Objective of Preparation

The objective of preparation should be to gain knowledge. The standard barrier in the thinking of
candidates is that they tend to focus too much on results without realizing that those are beyond
their control; they control only the input and the output of knowledge. The way one prepares for an
exam defines his level of input, whereas, the way one actually writes and presents his ideas
manifests his level of output. If the input is high, the output will definitely be high; conversely, poor
input will result in poor output that will surely lead to poor result. The point is important to
emphasize because numerous candidates are mentally fixated with marks-scoring right from the
word go; this approach disorients a candidate as his focus shifts from preparation to results
unknowingly, losing sight of the input-output relationship in his effort. However, love for knowledge
will invariably increase his level of retention of knowledge and information.
Selection of Subjects
Subject selection is an area that consumes a lot of energy. The dominating consideration for many
a candidate is the ‘marks’ approach to which the author tends to take strong exception. This
approach is deceptive in more than one way. In the first place, the background of a person who
has scored very high marks in a subject may be markedly different from a would-be candidate and
his competitors. For example, a candidate who has done MPhil in International Relations will
surely fare better than a candidate who has opted for this subject for the sake of competitive exam
only; as the former is likely to be well-versed in the jargon, the philosophy and the analysis as
compared to the latter in the subject.
Secondly, the level of interest of the students may be different from each other in each category of
subjects. A candidate with a background in social sciences tends to happily chew, in the words of
Bacon, the books on the subjects related to social sciences, whereas, a candidate with natural
sciences background may not be happy about indefiniteness of a social science subject. A safe
rule is to follow the subjects in which one has some sort of interest coupled with the background of
candidate. The approbation of others should not be the basis of the subject selection; the only
consideration should be one’s own capabilities and one’s flavour for a particular subject.
Time Management
Veritas Liberabit Vos (truth will set you free) and lies deceive, truth relieves; the axioms are more
than true especially in the case of time management for a competitive examination. The general
propensity is to tell oneself lies about preparation. The candidates themselves are the best judges
of their time. They exactly know how they spend their time. The essence of time management is:
don’t tell lies to yourself. A candidate of a competitive examination is only constrained by the
considerations of time and energy. The constraint of time has to be dealt methodically; some time
is to be allocated to planning and in strategizing the preparation. Most of the candidates do not
want to invest time in researching for quality material; they tend to do it to save time. The concern
is well-placed, but the trade-off is not worth a dime. In fact, using substandard material for
preparation tends to hollow the basis of a candidate. Quality material spurs thinking and provides
better understanding. For example, an article by Henry Kissinger on a topic is more useful and
influential than a book on the subject by an unknown author: Mr Kissinger speaks with originality
and authority while the unknown author may be a copycat of some original work.
Tools of Preparation
The following tools of preparation shall be of interest to the candidates:
 a. Use fountain pen and never use
ballpoints. Fountain pens produce good handwriting and its writing can be erased. Besides, its
smoothness ensures that your hand is not fatigued out;
b. Read newspapers in thematic manner. Try to interlink news items and to extract maximum
factual information. The print media is usually factually rich, whereas the electronic media may be
rich graphically but factually it tends to be hollow. Try to invest more time in print than in electronic
media;
c. Read the original documents like the Constitution of Pakistan 1973, which has an all-pervasive
value for the competitive exams. It’s a subject that is at the heart of the public administration, and
without it, the fundamental issues confronting the country cannot be fully contextualized;
d. Use moderate words with measured articulations. The tendency of labelling things in black and
white may be too simplistic;
e. Take stock of depth and breadth of a subject. The breadth of a subject is the range of different
topics of a theme in it whereas the depth is the detail of each topic so identified. While one can
cover the breadth of a theme, it is really difficult to cover depth of a theme;
f. Try to finish a subject at least three times before the actual exam. While the first finish (or layer of
preparation) will provide you the confidence of having covered the breadth of a subject, its
repeated revisions (or second and third layers of preparation) will provide you with the confidence
of having touched (to some extent) the depth of a subject. The layering or multiple finishes will also
increase the level of retention as in the first finish, one is likely to retain up to 30%; in the
subsequent revisions, one may retain 50% to 60% of the information one has gathered;
g. Try to prepare short as well as long notes. The long notes help in covering the depth of a subject
whereas the short notes come in handy while revising a subject near the exam day(s);
h. Use of dictionaries and encyclopedias will strengthen the fundamentals of a candidate. Many
candidates shy or do not use dictionaries, which inhibits their capacity to gain knowledge and
comprehension at an advanced stage;
i. One must learn to distinguish between labour and hard work: in the context of preparation in the
competitive examination, the labour is work in the wrong direction, whereas hard work is the work
in the right direction. The difference may be illustrated. It may be laborious to read number of
articles and commentaries on the Constitution of Pakistan without reading its original text; reading
its original text will be the hard work but it will be far more rewarding than just reading second-hand
versions or interpretations of the original text;
j. For the sake of presentation and output in the examination, if possible, one should cite the
source of information in the form of name of the author or his book. The citation provides credibility
to one’s argument and may be a salient characteristic of a candidate’s write-up in comparison to
his competitors;
k. Revising one’s written material in the examination is one of the most important techniques, but it
is seldom practiced. If it is faithfully done, it will bring in qualitative improvement in one’s
preparation and output on the exam day.
Concluding Remarks
Mark Twain said: “The secret of getting ahead is getting started”. Getting started is more important
than getting secrets.
Note: The aforementioned methodology and tools are not exhaustive, and it is believed that the
candidates will tailor the suggestions according to their own need