching

Acronym building

Framework analysis

PowerPoint and info-graphics

Blogging and commenting

How to study

Depending upon your retention power, less than 25% can be retrieved if you just study a text. However, highlighting important points increases this to more than 40%

Be very selective in your highlighting as too much of the underlining will defeat the very purpose of the exercise.

Do not undertake this activity in the first reading, rather do it when rereading the same

Rule of thumb-do highlight the first, the middle and the last sentence of a paragraph

Reading and Highlighting

If highlighting increases the retention and retrieval by 40%,then preparing notes of the text will increase it still further to 60%

Summarizing and note taking should be done after at least third reading of the text and must be supplemented by additional reading from other sources

Rule of thumb-summary of the text should be one third of the text and end in bullet points of the main ideas

Summarizing and Note Taking

Excellent way of remembering a text is to explain what you have read to your colleagues

It will not only improve your learning and retention but will also increase your knowledge base when your colleague, in turn, teach you what they have learnt

If no colleagues are available ,then try to lecture yourself in front of a mirror

Self Lecturing and Teaching

Takeout the first letter of main ideas of the text and try to build a word, even a meaningless one.

Pakistan stands for P----,A----(although it is not true ! Check Dr.Mubarak Ali’s article on this)

For example, goals should be SMART-Specific, Measureable, Assignable, Relevant and Time bound.

Acronyms Making

Frameworks analysis is the technique of using one framework for using in different subjects for understanding and also for remembering complex issues

All subjects are now becoming multi disciplinary as they use the terms and analytical framework of one another with suitable adaptation

Framework Analysis

PowerPoint presentations and info graphics have become an extremely useful methods to jot down your ideas in a very presentable form for remembering

They serve as the outlines of the entire text which can be used for quick revision near examinations

They are available for every subject in hundreds of websites

PowerPoint and Info graphics

Finally the best way of learning is to share your opinions and thought with others by starting a blog of your own

Commenting on the articles written by

others on the topic you are studying will also help you in improving your grasp of the topic

Blogging and Commenting

Bio questions: About your CV, your interests, why you want to do CSS, your hobbies, books read etc

Subjects questions: To check the depth of your knowledge you have exhibited in written test

Professional experience: questions about your job if you are employed, any voluntary job etc

Pakistan affairs-How much you know about social and economic issues relating to your country

International affairs-Are you well-informed what is happening at global level? Depth of understanding

Interviews-Types of Questions Asked

Why do you want to join the civil service ? (Everyone wants to serve the country. Why you think you are suitable for this purpose)

Why are you interested in the occupational group you have indicated as your first choice

What will you do if you are selected and allocated to your first preferred occupational group

Who has inspired you the most in your life and why? (Leave Quaid e Azam-select father/mother)

What is your favorite book/hobby and why

FAQs-CV/Civil Service Issues

What is the most important challenge Pakistan is facing right now and what is the solution

What are Pakistan’s achievements in the last 6 decades and what are her failures ?

Who is to be blamed for present problems of Pakistan and why

How do you see the future of Pakistan and what should be done to make her a prosperous country

Why East Pakistan separated from us ,who is to be blamed and any lesson for future ?

FAQs-Pakistan Affairs

Ideology of Pakistan, its salient features, relevance in present day globalizing world, differences and similarities between Pakistan Ideology and Two Nation Theory

Legacies of Pakistan Movement and their role in present day policy formulation and governance

Pakistan’s foreign policy, its sources, main features, why we depend too much on USA,

Pakistan society, legacies of past, salient features, main strengths, weak points, how globalization is affecting its various dimensions. why we lack tolerance, recent trends in our society

FAQs-Pakistan Affairs

18th Amendment-context, issues and problems

Energy crises-magnitude, causes, solutions

Pakistan’s Agriculture sector, its importance, weaknesses, solutions

Significance of Khilafat Movement for creation of Pakistan

What is the National Interest of Pakistan, how it can be secured

FAQs-Pakistan Affairs

Role of Aligarh Movement in the Indian Muslims’ Renaissance and creation of Pakistan

Causes and consequences of War of Independence of 1857,causes of its failure

Was Pakistan inevitable ? If so, then evaluate the role of Quaid e Azam in its creation

Significance of 1857 War of Independence for present day Pakistan

FAQs-Pakistan Affairs

Causes and consequences of present Syrian Crises.

Post 2014 Afghanistan and its implications for Pakistan

Water scarcity and increased threat of water wars

Climate change-How serious is the threat, is it manmade or a natural phenomenon, its likely consequences and possible solutions

Global food security-nature and extent of the threat, causes of food crises, what should be the global response

FAQs-International Issues

Baluchistan issue-causes and the role of global and regional politics

New Great Game-

New Cold War-differences and similarities between the classic cold war and the new one

FAQs-International Issues

Globalization-is it inevitable? Is it desirable ? Is it reversible ?

Climate change-nature, causes, consequences and solutions

Clash of Civilizations-real or imaginary

Some Essay Topics

Islam as a complete code of life in a rapidly globalizing world

Human rights in Islam

Principles of good governance in Islam

Role of Ulema in rise and fall of Muslim civilizations in different parts of the world

Causes of Muslim backwardness

Role of Zakat in a Muslim state

Contributions of Muslims in science, technology, social sciences and world civilization

FAQs-Islamiat

Fill in the form correctly, pay the prescribed fee, attach the relevant documents and submit well before the deadline

Take it seriously. Do not say I am not interested in civil service or I am appearing in the CSS for fun, or I was idle so I decided to take it etc

If you do not make it, do not say I couldn’t make it because I didn’t cheat or I didn’t have sifarish etc

Finally

CSS is all about passionate commitment, focused study, cool nerves and a bit of good luck

Wish you best of luck

Contact me for any further advice at shahidraja@hotmail.com

Conclusion

Thanks