Name of the Course: HRM in BCS

Course Code: 213

The topic of the Assignment: Critical analysis of the 45th BCS advertisement
Submitted by: Submitted to:
Md.Tasneem Siddiquee Mohammad Bashir Mia Khadem
Roll: ZR-139-024 Assistant Professor
Department of Public Administration Department of Public Administration
University of Dhaka University of Dhaka
Critical Analysis of the 45th BCS Examination
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Introduction
The BCS (Bangladesh Civil Service) examination is a nationwide competitive exam conducted
by Bangladesh Public Service Commission (BPSC) to recruit various BCS cadres for first-class
government jobs. The process of getting a job starts with recruitment, and BCS is no exception to
it.
Recruitment means attracting the best possible candidates for suitable jobs. This process of
attraction starts mostly with an advertisement, where the job description (document clearly
stating the essential job requirements, duties and responsibilities, and skills required to perform a
specific role) and the job specification (list of recommended qualities for a person to qualify for
and succeed in a position) are mentioned so that the candidates can apply according to the
requirements mentioned and for the organization, the selection process (the process of picking
and choosing the right candidate) can be lot easier.
The BCS recruitment process starts with posting an advertisement, where the job description and
the job specification are specified. The paper will look to critically analyze the BCS
advertisement, in part 1, its positive aspects and in part 2, its negative aspects. In part 3, the
paper will give some recommendations and thus, will conclude the argument.

Part 1→Positive aspects of BCS advertisement

The 45th BCS examination advertisement was posted on 30 November 2022. It includes various
factors like a list of cadres, the name of the joining post, the number of vacancies, educational
requirements, subject codes related to written examination, rules and regulations for the
examination, “to do” or “not to do” etc.
It is good that the list of cadres, the names of the joining posts, the number of vacancies, and
educational requirements are all mentioned in detail. It will help candidates to understand
whether they are qualified or not to apply for the job. It will also easier the selection process as it
will reduce applying of unqualified candidates. Besides, having a list of cadres will be conducive
to the candidates making their list of cadre preferences.
The advertisement also encompasses rules and regulations, marks distribution and the list of
subjects in which one has to appear at the examination. It is a positive side as it will make
candidates well aware of do’s and don’ts, what they should do or should not do in the
examination hall and the consequences of their misconduct. Marks distribution and list of
subjects will help them prepare themselves accordingly as they will very much understand which
subjects they should emphasize.
Besides, there is also mention of nationality, age limit, and gender, which will make candidates
more aware of the requirements to appear at the examination. Also, the instructions for filling up
the forms are a very good initiative as it will reduce the chances of making mistakes which can
prove to be costly if the application gets void. There are also directives for the payment process,
which is very helpful for the candidates because if they don’t know how to pay or don’t follow
the payment process correctly, their application will be “substantively incomplete” and thus,
their application will get void.
Another positive thing is there are also clear directives about answer sheet language, if one
doesn’t follow the rules mentioned, for example, if the candidates of the English version take
part in the Bangla version examination the answer sheet will eventually get void. So, candidates
must be careful of the languages they select for the written examination.
There is also a provision for appointing a “stenographer”, which will help candidates who are
suffering from a disability.
One of the positive things is the mention of the possible date of holding the examination and the
syllabus. It will help the candidates to prepare themselves in the best possible shape for the
examination.
Besides all these, the advertisement also consists of the requirements for the medical test after
they pass the preliminary, written and viva examinations. If the candidates are well aware of the
medical requirements and if they don’t match those requirements, they will get a chance to think
twice before applying because, if they get failed in the medical test, all the efforts they gave for
the examinations before, will eventually be in vain.
Last, but not least, clear directives about non-cadre posts. The advertisement has clear directives
about candidates who passed the written and viva examination but due to a lack of vacancies,
they could not make it to the cadre posts. It contains a whole list of non-cadre posts, the names of
the joining posts, educational qualifications, number of vacancies just like the cadre posts. It also
mentioned the pay-scale grades, which weren’t even mentioned in cadre posts.
So, these are the positive aspects found in the 45th BCS examination advertisement. These
positive aspects make the recruitment process better and easier for the selection process. These
aspects also ensure acceptance and should be maintained accordingly to hold this acceptance.

Part 2→Negative aspects of BCS advertisement

Just as a thing has its good sides, it may also have its bad sides. The BCS advertisement is no
exception to it. Just as mentioned earlier, an advertisement should have a job description
containing a clear depiction of the essential job requirements, duties and responsibilities, and
skills required to perform a specific role, should have a job specification depicting a list of
recommended qualities for a person to qualify for and succeed in a position.
The BCS advertisement lacks some of the points mentioned here in it. As a part of the job
requirements, it contains educational qualifications, but it does not have any directives for duties
and responsibilities to be fulfilled in a post.
It also does not contain clear directives for skills required to perform a specific role, like the
professional or technical cadres, which may require additional skillset to perform its roles, but it
is not mentioned anywhere in the whole advertisement.
In most cases, organizations clarify or mention the wage and salary aspects or pay-scale grades
in their advertisements, whether it is negotiable or non-negotiable. Although there are mentions
of pay-scale grades for the non-cadre posts, it is not mentioned for the cadre posts, which should
have been. Besides, for each pay-scales, the highest and least amount of salary one can get after
joining their respective posts is not mentioned.
These are the negative sides of this BCS advertisement. To make it more clear, effective and
efficient to the candidates, these negative sides can be or should be avoided or fixed.

Part-3→Recommendations
The paper will propose some recommendations per the analysis of the negative aspects
discussed. If these recommendations can be maintained or followed, it may increase the
efficiency and acceptance of the whole recruitment process. The recommendations are discussed
below:
1. First of all, clear directives for the skillsets required to perform specific roles should be added,
especially for the professional or technical cadres. It will make candidates well aware of the
skillsets required, and thus those who have dreams to join BCS in the near future will start to
work on their skillsets way before, which will keep them upgraded, ahead of others, and will also
boost their confidence. Besides, when they will join their respective posts as cadre officers, they
will require less training, which will save time and expenditure for the government, and will also
increase their productivity, effectiveness and efficiency with some training to do their respective
jobs even better.
2. Secondly, there should be clarification of the pay scales, so that the candidates can understand
whether they can afford the salary and sustain their lives. Because, after joining the respective
posts, when cadres see that their salary is less than their expectations or they have come up with
any misconception or misinformation which led them to wrong expectations, and there is a huge
gap between dreams and reality, they may get frustrated. When they get frustrated and get to
understand that they actually cannot afford this salary or it is not sufficient to sustain their lives,
they start to get involved in corruption. So, if they get to know about the pay scales or get a clear
idea about the pay scales, they will think twice before applying considering whether they can
sustain their lives or not. If they knowingly join there, it will, if not totally, at least to a great
extent or significantly reduce the corruption in the BCS jobs.
So, these are the recommendations this paper proposes. The paper feels that if these
recommendations can be implemented even if to some extent, then it may change the whole
scenario of the present BCS system and ensure efficiency and effectiveness.

Conclusion
So far, the paper has discussed the positive aspects of BCS advertisement in part 1, the negative
aspects in part 2 and proposed some recommendations in part 3. The paper has marked some
problems like not properly mentioning the roles and responsibilities of the posts and not
clarifying the wage and salary aspects. Why these problems should be resolved and resolving
these problems would bring what sort of outcome are already discussed in the recommendations
part. If these problems can be resolved, the paper strongly feels that it will increase the efficiency
of the BCS advertisement, and thus recruitment and selection process, which will eventually
bring the greater good.
References
BPSC (Bangladesh Public Service Commission), 30 November 2022. 45th BCS examination
circular, 2022. Retrieved from http://www.bpsc.gov.bd/site/view/psc_exam/BCS
%20Examination/BCS-Examination