4 Common Civil Services Exam Mistakes

Many people aspire to get a job from which they get tremendous satisfaction. Doing such jobs not only enhances the person’s performance automatically, but it also allows them to continually do it over a long period of time without suffering from burnout.

Civil service jobs are one prime example of a highly rewarding job. They have tons of benefits attached to them, but it’s the ability to help out others and knowing that you’re playing a valuable part in upholding the society and helping it function properly that ultimately gives the person immense satisfaction.

Because of this reason, these jobs are one of the most challenging ones to get,simply because of the large number of people who register for the civil service exams whenever they’re held. The staunch competition involved makes it even more important for a person not to leave any room for error when it comes to the exam.

The exams are held after long gaps; for example, the NYC court officer exam is held every 4 to 6 years. This should be enough to know that a candidate has enough time to prepare for the exam and plan all the other requirements while applying. Sometimes, what seems like good preparation turns out to be insufficient. Coupled with some other mistakes, the approach falls short of achieving the desired results, and the candidate ends up failing.

In this blog, we try to understand common mistakes and how candidates can try to avoid them.

1. Wrong Study Approach

Before you even step into the exam center, your study approach will already tell you if you’re going to come out of the exam knowing you’ll pass or you’ll come out disappointed. As with any other exam, civil service exams are also based on good preparation.

A wrong study approach might mean one of two things: either you’re not properly allocating your time towards the exam preparation, or you’re not being efficient with the time that you have in fact, set aside for studying.

Inadequate Time Allotted

If you’re not taking your exam preparation seriously, you will not be able to study all the relevant material tested in the exam. It’ll ultimately come down to how important the exam is to you.

If you’ve always dreamt of joining the NYC firefighter department or the NYS court office, you will automatically give the exam prep priority over other things, and rightly so.

Thus, for a civil service exam,you must allocate enough time to study. It’s sometimes difficult to get into the ‘zone’ for studying. If you think you just lack some motivation to get started, there are multiple ways you can get into study mode and kick off your preparation the right way.

Inefficient Time Utilization

Another common mistake you might be making for your civil service exam is thinking that you’re nailing the preparation, but in reality, you actually might not. For some people, a self-study approach does wonders. While for others, group-study methods may work better.

Trying and testing for yourself to see what approach suits you the best rather than following what others tell you to is the recommended way of moving forward with the prep if you want to pass the exam.

2. Not Going In With a Clear Mind

Having many things going on in your mind can blur your thinking and prevent you from focusing on your civil service exam preparation properly. You might be thinking about various scenarios that might happen if you fail or pass.

Whatever it may be, thinking too far ahead won’t let you focus on the present. This can end up messing your mindset on exam day and cause you to give a sub-par exam. This is a very common mistake, and all candidates should learn to take things one step at a time to do good at them.

There are various ways you can help clear your mind:

• Getting proper sleep
• Socializing with friends
• Taking breaks from studying
• Maintaining healthy eating habits

3. Not Understanding the Requirements

Although this is somewhat an easily avoidable mistake, some candidates still end up making mistakes that cost them the opportunity to clear the civil service exam. The written modules for all departments like the NYC sanitation department, the firefighter department, or the court officers’ department test the candidate’s English, math, and problem-solving skills.

Although many people can clear the other modules, the English grammar part proves to be a hurdle. There are many languages spoken in New York other than English, so clearing this part of the exam can prove difficult for those whose mother tongue is not English.

So, giving more prep time towards this part will be crucial for those people, and they should definitely not take it too lightly.

4. Not Availing Professional Guidance for Prep

Last but not least, people who shy away from getting professional guidance for their civil service exam prep miss out on the opportunity to get expert advice and help regarding the exam. They can get proper exam guidance, understand the dynamics and requirements of the exam, and develop an appropriate exam-based approach that helps them massively.

At Civil Service Success, we provide comprehensive classes and workshops focused on imparting all the relevant knowledge to our students and preparing them for their civil service exams in the best way possible.

We’ve been offering these classes since the ‘60s, so you can certainly put your trust in our experienced instructors to help you pass your exam and get your dream job.

Reach out to us for more information on our classes.