In my last post I wrote about benefits of attempting Competitive Exam. Now I would like to express my views that how you people should start preparing yourself for exams.

It is my personal experience that the most crucial stage in Competitive Exam preparation is the very beginning. At this stage your aim plays a significant role. Achievement never comes without a clear goal in mind. Your aim can be to live a respectable life, to have power, to serve the country or it can be that you want to convince your lover’s father that you are competent enough to be his daughter’s husband. In short, there must be a burning desire that should impel you to take preparation seriously and give at least a few hours in the beginning of preparation and around ten hours in the final weeks before examination.

In the initial month and weeks of preparation you may think that you are reading books but you are not retaining concepts and facts. This is the time where majority give up. Being a zealous sportsman I would like to give fitness related example. I often see new faces in fitness club who are there either to gain or reduce weight. They are desperate to be fit in the beginning and work really hard but after a few weeks they think goals are not being achieved. Once they have this thought in their minds they put less effort and finally they quit. They do not realize that one can’t be fit in a few days or weeks; it really takes years to have a strong abdominal or perfect physique. The same philosophy is applicable in preparation for competitive exams. You will really have to show persistence, determination, and commitment.

Now comes the stage of actual preparation. Everyone must start from the compulsory subjects. It is a well-known reality that majority fails in compulsory subject. I know people who passed optionals with minimum preparation but failed in compulsory even with maximum preparation. Essay, English Composition and Islamiat are real culprits. These papers have really let down many extremely hard working and serious candidates. Grammar is a weakness of many. It was the most hated subject in my entire academic life but when I realized its significance in my first attempt then I read each and gave utmost importance to it. I brushed up things like parts of speech, articles, punctuation, tenses, narration, voices etc. By the way I am still not good at grammar.

Competitive Exam is a test of your writing skills. And don’t forget that you have to show writing skill in English. I will insist that from the very first day try to polish your writing skill. For polishing your writing skill you will have to pay attention to other departments of English as well i.e., reading, listening and speaking. Prepare notes and summaries, solve past papers, write essays and discuss your preparation with those friends and acquaintances who have either appeared or are preparing for Competitive Exam. The golden principle of the more you read the better you write should be always there to motivate you to read and read and read.

In the end I would like to say that give your 100 % concentration to your preparation. Consider Competitive Exam as a possessive and jealous darling. You will have to prove your utmost faithfulness and loyalty to your sweetheart. If she will ever find you involved with others then she will never marry you. Although I resigned just two weeks before my 2005’s attempt but I do not recommend this strategy to others. It is always good to have one love in your heart otherwise it becomes really difficult to manage your thoughts and concentration. I request all of you to pray that I should pass in this attempt otherwise I will have to avail my last attempt next year.

hello sir
by seeing ur inofrmative posts on this forum i really want to seek help from you. I am waqas from lahore i ve done my intermediate and BA from government college university lahore ,my optionals in ba were eng lit,journalism and pol sci and i passed ba with 77% marks .Sir i am yearning for css from the very begining ,in the beginging as you know people just say that they will go for css but dont know the exact action plan for it .I have decided to start preparing for it i ve joined officer's academy off css in garden town.Sir most of the people say to me that it is impossible to qualify css after just doing a simple ba as the people sitting in exam with are holding masters n mphils and only exceptions can do it after ba.Whenever i think to do something i usually become gloomy on thinking this thing that it is impossible .I know the thing that nothing is impossible in this world and Allah can grant u anything whatever he likes and decides to give .I want to get advice from caring ppl like u that how should start and from where the academy suggested me to choose journalism.sociology,IR,C law and british histroy as they ve guidance in these subjects but i can also change them if i find them not interesting for me .Sir i dont know that im doing a fllish thing to think for css at this stage but i want to do it so im trying .i am planning to join llb in PU sir plz guide me the things from the begining to the end ..i will be highly thankfull to u .waiting for ur reply .
regards
waqas

First of all I would like to express my following judgements about you:

1) You can express yourself in English language.
2) You have got an ideal background for CSS (Eng lit, Journalism, Pol Sci and 77% marks in BA).
2) You have got a positive attitude.

I assure that you will be a CSP (Inshaallah)

To some extent it is true that for a simple BA it is not that easy to qualify but there is nothing wrong in trying one's luck. So do appear in the coming attempt. Either you will qualify or you will become experienced. You won't be losing anything.

Irraday jin kay pukhta hoon, nazrain jin kee khuda per
Talatam khaiz moojoo say woo ghabraya nahee kartay

It is not possible to guide you about each and everything in a single post. Better you should continue with me and I will try my level best to guide as much as I can.

Best of luck

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[COLOR=Navy][SIZE=4]Shoot for the moon even if you miss, you will land among the stars.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

Dear diplomate,

I have done MPA and my subjects in BSc were Stat, phy and math. This time i want to appear. Presently I am working in a govt institution and living 8 to 5 life. I am fully aware of the challege of taking CSS. My present job requires me to read and analyse things related to good governance and public administration.
The only thing I am worried about is english. I know I need much preparation for the subject but dont know how to start. I cannot join academy etc due to unavailibility of time.

I would like to ask you that what pattern should I adopt to invest more time in learining and how to tackle grammer problems. Also I have read alot about how to begin but still I dont know how to proceed. I joined this forum today and hope to learn much from this place. I am greatful to all those who are giving valuable suggestions.

zia
a new member

Respected diplomat ....I am doing my MBA and quite confused about the optional subjects ....can you help me out regarding this ... I want to opt for the foreign services .....I will be grateful for ur this kind act..... eagerly waiting for ur reply.
chao

Assalam Alaikum,

Sister Memon, I am pretty sure if u come with specific questions, with regards to your choice and your aptitude for optional subjects. A senior member will be more than gald to help you out.

In the meantime, go through the beginner's guide and such in details, Inshallah, it will be beneficial for you.

Thanks.

I have a general advice for all of you to opt for the subjects that you had studied in graduation and masters. It is always easy to cover a subject that you have studied earlier then to go for a totally new subject. Further you might have disliked a subject earlier in graduation or masters but if it is scoring and it can be covered in short period of time then go for it. Now I would like to answer questions asked by two members of this forum.

Mr. Zia

As you have done MPA so you must opt for Public Administration. It is an easy and scoring subject. You might not be knowing that this subject is taught in Civil Servants Academy as well. Statistics is also a scoring subject. As far as Physics and Maths are concerned that I am not in position to give any advice but I would like to say that these subjects have mostly given tough time to those who opted for them. You can opt for other easy subjects like IR, Sociology and Journalism.

You have asked about English improvement. I have written this thing in another post as well that the more you read the better you write. Believe me English is backbone of Competitive Exam. If someone is good in English then he has a fair chance to pass but if someone is weak in English then it is certain that he will fail. You are saying that you are continuing other things like job along with preparation. I will suggest to focus on your preparation. If you see a career in your current job then do continue it but it is an ordinary job and you are doing it just for the sake of experience then I will suggest better to quit and give full time to prepartion. Attempting competitive exam is itself a wonderful experience. I have given twice and I really enjoyed it. As far as job is concerned your preparation for Competitive exam will make you competent enough to get a good job in private sector later on. I think this much is enough for you.

Ms Marium

As you are an MBA so go for Business Admistration. It is quite easy and scoring. From the syllabus it seems lengthy but it is not. Check past papers and you will find that quite general and easy questions are asked. I opted it in both attempts and got 67 in first attempt. Lets see how much I get this time. Further journalism and advertising are quite related. If you are MBA marketing then journalism will be a piece of cake for you. Other easy and scoring subjects are IR and Sociology. If you have interest in foreign service then do opt for IR.

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[COLOR=Navy][SIZE=4]Shoot for the moon even if you miss, you will land among the stars.[/SIZE][/COLOR]