Tips on tackling the Practical component of the PCE Exam!
We aren’t going to sugarcoat it. This is a grueling exam! It isn’t so much that you don’t understand the content but more so the stress and pressure involved in such a short time period. Here are a few tips we found helpful!
1) Mindset
Let me explain. I would say this is one of the most important components to the exam. If you are overly stressed and start to panic during the exam you will NOT do well. There are going to be times where you just feel absolutely exhausted but if you walk into the room with your head down, stuttering and freaking out you will not do well.
It might sound silly but I want you all to “POSTURE UP”. Please refer to a video by Amy Cuddy (Ted Talks) after reading this blog. The night before your exam, play this video again to refresh yourself!
2) Read the objectives of the question!
There are going to be short scenarios and some longer ones that you need to read through and some are VERY long! I would say if you are in a situation where you look at the question and it’s very long go to the very end to read what you need to do first and then go back up to reading the rest of the scenario.
If you are at a station that has a very short question and objective, plan ahead and think about all the things you are going to do!
3) Time Management, GET THE MARKS!
Don’t spend too long on one objective if you know you have others to complete. When you are studying you should also time yourself to get a sense of how much “time” you really have in a 5 minute station vs a 10 minute station.
During the exam, you’ll have a feeling if you are babbling along and start to lose time. If you catch yourself doing that stop what you are doing (even if that means it breaks your flow) and move on to the next objective. This is crucial because getting some marks on completing all the objectives is more beneficial than having a good flow and completing only 1 task. This literally means that if you hear the warning bell and still have not completed your tasks, at the very least VERBALIZE what you would’ve done.
4) Verbalize everything!
I cannot stress this enough. There were times where I wasn’t even sure if the examiner was looking at everything I was doing. This is why you need to verbalize everything! If they don’t see or hear you doing a task, you will NOT get a mark for it. Even if it sounds trivial, verbalize absolutely everything.