The Holy Grail of the civil service, success in competitive examinations is readily attributed to diligent revision or luck. Focused on the program and the methodology, preparations often forget the strategy, which is essential if your hours are limited. Update with Jessica Boutault, winner of the state and territorial library curator competitions.
Immerse yourself body and soul in revisions and mock tests, or define a strategy to make the most of the time available? This second path remains the only one open to those who have already committed to active life.
Preparing for competitive exams: a strategy built on a solid inventory
Successful preparation always begins with an inventory. Understanding what the jury expects is essential. This will give you the keys to the tests and allow you to identify which strings to add to your bow.
Rely on the expectations of the juries
First of all, let's correct a prevalent misconception: a competition is not an academic exercise detached from professional realities. It's a recruitment interview. It aims to select candidates whose skills and motivations will enrich the public service and with whom working on a daily basis will prove easy and fruitful.
But, concretely, what do the tests seek to test?
The institutions that organise competitions sometimes provide very clear answers. For example, the Centre national de la fonction publique territoriale (CNFPT) (National Centre for the Territorial Civil Service) states the following on the subject of the territorial administrator competition :
“Written tests: they aim to guarantee a foundation of knowledge in fundamental subjects (public law, economics, public finances, law and community management). »
On the organizers' websites, you will find descriptions of the events and the program, jury reports from previous sessions and sometimes a few good copies. Pay the greatest attention to it! And keep in mind that the indications given for one competition do not necessarily apply to others – including for the same body or employment framework in two different public functions. This is the case, for example, for the state and territorial library curator competitions that I took.
Leverage your strengths, fill your gaps
Once the juries' expectations have been identified, evaluate your ability to meet them.
Examine yourself without concession or false modesty. Identify, as a priority, the skills and knowledge that you lack and without which you cannot succeed. Then, identify your margins for useful progress: where improving is easy and has good added value. Finally, summarize the weaknesses which you judge will not automatically cause you failure, but also your strengths: this good starting point will reassure you.
You will have defined four categories, to be treated in order of priority:
- the essential;
- the useful;
- acceptable gaps;
- the acquired.
Prepare well for civil service exams: the winning strategy
Preparing for competitive exams: a tailor-made action plan
Now draft a revision plan based on your personal situation and profile.
Manage your time
First identify the time you have until the first tests. Then assess the time you can devote to your preparation, realistically and ensuring sufficient rest. Set milestones for yourself, dates on which you will leave one subject for another, whether you think you have mastered it or not. This will help you avoid dead ends.
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Practice to master the techniques
Work on the methodology of the tests using documentation found online or in bookstores, jury reports and, if possible, good copies. Don't let yourself be locked into a method that is presented to you as unique and ideal, but identify the one that suits you.
For example, in summary notes or on file, you can highlight or annotate texts as you read or, conversely, organize your notes directly. The first method is slower, because you will then have to collect and sort the information, but it allows you to mature your analysis, and therefore your plan. The second method immediately commits you to a plan, saving appreciable time, but at the risk of discovering too late that you have taken the wrong path.
Whatever you are recommended, the best method is the one you use most brilliantly. This is why experimenting is as essential as taking mock tests.
By training, you will also check that you know how to keep the times. Indeed, an unfinished copy is synonymous with failure. And a lack of conclusion will always be worth a lower grade even when the description of the test opens up this possibility, because it suggests that you ran out of time.
Enrich your knowledge, know-how and interpersonal skills
The institution organizing the competition publishes the study program and sometimes useful resources. Professional skills (especially internally), a solid knowledge of your future professional environment, the public service and current political and cultural events are always part of the requirements. Understanding what categories A, B and C mean will help you identify the level of expertise expected. Your motivations and your posture as a public servant will also be assessed.
To carry out a long preparation without getting out of breath, document yourself in a pleasant way. Select podcasts on France Culture or TED conferences to accompany your household chores, read historical novels and essays, visit museums, go to the cinema, the theater, concerts... You will maintain your motivation and memorize better by reconciling work and pleasure .
To summarize, success in competitive examinations arises from the meeting between a recruitment need and a well-matched profile. Compare your strengths and weaknesses with the jury's expectations to adapt to them. Your training plan, realistic and effective, will allow you to complete your skills. Follow it rigorously, but without exhausting yourself, to excel on the day of the tests.
