My experiences of passing all four subjects at once in the First-Class Constructor exam

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This post was last edited by “Hasty Passerby” on September 15, 2018, at 08:14. Some personal insights from successfully passing all four subjects in one attempt for the Level 1 Constructor Exam. Recommendation: This is a testimonial from someone who succeeded in the Level 1 Constructor Exam. It covers various aspects such as mindset, determination, time management, and key points for each subject. It’s very inspiring; hopefully it can help fellow candidates build confidence and enable them to pass the exam on their first try! The exam is just a prelude; passing it is merely the beginning. Passing the First-Class Constructor exam is gratifying, but there’s nothing to be overly proud of. Senior architects can easily outperform us, registered civil engineers and those in related fields simply ignore us, and certified public accountants cast disdainful looks at us as well. What’s more, project managers who can earn million-dollar salaries without having any certificates mock our lack of expertise. So, don’t take it too seriously; it’s not a big deal. But as for the exam itself, it is unnecessary to discuss whether to take it or not here. What we need to consider is whether to hole in one or take a circuitous route, to resolve things quickly or engage in a protracted battle. The most important things are mindset and determination. Once you decide to take the exam, it’s best to have the determination and confidence to pass it on the first try. Because this exam is truly exhausting; if you don’t tackle it with determination, it will gradually drain you until you reach desperation and madness. Be prepared to sacrifice all forms of entertainment and leisure time ； Be prepared to fight against the temptations of this world full of diversions ； Be prepared to stick with the tedious study until the end. None of us has enough time. Time can be squeezed out; if that really isn’t possible, you can weigh which is more painful: “sacrificing a few months to earn less money” or “studying for two or three years, only to keep taking the exam in the fourth year as well.” Change “want to pass” to “must pass”. In the world, things often remain out of reach when one only “wants” them; they are obtained only when one “must” have them. There are many people who work much harder than us yet see no results, while there are also those who just have fun all day long and manage to get by by taking exams casually; luck always plays a role in this. All we can do is to avoid trying to pass the exams in a risky manner, to put in extra effort into everything, and to tackle them in a confident, thorough, and secure way. 1. Why is the pass rate for first-level construction engineers so low? Of course, the pass rate for the Constructor Examination in recent years remains a mystery, as there are no official statistics available. However, the low pass rate for the architect exam is evident to all, and there are many factors behind this. For example, the base number is large, resulting in a high number of applicants. Because it’s so popular. Second is the issue of demand; it matters how many project managers need to be added each year and how many new projects need to be launched. In the future, as the construction industry market shrinks, the pass rate will definitely be even lower. There is no demand. Also, during the first two years of the Constructor certification program, the standards were set too loosely; in one particular year, the pass rate reached approximately 48%. This figure is supported by official data. Back then it was just to meet the quota, so basically with a little effort, it was done. To the point that in 2009, the Ministry of Construction held a meeting stating that there was already a surplus of construction engineers, and that quality needed to be improved going forward. Their casual actions all affect us; these are external factors that cannot be changed, and we can only endure them. What about internal factors? Time. Lack of time investment is the main reason why most people keep failing over and over again. Many comrades have been taking the exams for five or six years, and they still continue to do so, but none of them have ever made the determination to hold a pledge-taking ceremony in order to overcome all difficulties and obstacles. In my opinion, don’t be intimidated by the so-called pass rates. Currently, although the pass rate for those who manage to pass all four subjects in one attempt at the Level 1 Constructor exam is between 4% and 8%, this figure includes a large number of people who simply didn’t show up for the exam, those who bought the books but relied on luck instead of studying, those who bought the books but didn’t read them properly, and many local managers who had no idea how to fill out the answer sheets. Among those who actually read books and devote enough time to them, the pass rate is definitely between 30-50%. In this way, there’s really no difficulty at all. It’s just a matter of seeing who can push harder. 2. How much time is required to prepare for the First-Class Constructor exam? Let’s do some calculations – these are for those who want to succeed right away, without having to go through a two-year or multi-year struggle. Using me as a benchmark: 1) Graduation from undergraduate studies ； 2) Construction-related majors ； 3) How many years has the construction company been in operation? ； 4) 26 years old. There are four subjects for the First-Class Constructor exam, and the textbooks together total around 1,400 pages. Normally, I can read 7-8 pages per hour; in total, it will take me 175-200 hours to finish. If 4 hours are set aside each day (which most people simply do not have available), it means it will take 50 days to read through four books. The problem is that after reading a book once, you basically don’t even know what it’s mainly about. Some training instructors say that one needs to read the book at least 5 times to be sure of success. Since the time required for each subsequent reading decreases gradually (based on experience, this reduction is about 20% per time), the total time required is: 50 + 40 + 32 + 26 + 20 = 168 days, which is equivalent to 5.6 months. Some practice exercises are also needed; it’s impossible to complete this task in less than 6 months. This is still a good situation. Are you majoring in a field related to the exam, or aren’t you? Then add two more months. Have you worked on a construction site before, haven’t you? Add another half month and watch more videos of the construction site. Also, as one gets older and memory declines, this adds to the difficulty. My actual situation is that I spent 90-100 days in seclusion, with hardly any time to go home during that period. Get up at 6 a.m., read for two hours, and then go to work ； If you feel sleepy at noon, take a short break; if not, read for a little over an hour ； There is plenty of time at night, usually 4-5 hours. In this way, one can spend 6–8 hours reading per day – it would be impossible to find so much time if I hadn’t chosen a job that isn’t too demanding. So, for you, it might be necessary to start the recovery process two months earlier. I really like the signature in the forum that says “Sis Xin has an exam to take”: The child is sent to her mother’s house, the husband rushes to his wife’s family home, and the sister is left fighting on her own. Close your eyes to listen in class, open them to read books; everything but exams is unimportant. Concentration is definitely a powerful tool. I’m a man; should I consider giving up sexual activity? It’s necessary ； I can’t go out for a dinner party; it’s necessary ； On such hot days, sweat beads stream down from the forehead; I really wish I could install wipers on my face, but I can’t stop – it’s necessary ； I’m extremely tired at night; tea and coffee are a must ； Sometimes, after working overtime for several days, it’s necessary to stay up until 3 a.m. at other times to make up for it. 【The key is whether your goal is to \"want to succeed\" or to \"absolutely must succeed\"; in this world, what one only \"wants to achieve\" often remains unattainable】 ； “\"One must make it through,\" and often, it is possible. 】I don’t want to talk about time allocation here. We are all adults now; we can read the textbooks by ourselves and determine what our strengths and weaknesses are. Distinguish between priorities and allocate and balance time reasonably. 3. What are the characteristics of this exam? The first major characteristic is: detachment from actual work. This is easy to understand, because there are many ways to get to Rome when it comes to work; so how can questions be formulated in such a situation? And for exams, there must be one right way to succeed. So, ignore those parts in the book that are ambiguous and unclear, where one question has multiple explanations and answers. The second major feature is that it falls within the category of 98% of liberal arts exams. Although it is related to engineering, the exam is definitely a humanities subject. Memories and things understood make up the vast majority. A math level at the third or fourth grade of elementary school is sufficient. There is absolutely no need for the support of vile courses such as calculus and structural mechanics. The third major feature is that there is a huge gap between the difficulty of the three compulsory courses and the difficulty of practical applications, and the methods used to address these differences also vary greatly. There are patterns in general courses, but hardly any patterns in practical courses ； There are scoring points for general courses, but don’t rely too much on them in practical courses ； When studying general courses, don’t go into too much detail; for practical subjects, you must pay close attention to the details. 4. How should one review each subject? Let’s get to the point. For the three general courses, effort generally yields results; there is a roughly 45-degree linear relationship between the amount of effort put in and the grades achieved. It’s really hard to say anything definite about practical skills – even if you’ve read the relevant books six times, you might not still be proficient in them; and even if you’ve worked as a chief engineer on construction sites for over a decade, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re competent. Why? Because the questions are often very unusual, it’s normal to feel completely confused. Construction Project Economics: This subject is generally considered the most difficult among the three general education courses. It’s mainly because many people don’t understand the books properly. I was confused at first too, but later I realized that the key aspects of this course are covered in the first chapter – in those initial formulas and cash flow diagrams. Once you understand all the formulas and the applicable models, it’s basically fine. Most of the knowledge points come with example questions, and the difficulty level of the exam questions is roughly on par with that of the example questions. When trying to understand something, pay more attention to its connection to your own life; if you focus on those things related to the company, you’ll drive yourself crazy. You just need to think about paying off your debts and buying food to eat. The section on taxes and fees in Chapter 2 is quite complicated; it’s said to be worth only 1 point. I simply gave up. Construction Project Laws and Related Knowledge: This subject relies too much on liberal arts thinking. So what is difficult for some people seems very hard, while it seems simple to others. The exam on regulations essentially focuses on the understanding of legal provisions; for this course, it is necessary to listen to the teacher’s explanations, as one might otherwise fail to identify the key points and end up misunderstanding them. For any legal relationship or event, it works well to relate it to one’s own experiences or come up with some interesting examples to help with memorization. There is also a part of this course that requires rote memorization; there is no other way around it except to read more and summarize more. Construction Project Management: This course is supposed to be a highly complex subject, of the kind where the essence lies in deep understanding, and assessments should also focus on such comprehension. But sadly, this course took a very poor approach: it relied on memorization. Managing memorization tests – this might also be one of China’s great inventions. This year it might be a bit better; looking at the past exam papers, they were basically based on the original text. Of course, there are aspects that can be understood. What might be most challenging for everyone is the network diagram in the schedule; by mastering it, you will have complete confidence in this course. For this course as well, you need to listen to the lecturer, mark the key points, and then create a framework – but you shouldn’t focus only on those key points; you should also look at the surrounding text in order to understand it better. There are three compulsory courses; you don’t need to read the books word for word – it will drive you crazy. Follow the teacher and learn to identify the key points. Professional Engineering Management and Practice: This is the most important course. Generally, few people pass this subject without passing the first three; many people pass the first three but fail this one. I took this exam the following year, but failed again. Starting over from zero in the third year – what an injustice! In the field of practical applications, the knowledge points are quite fragmented, as it attempts to cover everything related to a particular specialty – though only in a superficial manner. Take the field of municipal utilities as an example: a book with over 400 pages tries to address topics such as roads, bridges, subways, water and sewage systems, heating and gas supply systems, landscaping, waste disposal, and so on. In reality, no one works with all these aspects in their daily tasks. So it relies on the textbooks. The direct consequence of highly condensed teaching materials is that there are exam points everywhere. The density is very high; it’s necessary to examine everything thoroughly from all sides in order to be completely sure. Every year, 10-20 questions are added that are not part of the textbook material. If you’re lucky enough to have encountered them in real-world work, then congratulations – you’ve gained an advantage. If you’ve never even heard of it, that’s okay. As long as you have good writing skills and the ability to organize your thoughts, and can rely on your existing professional knowledge as well as an understanding of the patterns observed at construction sites, you can still write detailed descriptions and exaggerate things a bit; this way, you can gain some advantage. Basically, practical work accounts for over 70% of all my review time; I’ve gone through the books six or seven times. I read it through by myself first, and after that I mostly read it while following the lectures of various teachers. It should be emphasized here that this approach taken this year has gone seriously astray. In retrospect, it makes sense: although each teacher has a different style and teaches in a practical manner, with some even being quite humorous, upon reflection I realize that the so-called \"key points\" emphasized by each teacher are more or less the same. The five or six times I reviewed the material later were essentially repetitions along the same path; the progress was fast (as each teacher’s lectures lasted only about ten to twenty hours), but we all became obsessed with this path, obsessed with those points that everyone considered to be the most important. In the end, these knowledge points were almost completely memorized; all that was left was to write them from memory. But once I got the exam questions, I understood that the people who created them must have also listened to these teachers’ lectures; this year they avoided almost all the parts where “should” was considered a key point. What is the main role of the municipal government? Roads, there isn’t even a single question related to roads. Quite a few things came out from the edges and corners. The exam is over, and despair reigns everywhere. But looking back, actually 90% of the content is already in the textbooks. If I hadn’t spent so much time listening to various lectures back then and had read more books, I would have had a much better chance of success. It wouldn’t have kept me in anxiety for three months while singing. This is a reminder for everyone to pay close attention. In practice, I did something that seemed pointless: I printed out over 130 questions and their answers in total, including the dozens of case studies at the end of the *question set, all the case studies from past exams, as well as some case studies from training courses collected from forums. I copied the answers to all 70 questions verbatim, while for the other 60 questions I first read the question, thought about the answer in my mind, and then wrote down the key words and main points. The purpose of copying answers is, first, to practice handwriting; neat handwriting is very important when answering questions in practical situations. Second, become familiar with the patterns and understand the \"mental principles\" and rules. Similar to English, it’s necessary to train a sense for the language. It’s almost impossible for the exams to include questions similar to those from previous years. However, this sense of language awareness helps you when faced with completely new types of questions; you can still elaborate on them at length, as it won’t result in any loss of points. I firmly believe that this sense of language has been of great help to me this year. This is a Guo Jing-style method of training, for everyone’s reference. When it comes to memory, rote memorization doesn’t work. One must use “image memory” + “scene memory”. For things you are not familiar with, search for images online or create images through imagination. For those who are not familiar with construction sites, it’s essential to search for and watch as many relevant videos as possible (online); videos on various construction methods and process workflows can be very helpful. Regarding those procedural knowledge points later on, one should put oneself in that situation, imagine that one is doing those tasks, envision oneself as the project manager on site handling these matters, and think about what to do in case of a safety accident and what the next steps should be. In this way, it’s like conducting a simulation, which helps to achieve a deeper understanding. 5. Regarding doing practice questions: The first principle is that for the three general subjects, do not attempt any other questions until you have mastered the past exam papers. Basically, past exam papers are sufficient. Do it well and understand it. Many of the other questions are poorly made; their quality is not comparable to that of the actual exam questions. Second principle: It is not recommended to create exercise sets that accompany the textbooks. These several sets of *exercise books and textbooks were not published by the same publisher, nor are their editorial boards made up of the same people; they were commissioned externally. Not only is it shoddy in quality, but the volume of questions is also huge, leaving those who attempt it without any confidence. Third principle: Practical work does not require doing exercises. There are no patterns to follow in multiple-choice questions, and even less so in case study questions. Copy at most one example; after all, it’s still better to read more books. He who digs deeper, observes more closely, gains the upper hand. After studying for a while, it is recommended to take a set of real exam questions or other practice tests to assess your progress; too many sets aren’t necessary – two or three sets in total is sufficient. I plan to pass it in one go, with my final test score being 20 points above the passing mark. That’s the only way to be sure. Set the economic factor at around 80; for management and regulations, aim for over 100. As for practical aspects, set the standard at 130 for yourself. Aim for the highest, and you will achieve the middle. 6. Regarding exam answering (a reminder from Teacher Chen Yin): For the three general courses, the total score depends entirely on the number of wrong answers in the multiple-choice questions, and not on the single-choice questions. (1) Among the 30 multiple-choice questions: get no wrong answers, with a total score of over 120 ； Two zero eggs, with a total score between 105 and 115 ； 6 eggs with zero defects, with a total score of over 90 – still very safe ； 10 eggs with zero points each, total score between 75 and 80 – outcome uncertain ； 12 eggs with no value – I guarantee you’ll lose. (2) For the above reasons, when choosing multiple answers one must be as alert as a mouse and as timid as a rabbit. The only rule for multiple-choice questions is: choose as few options as possible! ! For multiple-choice questions, only those you can answer even with your eyes closed can allow you to select 3 options. As soon as it starts to feel difficult, remind yourself that you must choose only the 2 options you are most confident about, and under no circumstances choose a third one. When you want to gamble on the third option, remember that you’re not risking the one point you already have; you’re risking a whole year of your time, and you can’t afford to do that. (3) During the final check before submitting the paper, carefully examine the multiple-choice questions. The order of examination should be as follows: first, check those questions that ask whether the answer is \"correct\" or \"incorrect\", \"appropriate\" or \"inappropriate\". This is to prevent confusion while answering; generally, ordinary people lose 3 to 5 points due to this, and these are valuable 3 to 5 points ； (2) Carefully examine those who have chosen 3 options to see which one can be dropped; keep in mind that choosing 2 options is sufficient for safety, as choosing 3 means taking a risky approach. Practice: Five major cases, with each case containing 4–5 sub-questions. Requirements: (1) For many of these sub-questions, it is not necessary to refer to the information provided in the case; answers can be given directly based on the sub-questions themselves. Therefore, when reading the questions, one should skip the case background and start by looking at the sub-questions. First, identify one by one the easy questions that you are familiar with and for which no background information is required. (2) Generally speaking, the first 10 minutes of working on a case are when one feels the most nervous. Therefore, when working on the short-answer questions based on cases, one should start with the easier ones first; at times of maximum stress, it is best to focus only on the questions one knows how to answer in order to secure a minimum score. In the first 10 minutes, don’t touch questions you’re not familiar with. (3) The test paper should be kept neat. (4) Try to answer using the words from the book as much as possible. 7. Regarding other matters: 1) Those who sell answers are untrustworthy; those who sell equipment to obtain answers for the exams at Communication University are untrustworthy; those who alter scores after the exams are untrustworthy. 2) Leaking of exam questions. In my era, **when it reaches this level, I won’t believe you if you say there won’t be any leaks of exam questions.** But you won’t encounter it. Let’s put it this way: out of 100 people selling answers, one of them has the correct one. You won’t meet them. If you want to come across them, buy these 100 test papers and answers. But I believe you have completed all 100 test papers and memorized the answers to them. Taking the exam in this way, if you fail, it’s simply unfair. 3) Regarding score adjustment, the most reliable explanation currently is as follows: after we complete the first-level examination, experts take around 2,000 sets of exam papers and use the predetermined correct answers to create \"pre-assessment versions\" of those papers. After evaluating them, they assess the overall level of performance among candidates; based on the required pass rate, they adjust the scoring criteria before proceeding with the official marking of the papers. The main goal is to ensure a passing rate, so things like estimating scores are unimportant; it’s better to prepare thoroughly. Increase your insurance coverage. Deal with all unknown risks.