Taking the civil service test in 2020: lessons learned

Okay, so the reason I went to Jakarta was to take the 2020 CPNS test, the civil service exam. I applied to the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT). This was my first CPNS test. The exam was held at BKN Regional Office V.

Since it was my first CPNS test, it turned out to be very different from entrance tests for private companies or state-owned ones (BUMN). More complicated, stricter, harder. And yet the way civil servants perform at work sometimes makes you shake your head. Maybe because they can't really be fired. At most they get transferred.

Regional Office V was only about 45 minutes from where I was staying (according to the GoJek app). So I was relaxed, forgetting that I was actually in Jakarta. My slot was at 3 (if I remember right), the last batch of the day anyway. I only left at 1.30. I figured I'd get there early. But the whole way there my heart was pounding, because the traffic was insane. LESSON LEARNED!

When I arrived, I'd barely reached the gate when security told me to run, because I was the very last one (about 15 minutes before password pickup closed, about 30 minutes before the exam).

So I ran to registration. The registration staff were nice, all smiles. They asked where I was from, and I said Papua. And as usual, they looked surprised.

After registering, your bag has to go into a plastic bag and into a locker. You get your own locker key. So you can't bring anything into the test room. Then up to the 2nd floor to get your password. They asked me again where I was from. I get tired of the reactions sometimes, but there's an upside too. Saying I'm from Papua sometimes gets me "special" treatment. Maybe they feel sorry for me, coming all the way from Papua.

Then into the waiting room, where security checks you from head to toe. They're worried someone might bring a sharp weapon, an amulet, something to cheat with and so on. My coins were the victim. They went into a plastic bag and I forgot to take them back after the exam.

The most memorable thing about this CPNS test was all the plastic! Everything goes into plastic. Hopefully Jakarta can follow Bali's policy of banning (or at least cutting down on) plastic.

After all that rushing from the gate, it turned out that once I was in the waiting room, I still had to wait about 30 minutes. Oh well, I used the time to chat with my fellow test-takers and pick up some info, since this was my first CPNS test.

I didn't do any special prep. I had no target at all. I took the exam without preparing anything. I didn't even know what the passing grade was.

During the exam, there were some questions I could answer straight away, some I had to think hard about, and some that got me stuck, so I answered them with the eeny, meeny, miny, moe method.

After the exam, it turned out I'd passed. Passed the passing grade. But I was shocked, amazed and speechless to see other people's scores reaching 400 and up. Like, wow. How. Why. They really spent their time working their ass off for this!

Right then I knew. Well, there's no way I'd make it to the next stage. But at least I'm having fun. Oh, my score was 335-something. I forget the breakdown. Hahaha.

The official announcement from BNPT came out, and sure enough, I didn't make it. Lesson learned! If you want something, go work your ass off for that!

Oh, there are no photos from the test itself, only photos from my trip to Jakarta.