Preparing for the PTD Examination?

I’m not sure whether my fellow PTD bloggers like Kit, Dakwanie or Zyrin get asked all sorts of questions just before a PTD examination or PTD assessment is due to be held. But boy, I sure get a lot of questions – from friends who are asking on behalf of themselves, their friends or families or from total strangers. I have shared some tips in preparing for PTD Assessment before and I think they are still relevant.

As for PTD examination, I can’t say that I know much – after all it’s been quite a while since I sat for my exam 6 years ago. Nevertheless, as yet another ‘public service’ of some sort, here’s what little I can share:

There are 5 papers - on General knowledge, IQ, Administration, Comprehension and Essay (betul ke ni? tak ingat lah…) - all to be taken within one day

* For the general knowledge paper, try to get some background reading on Malaysia and the administration of Malaysia. ‘Malaysia Kita’ published by Intan or any STPM level Pengetahuan Am book normally helps one to get basic understanding on this and that.

* Reading the newspapers and magazines such as Newsweek, Time or Slate (online) might help clueing in on the current issues. Try to remember some details of important world events and who's who of the world organizations. (In 2000, we were asked who won the World Cup 1998 and who was the Sec-Gen for OIC)

* For the IQ paper - skip the difficult ones and get the easier ones done first because normally there's not enough time to finish all the questions. In fact – so far I’ve yet to meet anyone who managed to finish all the questions. (We suspect that it’s probably one of the ways for people at JPA/SPA to test how the examinees manage their time under stress).

* Administration paper is to be done according to common sense.

* Brushing up on writing skills in both English and Bahasa might be a way to help with scoring the essay paper. Normally an examinee can choose one out of 3 topics - one on economical issue, one on political issue and another on social issue.

To those who have decided to sit for the exam, don't fret too much – contrary to the rumours that claimed them to be very difficult, they are actually not all that bad. Trust me, some had even passed the exam without much preparation. (But then again, many have passed the exam without making it to the service because they either flunked the assessment and the interviews. Oh well...).

All the best.