Psychological assessment and Interview preparation
 

After qualifying the written exam successfully, these are the two major steps. It is crucial to focus these mile stones as success is incomplete without them, this fact is easily understandable if we look at the ratio of candidates who performed outstanding in the written exam by securing even 720+ marks in written but unfortunately couldn’t get allocation in groups of their choices due to low scores in viva, there are a number of factors involved in psychological assessment and viva…….

[B][U]PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT:[/U][/B]

Panic attacks, depression, lack of confidence, fear of failure and uncertainty dominates the minds of passed candidates before psychological assessment, because after receiving a lot of appreciation from friends, family and teachers one gets more conscious about allocation, no one wants any upset at this stage so this kind of situation is obvious, those who successfully cross this stage and who know well how to tackle such situation, win at the end.

There will be many coaching centres and guides who will give you threatening lectures regarding the difficulty level of these two steps but remember, these are not more difficult than the written part.

If one has good communication skills, half of the preparation is done, but if someone doesn’t have them….no need of taking it on your nerves, there are ways to improve them within short period of time…..
[B][U]
For psychological day 1,[/U][/B] you don’t need any verbal communication skills, you have to write, write and write…but with care and concentration, you need to be quick, among numerous psychological activities, some are very important including autobiography, performa questions, 250 questions of questionnaire…rest activities are to check your common sense, autobiography and performa questions will be towards end to check your mind that how will you perform after solving many exercises, so be sharp and vigilant, keeping in view the time limitations as autobiography should be completed in 8 minutes.

I agree with the instructions of FPSC that no need of preparation for psychological assessment, just be yourself...Most important thing is that you must take care of the time limit......you may hardly find any time to think over there....be quick and natural in your response.

Practice autobiography as much as you can, make it very interesting as psychologists will make the report for interview panel based on it…..avoid including extra/irrelevant details. You will get half an hour for comprehension questions, that is more than enough, but be careful about the performa questions as they are 70 in number and you have to attempt them in 16 minutes in two segments......first 35 in 8 minutes then 2-3 other activities and then again 35 questions in another 8 minutes......Practice psychological tests from ISSB books, they are not too complex,

[B][U]For psychological day 2, [/U][/B]you just need to be confident and perform all tasks in a decent way as psychologists will be present there, for keenly observing you! Practice group discussions and command tasks with your fellows it will enhance your speaking abilities, you should participate in the group discussion twice or more but without interrupting other group members, your conduct will matter a lot, for command task, write your decision and important points on a piece of paper given to you and take suggestions from all members and show an association and professional bond with them, instead of giving importance only to yourself.

During the interview with the psychologists never try to act and be original, people will give you different suggestions but follow your common sense, but it doesn’t mean that you tell them about the negative aspects of your personality that could affect your suitability for a particular service!
Take a special care of your personality outlook, dress up in a decent manner.

[B][U]FINAL INTERVIEW:[/U][/B]

After psychological, you will have 15 focused days for the preparation of interview alone,
1. Read newspapers extensively, try to cram each and every page
2. Apart from that try to recall the answers of your performa questions as they can be asked to cross check your statements, stick to your words, any mismatch can affects your score
3. Don’t try to be over smart and behave in a humble but graceful way
4. Don’t argue with the panel unnecessarily
5. Instead of giving wrong answer, better to excuse. Knowledge is important but they understand that human mind has limitations, so they may ask you difficult questions to check your response to handle difficult situation
6. Give short but comprehensive answers; they are not interested in stories, but only the appropriate answer
7. Try to relax yourself on the day of viva…it’s the game of strong nerves

[B][U]Focus on:[/U][/B]

1. Educational background
2.Job if any
3.Psychological performa
4.Optionals
5.Current affairs
6.General knowledge and common sense
7.Approach and analytical skills, positive/negative thinking
8.Behaviour
9.Groups of preference

Best of luck!

mano g
are you waiting for your training these days..? and in which group you have been allocated.
after the clearance of css if you don't want to join ctp than is it possible.?

[QUOTE=enchanted;469957]mano g
are you waiting for your training these days..? and in which group you have been allocated.
after the clearance of css if you don't want to join ctp than is it possible.?[/QUOTE]

Yes waiting for the training, my group is DMG/PAS, it is possible to defer ctp and if one don't want to join the service in that particular year, there is no compulsion to join but it is possible before sending final acceptance, once you have signed the acceptance letter, you can't leave the service till five years, otherwise you would have to bear the expenses of government etc.....

[QUOTE=mano g;469985]Yes waiting for the training, my group is DMG/PAS, it is possible to defer ctp and if one don't want to join the service in that particular year, there is no compulsion to join but it is possible before sending final acceptance, once you have signed the acceptance letter, you can't leave the service till five years, otherwise you would have to bear the expenses of government etc.....[/QUOTE]

ok than you don't accept the acceptance letter.
mano g being a female will you like to tell us...how are you going to manage your training and your family life?

mano g can u tell mewhat's the importance of diagram in eds paper? plus is it allowed to use instrument like scale & compass etc to draw diagrams in paper or everything has to be drawn without these instruments?

AOA.
congratultions.
May God Bless you.
i have to opt journalism and sociology as an optional subject..i will be in need of ur kind guidance.and of your notes...i shall be very thankfull to you if you guide me in this regard...kindly reply at my e.mail [email]********@gmail.com...jzaak[/email] Allah khair

My concerns and thanks to your guidance
 

Dear Mano,

I am really grateful to you for your thoughtfulness and kindness to help the new aspirants in paving their ways to succeed in this competition. I have read all of your comments in this thread and found them really really helpful because many of my answers have been answered by you in an elaborated manner.

I have done BBA Honours and B.A(Private with the optionals i.e. Pol.science, Journalism and Economics). I am going to appear in CSS 2013. Based on my interest and others' recommendations, I have been in the process of selecting different optionals but could not reach to a firm final decision. After reading your suggestions, the most probable choice seems to be 'Sociology, Journalism, International Relations, Islamic History, Public Administration'.

I had Political Science, Constitutional law and Indo-Pak etc in my list at one point or an other. The reason of the selection of these optionals was the overlapping body of knowledge. But the above mentioned selection seems to be a wise choice keeping my interest and the scoring potential in view. What do you say about it?

My future plan is to take the CSS and continue my education after taking the CSS. I have applied to some foreign scholarships and am very hopeful to get one( have got the interview call). Keeping my future plans in my view, I need to make a sketch in my mind that what will I be doing at what point( everything else is upto Allah Almighty's decision). I want to know the time span of CSS with expected time/month of each stage of the process. I mean, if I appear in CSS 2013, what will be the time of the year when the result of written test be out, when will the psychological assessment be held, when will the interview be conducted, when will the final result be out, when will the selected officers join the academy and how long will the training last, when the officer starts his/her job?

The idea of this whole time horizon is important for me to plan accordingly. You mentioned in one of your posts that someone can defer one;s offer of the job. At what stage is it done?(either before doing the training or afterwards?). and for how long the deferment be granted? If a person defers the offer of the job after all the selection and training and joins his/her service after one year, will he/she be considered junior or his/her ranking continues based on his batch? Can the offer be deferred after selection and before training?


You mentioned in one of your posts that you will try to share your notes. Have you already done so? If not, then please share them as it will be a great source of preparations.

May Allah Almighty bless you for your kindness.

Best Regards
Sonia Sadaf

hi,,, i am a beginner so i want u to help me 2 choose my subjects,,, i have done my graduation in biochemistry,, i want to appear in 2013 css exam,,,, pol science, indo pak and zoology i want to chhooose... plz guide me thanks have a gud day:)

Thanks a lot
 

AOA to all here
I am very glad to see that mano g is answering cordially all of us. I pray for yours great success in future. I am going to ask another question. Plz mention the topics of Pak affairs, islamiyat. islamic history in which we can use flow charts and diagrams. I hope you will reply this soon. Thanks again for your sincerity.

[QUOTE=enchanted;469992]ok than you don't accept the acceptance letter.
mano g being a female will you like to tell us...how are you going to manage your training and your family life?[/QUOTE]

I have already accepted to serve Alhamdulillah and I am very satisfied, now coming towards your query, it is very important and relevant question that you have asked, I was planning to post in this regard but thanks to you that you have pointed out and I have got the opportunity to write in this regard!
It is not an easy task for a female in this country to excel in professional life and along with that, managing personal life in no doubt a big challenge, but I must say that every woman should feel herself as an agent of change, woman has a power to do the miracles, Allah Almighty has given her strength to manage multifarious projects in an organized manner, Initially when a female decides to do css, she face a retaliation or negative response from the society, more specifically from family and relatives, very few people specially males have the ability to accept a successful woman, but it doesn’t mean that we step back and we don’t accept the service due to these pressures, the feeling of success itself is enough for a female to survive, having said this all I totally agree with the fact that in any society a woman can’t survive alone so it is essential to have a successful professional as well as family life, Although we know that in Pakistan there is a lot of gender discrimination, but on the same time females have exclusive benefits including quota system, wed-log system/flexibility in postings etc….on the same time, if one is determined it is very much possible and practical to manage with the job, BUT determination and commitment is must, there are many house wives who are unable to manage their homes, on the other hand there are many working women who are excelling both in personal as well as professional life, so set your ideals and follow them, life is not difficult to this extent…..and beside these, have strong faith and keep praying
I would like to advise all the girls that, be strong and be confident, you have extraordinary skills so exploit them in a positive way…stay blessed.



[QUOTE=Pearl013;470079]mano g can u tell mewhat's the importance of diagram in eds paper? plus is it allowed to use instrument like scale & compass etc to draw diagrams in paper or everything has to be drawn without these instruments?[/QUOTE]

In EDS paper, diagrams are very important, it is mentioned in some questions to draw and label the diagram, and if not mentioned but there is a relevant diagram for any question, you should draw it, presentation is very crucial !Yes it is allowed to use these instruments…practice EDS diagrams on daily basis.

[QUOTE=ihsan Qadeer;470085]AOA.
congratultions.
May God Bless you.
i have to opt journalism and sociology as an optional subject..i will be in need of ur kind guidance.and of your notes...i shall be very thankfull to you if you guide me in this regard...kindly reply at my e.mail [email]********@gmail.com...jzaak[/email] Allah khair[/QUOTE]

Mention your email id in your profile!

[QUOTE=sonia5;470175]Dear Mano,

I am really grateful to you for your thoughtfulness and kindness to help the new aspirants in paving their ways to succeed in this competition. I have read all of your comments in this thread and found them really really helpful because many of my answers have been answered by you in an elaborated manner.

I have done BBA Honours and B.A(Private with the optionals i.e. Pol.science, Journalism and Economics). I am going to appear in CSS 2013. Based on my interest and others' recommendations, I have been in the process of selecting different optionals but could not reach to a firm final decision. After reading your suggestions, the most probable choice seems to be 'Sociology, Journalism, International Relations, Islamic History, Public Administration'.

I had Political Science, Constitutional law and Indo-Pak etc in my list at one point or an other. The reason of the selection of these optionals was the overlapping body of knowledge. But the above mentioned selection seems to be a wise choice keeping my interest and the scoring potential in view. What do you say about it?

My future plan is to take the CSS and continue my education after taking the CSS. I have applied to some foreign scholarships and am very hopeful to get one( have got the interview call). Keeping my future plans in my view, I need to make a sketch in my mind that what will I be doing at what point( everything else is upto Allah Almighty's decision). I want to know the time span of CSS with expected time/month of each stage of the process. I mean, if I appear in CSS 2013, what will be the time of the year when the result of written test be out, when will the psychological assessment be held, when will the interview be conducted, when will the final result be out, when will the selected officers join the academy and how long will the training last, when the officer starts his/her job?

The idea of this whole time horizon is important for me to plan accordingly. You mentioned in one of your posts that someone can defer one;s offer of the job. At what stage is it done?(either before doing the training or afterwards?). and for how long the deferment be granted? If a person defers the offer of the job after all the selection and training and joins his/her service after one year, will he/she be considered junior or his/her ranking continues based on his batch? Can the offer be deferred after selection and before training?


You mentioned in one of your posts that you will try to share your notes. Have you already done so? If not, then please share them as it will be a great source of preparations.

May Allah Almighty bless you for your kindness.

Best Regards
Sonia Sadaf[/QUOTE]

Dear Sonia!

Thank you very much for your words, I would suggest that your decision regarding optionals is 100% perfect so go for it, you are moving in the right direction….Secondly, as far as time duration is concerned, Iet me explain you through my case, I appeared in written exam in February 2011, my written result was declared on 29th November, 2011……psychological was in January 2012 and after 15 days of psychological assessment, final interview was conducted…..final result came on 29th May 2012, allocations were announced within one month and training will be started in October or November this year……so approximately, this is the process of about 1.75 years……same time duration follows every year! I haven't share my notes yet.



[QUOTE=zainab jarrar;470247]hi,,, i am a beginner so i want u to help me 2 choose my subjects,,, i have done my graduation in biochemistry,, i want to appear in 2013 css exam,,,, pol science, indo pak and zoology i want to chhooose... plz guide me thanks have a gud day:)[/QUOTE]

I would advise you not to opt Indo-pak and zoology, political science can be opted…..Indo-pak is low scoring and for zoology, MSC zoology is the minimum requirement for getting good marks!

[QUOTE=virgoan;470269]AOA to all here
I am very glad to see that mano g is answering cordially all of us. I pray for yours great success in future. I am going to ask another question. Plz mention the topics of Pak affairs, islamiyat. islamic history in which we can use flow charts and diagrams. I hope you will reply this soon. Thanks again for your sincerity.[/QUOTE]

Dear let me give you a rough idea! Although you can adjust flow charts in every type of question, but it will not be appropriate to use them excessively, In Pakistan affairs, you can use flow charts in the questions like, agricultural problems of Pakistan…starting from 1947-2012…..problems, types of problems, factors involved, solutions, etc……or in the questions in which statistics are required, then in the question about a personality, you can mention the contributions in the form of chart…so you have to make these quick decisions in the examination Hall……In Islamiyat, you can make flow chart in the question like, pillars of Islam, Types of sources of Sharia etc……..In Islamic history, you can do so in the questions related to expansion of Muslim rule, Role of islam/Muslims in European Renaissance…..