Day 1

• You should reach by 7:30am (the time they have mentioned in the letter, they start checking documents then). Firstly, after you have given them your original documents, they take you to hall and ask you to fill a personal performa. You have to revise some of the entries like your date of birth, educational status etc.

• 1st test is IQ, Analytical Reasoning test. If I remember correctly, 60 or 80 questions in 30 min (someone please verify). Its easy but time is a little short and you have to be quick.

• Then Flash Words test. They show you a word and you have to make a meaningful sentence of whatever comes to your mind after looking at the word. It is NOT necessary to use that word in the sentence. (I actually used the actual word in all of the sentences and only later realized that it was not necessary). You have to be very quick, they only give you 2-3 seconds per word and take the answer sheet back as soon as last word is done, so no time to go back. There are, if I remember correctly, 52 words in total.

• Then personality assessment questions, 240 in 30 min. You have to agree, strongly agree, disagree etc. Just choose whichever comes to your mind otherwise you won't be able to complete. And by the way all answers have to be put on separate answer sheet and you have to put a cross on the correct option. No kind of writing on question booklets is allowed. Then you get a break of 10-15 min.

• I don't exactly remember the order after that, but then there is sentence completion test. You have to complete 40 sentences in 8 min. Time is again very short and you have to be instinctive and very very quick. There are 2 such tests but they are not taken consecutively; there are some other tests in between them. Sentences are like "I got angry at her ...., his father's indifferent attitude ...., he missed the opportunity ..." etc.

• Then you have to fill a performa asking personal questions like what should be criterion of CSS selection, two favorite books, two hated personalities, two national and international events, your strengths and weaknesses, your parents' strengths and weaknesses etc. Time is again short so be quick and brief. (In interview they asked me some questions from this performa, especially about family - more on that later)

• Then there is another personality assessment test, you have to agree or disagree or answer in YES or NO like what do you like more - brass music or soft religious song. Would you like to visit a foreign country on vacations or visit the already known places, etc.

• Then probably a break of 20 minutes, After that pattern matching test, you have to find the next picture in the sequence, deducing from the 8 pictures or patterns given. They are arranged as 3 by 3, i.e. 3 patterns in each row, last one is missing. I found that most of the patterns were easier to guess if you think about them as columns instead of rows but that was just a personal observation. You have 45 min to complete 60 patterns.

• Then analytical reasoning from paragraphs. A paragraph is given and you have to answer some questions like the idea hidden in the paragraph, and some indirect things you have to deduce from the paragraph. 6 paragraphs, 4 questions per paragraph and 30 min. Time is ample in this case, so you can think a lot before answering. (By the way all tests have to be done with lead pencil, so you can change your answer)

• In the end, you have to write a story by looking at the picture. There are 4 pictures in total, 5 min. for each picture. The pictures are extremely dark, in black and white with no well defined boundaries of the objects and not easy to interpret. You have to use a lot of imagination to make sense out of them. This is it for the day, and they ask you to come back the following day (Sunday is holiday) at 8:45 am

Day 2

• You are supposed to come at 8:45 am. They take you to a room and you have to sit at your allotted numbers.(They are roll number-wise I think, but they tell you your number before on the 1st day). First they give you a topic for Urdu discussion, and you have to discuss it for 15 min. Out topic was " Fauji adalton sae dahshatgardi ka khatma mumkin nahen" - an easy one I guess. Be polite towards others and don't counter anyone else's argument aggressively. Also give other people opportunity to speak, and don't cut anyone when he/she is talking, that leaves a very bad impression.

• Then you have to give an impromptu speech in English on the given topic. You get 2 min to think about it (you go outside the room) and 2 min to deliver the speech. They ring the buzzer when the time is up, so you may not conclude properly but that doesn't matter. You just have to speak for 2 min, avoid repetition and be confident. I suggest you practice it once or twice, especially the 2 min thinking part because sometimes topics are unusual and you don't have enough points. My topic was "Ignorance is Blessing". Other topics were
  • Regional political parties in Punjab
  • Border tensions with India
  • Deeni Madressahs
  • Road Safety in Pakistan
  • Women in Politics (given to the only lady in our group)
  • Some other topics which I asked people from the previous day were "Might is Right" and "Pakistan is safe heaven for Terrorists"

• Then there are command tasks. You get 15 min to understand the problem, outline the response, identify the stakeholders and come up with the solutions to the problem with reasons. You have to put all of this in writing. Just leave some space in the end to incorporate any valuable suggestions you will get later from your peers. Then you have 8 min to present the problem, ask for suggestions and finally come up with finalized response. They specifically tell you to manage your time as they won't give any warning when 8 min are over, so keep an eye on the clock and wind up before 8 min. Also present your problem at hand very clearly, otherwise you are not going to get any suggestions if your peers don't understand your issue. Also if you want to add anything to initial response, do it when your are presenting the task - you won't get any time at the end. The topics were
  1. Local Municipal Corporation has expanded, and more population is included now but revenue remains the same. Propose suggestions as Financial Adviser to increase the revenue and generate more sources.
  2. India is getting closer to China economically, as Foreign Secretary come up with a solution to counter the situation.
  3. After NFC award, HEC is not getting the money for scholarships etc. Come up with the solution as chairman HEC.
  4. Control the flow and proliferation of counterfeit drugs in the market.
  5. YDA is demanding service structure, increase in pays etc. Come up with a solution as Health Secretary.
  6. (Slightly difficult one) Some company is refusing to pay the taxation at the new rate of 10% saying that international rate is 5%. As customs (or IRS) official, devise a workout.
  7. A clerk in your office is shrieking work, and is culpable of negligence. What to do with him as head of the office.
  8. As head of central Zakat office, you have 1.5 million to disburse among the poor students. Chalk out the strategy for that to identify the real needy people.

• Then you get a break of 45 min and you go to waiting room where you have to evaluate your peers by giving them rank from 1 (the best) to 7 (the worst), given your group size is 8 members. You don't rank yourself. Then interview starts.
  
  From me they mostly asked about my family, why I want to leave engineering and do CSS, my parents - specifically their weaknesses I have written in the performa. They asked if I was introvert or extrovert. They also asked what sort of qualities I would like to see in my life partner. They also argued about my name, asking why it ends with k instead of q. In the end they asked me about Confusius and the Cyprus issue, and finally asked me what I do in spare time. It took about 20 min I guess.
  

That's it. Hope that would be helpful. Just be yourself (especially on Day 1), don't be nervous. If you have never spoken publicly before, practice it a little. From some people they asked from the optionals like geography - terbela dam is where, mangla dam is where etc. But from me they were more keen about the family.