Preparation Prior to Testing

Scroll down for further teaching material and practice exercises.

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Check out the websites and contact the agencies to ensure that you are familiar with the testing procedures and the content of the exams. Tests across government services are quite standardized but individual services may have variations. It is important to get as much information as possible from the department to which you are applying.

Practice on numerous tests to ensure that you are familiar with the content of the testing material.

Before Testing

Get enough sleep before the tests and enough food and water even if you are nervous prior to entering the test. Try to remain relaxed and comfortable. Wear clothing that is professional, but also comfortable to work in. Arrive early and ready to begin.

During the Test

Don’t waste time on a question you are unable to answer; take a guess and move onto the next question. Make a note of answers you are not certain of, and review them if you have time after answering the remaining questions.

Pay attention to the answer sheet and the question number. Many applicants have failed as the result of an error on the scoring card. Every time you respond to a question, look at the answer card carefully and make sure that the number you are answering on the card matches the number of the question.

In the above example, even if the applicant answered the questions correctly, the applicant would only get one out of the seven questions right because of the errors on the scoring card. Keep this in mind when taking the test. You will not be able to correct or explain yourself if you make a mistake on the score card because they are computer scored. This mistake is more common if you if you decide to skip a particular question. In the event that you decide to skip questions, a tactic to avoid making an order error is to cross off the question you skipped on the answer card.