Secrets and tips on how to pass the Civil Service Exam in the Philippines

Last year, I took the Civil Service Exam out of boredom. At that time, I probably thought that passing the CSE will allow me entry to the public office one day - not now, but in the future (haha). To be honest, I wasn't quite sure if either public service or private employment was my thing.

So, I decided to apply to take the Civil Service Exam - the PH government's own way of screening its applicants for various job positions. And upon releasing of results, I got a humble 85.__! Passing (cut-off) grade for the Civil Service Exam, I think, was 80.

However, with all the confusion in trying to figure out what path to take after graduation, I ended up studying again instead of joining the workforce. 

To share some parts of my CSE experience, all I can say is that the Civil Service Exam tests your honed skills (analogy and logic, numerical reasoning, clerical), your language proficiency (both in English and Tagalog, correct grammar usage, verbal, paragraph organization, sentence construction, spell check, reading comprehension), and lastly, your knowledge (general info) about the Philippine Constitution (Code of Conduct, Ethical Standards, Roles of High Governing Bodies/Persons). 

I could still remember a few terms in which synonyms were being determined such as TINGE, SAGACIOUS, IMMUTABLE, DEXTERITY, ROBUST, MASASAL (Tagalog), DENOUEMENT, and PORTENT. These were the words the synonyms of which, in the given choices, were really a pain to find out.

Also, I messed up with the Constitution part (haha), but everything ended well I guess. The exam also asked about scenarios in the government, e.g. duties of the VP if in case something bad happens to the President (or maybe I was just day-dreaming hehe). Also, there was a question about the Philippine National Territory.

I just hope they're not recycling the same questions over and over again. :)) Now, back to the CSE - tips and tricks.

There are two categories, Sub-professional and Professional. It's up to you which one you can handle best. Both exams could either be taken through Paper and Pencil Test (PPT) or Computer-assisted Test (CAT) - depending on availability of schedule as announced by the Civil Service Commission (CSC).

Here are eight (yes, 8) tips to help you in your CSE struggles towards getting that eligibility for government entry (civil service).