Great, Great News!
I took the Civil Service Professional Examination this morning, June 19, 2012 at around 8 in the morning at the Civil Service Commission main office in Quezon City… and Wow!…I passed!, and was the highest among 40 hopefuls. …Not only that, there were only 3 of us who made it!
It’s another “Best Day Ever” moment for me!
Sorry if humility is nowhere in my vocabulary right now, but I do need to boast because I am very proud of myself today.
I just came from a grueling Computer-aided examination composed of 170 multiple choice questions that needs to be answered within the 3-hour time limit.
I was surprised and deeply ecstatic to see the results immediately displayed on the computer screen after I answered the last question. I almost shouted and jumped for joy!
I just waited for a few more minutes at the CSC compound, ate lunch, and took pictures. Finally, we were told that we can now get our Certificate of Eligibility.
It was a big deal for me since I never really studied, and just relied on my blogging habit of sharing information based on my everyday experience and research. It was also my first time to take this kind of exam. I am no repeater!
….and at my age, I even surprised myself I was still very articulate enough to pass the exam like a breeze. I earlier said it was grueling….I lied! It was just like trolling the Internet ! Plenty of topics that were my forte!
Fortunate for me, I could relate to most of the topics I encountered in the exam simply because I write about them in my blog and Facebook account.
The everyday familiarization with highfalutin words that I try to find the meaning, the reading comprehension task when I try to get the gist out of a news article, the paragraph arrangement that I do when I try to arrange my story-telling in the most understandable sequencing of events, and other grammatical and sentence structure related activities all paid off.
With regards to the Math, worded problems and number series problems, somehow I was focused and clear-minded enough to quickly figure out the possible solutions. It felt like most of the answers were almost being whispered directly to my ears.
The questions about the Constitution was a bit hard because it asked a lot of questions about the number of required or allowed days to do this and that…I think this is the part where I flunked. So does this mean I have to study Law? Is it a sign from above?
I’m happy enough with my score of 85.90% out of a passing score of 80%. It’s something to be proud of because we were told that there were only 3 of us who passed the exam. From out of around 40 participants in our examination batch, we were the lucky three who passed! The most staggering news was when I found out I got the highest score, and that my score also had a big margin of difference from the scores of the other two success stories.
This is a great blessing because the Certificate of Eligibility will now qualify me to any position in the government.
Where to now? Malacanang?
So definitely blogging has its rewards after all.
Check out my other blog posts to find out why!
The Civil Service Commission
The CSC announces the exam requirements and schedules in their website. The Computer-Aided Test (CAT), and the Paper and Pen Test (PPT) have different schedules.
You pay P 600.00 for the CAT, and P 500.00 for the PPT.
Here is their website for more information: http://www.csc.gov.ph/
Sometimes it’s down when they do maintenance or website updates, so just keep coming back to their site to check if they are up already.
You get the results immediately!
The score will be displayed immediately for passers of the Computer-Aided Test (CAT). So if at the end of the exam, you don’t see a “Congratulations, you’ve passed the Civil Service Eligibility exam with a score of ______.” Then that would most probably mean you failed. 
Strict Rules!
They provided the scratch papers, and it was even numbered with my examination serial number and seat number….Really very strict: no calculators, no gadgets, no cameras. Your personal belongings would be placed in a designated locker. Everyone will be assigned one locker for all their stuff. I saw surveillance cameras everywhere as well.
Before the exam, there was an orientation where we were also reminded that any form of cheating would be a very serious criminal offense which could mean permanent banning from taking the CSC exams, removal or prevention from working for government agencies, and six years jail time! Wow!…talk about making us more nervous before the exam proper.
Read! Read! Read!
From my experience, I could say that passing the CSC examination mostly requires you to be a well-read individual familiar with word synonyms and proper grammatical and sentence structures. You should be able to know how to understand and summarize what you have read.
I am sure glad I’m a learning blogger who is continuously trying to improve his craft. It made me more connected to the world around me, encouraged me to explore my potentials further, and gave me a deeper perspective in life.
Did I tell you already that a “salagubang” (June beetle – scarab beetles that appear around June) flew into my shirt after I left the examination room. It felt like he was rejoicing with me, and was trying to congratulate me in my success.
I don’t know why I kept the “salagubang” with me as I ate lunch at the CSC canteen. Probably just to accompany me during that wonderful moment.
I then released it afterwards, into the plants and trees, to enjoy its freedom. “Bye, friend for a day! Thanks for spending this splendid moment with me!”
It was truly another “Best Day Ever” moment for me!
