Civil service is a diverse employment sector. Many professional roles and positions present in the private sector of employment exist in the public sector as well. Contrary to the popular misconception, work in civil service is more than simply working for government agencies and offices. In fact, many professionals choose civil service as a career destination that can offer both material and professional fulfillment.
Many job seekers pursue employment in civil service out of a desire to achieve financial stability in their lives. After all, as a civil service professional, you are entitled to an impressive array of benefits, some of which are listed below:
It is no wonder why so many job seekers regard employment in civil service as a financial safe haven. The unique material benefits that it offers with the security of government employment can be hard to find elsewhere, even with comparable offers in the private sector.
It is no secret that trying to build a career in the private sector can be an inherently unpredictable endeavor. You may often find yourself largely at the mercy of your supervisors who fail to notice your genuine effort. They may assess your performance through the scope of their biases. Or they may just not want to promote you because they benefit more if you stay where you are. Regardless of the case, few career events can be more frustrating than deserving a promotion and not getting it.
Choosing to pursue employment in the public sector may free you from ever facing career dilemmas like this again. Career development and professional growth in civil service rests on the foundations of the merit system. This means that your opportunities for career advancement first and foremost depend on your professional value. As a result, in you can plan your career from the comfort of transparent and feasible career expectations.
It sounds great, but what if you do not want to become a clerk or a librarian? While many people may think that these are the only positions the civil service has to offer, these notions have little ground in reality. Modern civil service has grown to encompass a vast array of professional roles and positions. From accounting jobs to public relations specialist positions, civil service most likely has a spot for your unique interests and abilities.
Most aspiring civil servants go through the following process in the course of their employment:
The hiring process for most civil service job positions relies on the principles of the merit system so that pre-employment screening must strive to select the most capable candidates for a position. As a result, testing has become the most popular tool for personnel selection for most government offices. For these reasons, you can expect civil service testing to be a pre-employment requirement for most job positions in civil service.
The civil service test is a pre-employment screening procedure. As such, it places your aptitude for the available position under assessment. With its help, employers can quickly determine whether you qualify for the job post. As a result, testing has become a mainstay of the civil service hiring process.
Civil service testing has gained much popularity because of its inherent ability to provide objective and accurate aptitude evaluation. Serving as a pillar of the merit system, it ensures the integrity of civil service personnel selection and promotion. Civil service tests provide you with a bias-free way to prove you are competent enough for recruitment or promotion.
Civil service employers at multiple levels can administer tests to meet their hiring objectives. Depending on who your employer is, you will take your test at one of the levels below:
Regardless of the level at which you are pursuing employment in civil service, the psychometrics of the examinations remain similar. Therefore, most exams fall within a few categories that share similar test formats.
Most civil service assessments tend to fit within the following types of formats:
It is not feasible to predict all the content a civil service exam may test. After all, the preferences of your particular employer alone may significantly influence the content of your test. It is possible, however, to categorize the questions that make up most civil service tests based on their psychometrics. As a result, one can distinguish between the following types of aptitude questions:
Assessments of specific aptitude areas are a common part of the civil service hiring process for a diverse set of job positions.
Most civil service employers use eligibility lists or eligibility boards to rank their potential job candidates. As ranking mediums, they help your potential employer to determine the most capable candidates for the available job positions. The rank you receive on your employer’s eligibility list results directly from your capacity to perform the job’s duties. You let your employer notice your aptitude for the job through the test scores that you achieve during the examinations. In this regard, the scores you get on your civil service exam have a profound influence on your employment chances.
Most civil service tests adhere to similar passing criteria. You must achieve the scores of at least 70% on the test to make it to the eligibility list. Test scores lower than the 70% threshold will disqualify you from pursuing further employment for the available job position. On the contrary, scores higher than this threshold may significantly increase your chances of successful employment. Higher exam scores can place you higher on the eligibility list. In its turn, higher ranking gives you a higher employment priority and helps you get the job you want.
It is no secret that one of the most common problems people have to face during examinations is anxiety. Being hard to control for most people, it can hinder the exam performance of even the most capable candidates. Luckily, you can alleviate much anxiety by focusing your exam preparation on gaining familiarity with the exam in advance. In this endeavor, a few study tools can be helpful:
Regular practice with these study tools will help you to prepare for your civil service test well in advance. Familiar with its format, you will experience greater confidence during examination and will make the most of your knowledge. With no anxiety restraining your potential, you will manage to achieve the test scores you are truly capable of.
Logical Reasoning Sample Question:
Rick has lost his way in the woods and is trying to find his way out. If he learns that the below statements are factual, which of the response options also must be true?
The village is closer than the highway.
The railroad is closer than the river.
The river is farther than the highway.
The lake is farther than the railroad.
Explained Answer:
Based on the initial facts, the river is farther than the highway, and the highway is farther than the village. The highway is the key piece of information that allows for comparison of the river and village. With this information, the statement that the river is farther than the village is the correct choice (option B).
SJT Sample Question:
You and your co-worker have to categorize and organize the paperwork by the end of the week. You have completed your share of work. Tomorrow it is time to report your team’s progress to your supervisor. Your co-worker soon informs you that he will not be able to complete her share of work on time. Which of the following would you be most likely to do?
Explained Answer:
There can usually be no right or wrong answers when it comes to situational judgment assessments. Some response options, however, may speak better of you as a job candidate than other response options. In this case, response option A demonstrates stronger work ethic than the remaining response options.
Personality Test Sample Question:
Select the degree that best demonstrates the level of your agreement with one of the two opposing statements.
| I enjoy working with people | Agree | Slightly Agree | Slightly Agree | Agree | I am more productive when I work alone |
Explained Answer:
There can usually be no right or wrong answers when it comes to personality assessments. It is important, however, to approach them with integrity and avoid overthinking your answers. Also, it is advisable to avoid choosing the neutral response option whenever possible.
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