Civil Service Exam tips — and the mistakes that cost people the pass.

Answer every item. There is no penalty for a wrong answer, so a blank is strictly worse than a guess. On any item you can't solve, eliminate what you can and pick from the rest — even a blind guess carries a 25% chance with zero downside.

Bank the easy points first. Within each subtest, do the items you can answer quickly, then return to the hard ones with whatever time remains. A single stubborn word problem can eat the minutes you needed for five easy items elsewhere. Flag and move on.

Train by hand. Calculators are prohibited, so practice numerical items the way you'll sit them — mental math and shortcuts, no calculator. The same goes for timing: practice under a real clock so exam-day pressure isn't a new experience.

The biggest one: studying your strong subjects. It feels productive because you get most items right, but those points were never your problem. The 80% bar is an overall percentage with no subtest floor, so every point counts equally — and your weakest subject is where the easy points are. Fix your floor, not your ceiling.

Second: never practicing under time. People who only do untimed drills are often shocked by how the clock changes everything — items they'd nail with unlimited time become rushed and error-prone. The clock is part of the exam; train with it.

Third: skipping the diagnostic. Without a measured baseline, you're guessing at what to study. A free diagnostic mock takes 40 minutes and replaces that guess with per-subject percentages.

Arrive early with your permit and matching valid ID. Read instructions carefully and fill in your answer-sheet identifiers correctly — a misbubbled identifier is a self-inflicted disaster. Work each subtest by banking easy points first, flagging the hard ones, and returning if time allows. Answer everything before the clock runs out, even if the last few are guesses. Then trust your preparation.