Applicants for civil service posts may be required to sit for an examination to assess their competencies in the requisite skills and attributes and hence their suitability for appointment. The need for an examination is usually spelt out in the recruitment advertisements.

In general, recruitment examinations may comprise language proficiency papers, aptitude test papers and / or other papers. The papers may be in open-ended or multiple-choice format.

Apart from the written examinations conducted by the Civil Service Examinations Unit, the recruiting grades / departments may conduct separate examinations and / or interviews to further assess the suitability of the candidates.