his Power Point is part of an Enlisted Advancement Program training series for US Navy Corpsman rating provided by Naval Medical Center Portsmouth Virginia Naval Medical Center Portsmouth is a military treatment facility serving active duty service members, their dependents and retirees in the Hampton Roads community of southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina.

1. How to Prepare for Your Exam
Preparing for Your Advancement Exam
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There is no quick or easy way to prepare for an advancement
exam. It takes work, and you cannot wait until the last minute.
Many E-3s have approached their first exam with little
preparation. When they started answering questions, they
realized they were not properly prepared for the examination.
The best way to prepare for your exam is to Start Early! Get
your BIB, develop a study plan, form a study group, and start
studying. Go to the NKO homepage https://www.nko.navy.mil
and click on "Launch Navy E-Learning" to register for courses
that pertain to your rating. Know your rating!

2. How to Prepare for Your Exam
Are You Eligible to Take Your Exam?
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Prior to taking an advancement exam, you must meet all eligibility
requirements for the next higher rate. You must have met your service
in paygrade (SIPG) requirement and have the promotion
recommendation of your commanding officer (CO). Check box 45 on
your Evaluation Report to see if you have your CO’s recommendation
for promotion.
Check the SIPG table to ensure you meet the SIPG requirement. The *
denotes a 1-year SIPG waiver for E-6 and E-7 candidates who have
been recommended by their CO for early advancement on their last
periodic evaluation (EVAL). Working hard and doing your job 'by the
book' can help you advance ahead of schedule.
Certain ratings and rates have additional mandatory requirements such
as performance tests, leadership continuums, and warfare
qualifications. Check with your division Chief Petty Officer (CPO),
Command Career Counselor (CCC), or your Educational Services
Officer (ESO) to see if you need to meet any additional mandatory
requirements prior to taking your exam.
Service in Paygrade (SIPG)
Requirements
Paygrade Service in Paygrade
E-1 to E-2 9 months
E-2 to E-3 9 months
E-3 to E-4 6 months
E-4 to E-5 12 months
E-5 to E-6 36 months *
E-6 to E-7 36 months *
E-7 to E-8 36 months
E-8 to E-9 36 months

3. How to Prepare for Your Exam
Gathering Your Study Materials
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After you are sure you meet eligibility requirements to take your
advancement exam, you need to obtain your current Bibliography
(BIB) for your rating community and paygrade. To get you started on
the road to advancement:
Download your current BIB from My Rating or from the Navy
Advancement Center
(https://wwwa.nko.navy.mil/portal/navyadvancementcenter).
Locate the Occupational and Professional Military Knowledge
(PMK) references for your paygrade.
Check with your Command Career Counselor or Educational
Services Officer if you have trouble locating any of your
references.
Log on to Navy Knowledge Online (NKO)

4. How to Prepare for Your Exam
Developing a Study Plan
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After you obtain your BIB and references, you can use them to develop and focus your study plan. Since your BIB
comes out six months before your advancement exam, you need to develop a five- to six-month study plan. The
suggestions below will help you develop a plan that is right for you:
Review all required references on the BIB for your exam to set your timeframe for study.
Check your BIB date to ensure you have the BIB for the exam you will be taking.
Review your BIB carefully.
Determine which chapters in each reference were used to create your exam questions. You do not want to
study too much or too little.
Develop a written study schedule with enough time to cover all references.
Include self-study and group-study time in your plan.
Develop a group-study schedule with your study group.
Remember, you are the one who is responsible for developing a study plan that will work for you.

5. How to Prepare for Your Exam
Tips for Successful Study
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Once you have developed your study plan, you must stick to it as closely as possible. There will be times when your
job and duties will interfere with your schedule. But, you should get back on schedule as soon as you can because you
developed your schedule and study plan based on the amount of material you need to study prior to taking your exam.
Follow these tips to help improve your study habits:
Start studying as soon as the BIB for your rating is posted.
Follow your study plan.
Use a planned approach to self-study.
Form a study group with shipmates in your rating.
Be proactive.
Attend command-sponsored training classes such as:
Warfare qualifications
Damage control
Rating-specific Personnel Qualification Standards (PQS)
Ask questions when you don’t understand something.
Get a mentor.
Do your job ‘by the book’.
Review manuals and instructions.
Make sure you are doing your tasks correctly.

6. How to Prepare for Your Exam
Tips for Successful Self-Study
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Everyone has different study habits, and only you know how you
study best. If you have had difficulty studying on your own in
the past, here are some tips you can use to make your study
sessions more productive.
Start each study session with a review of information you
studied in your last session.
Study in 15 min – 1 hr sessions rather than long marathon-
type sessions.
Break information into manageable chunks to study.
Do not try to read a reference from cover to cover.

7. How to Prepare for Your Exam
Studying Unfamiliar BIB References
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Some of the references you find on your BIB may be new to you. One strategy that will make your study of these
unfamiliar references more effective is the three-phase process:
Preview
Read
Review

8. How to Prepare for Your Exam
Previewing BIB References
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When you go to the movies, you always see short clips, or previews, of new movies that will appear in your theater
soon. These previews give you an idea of what you will see in those movies. When you preview a chapter in a book
before you read it, it helps your mind focus and prepare for what you are going to read. Before reading a chapter in one
of your references, follow the previewing procedure in this table.
Step Action
1 Preview the chapter by reading just the title, headings, and subheadings.
2 Examine any pictures, diagrams, tables, or graphs.
3
Read the introductory and concluding paragraphs and the summary, if
one is included.
4
Turn each title, heading, and subheading into a question about the
material you will be reading.

9. How to Prepare for Your Exam
Reading BIB References
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After you have previewed the chapter, follow this stepped approach to reading so you will become an active, involved
learner.
Step Action
1
Read the information and try to answer each question that you
developed in the preview phase.
2 Focus on underlined, italicized, or bold words.
3
Underline or highlight important information in your reference, if
possible.
4 Make notes about the text in your own words.
5 Reread sections that contain difficult or confusing information.
6 Write down any questions about information you do not understand.
7 Ask for help when information is confusing or difficult.

10. How to Prepare for Your Exam
Reviewing BIB References
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After you read each section in your chapter, you need to review what you have read before tackling any new material.
Then, after you have completed the entire chapter, you need to stop for a chapter review. Follow the steps in the table
below to help you review and remember new information.
Step Action
1 Review what you have read at the end of each section in the chapter.
2
Recall the questions you developed and see if you can answer them from
memory. If you can’t answer a question, look back and find the answer.
Do not go to another section until you can answer each question
from memory.
3
Try to anticipate additional questions from the material that might
appear on an exam.
4 Make flashcards from your notes to help you study.
5
Review all questions you created for the chapter. Do not go to another
chapter until you can answer each question from memory.

11. How to Prepare for Your Exam
Developing Flashcards for Study
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Flashcards are a great way to review vocabulary and specific
facts. You can stick them in your pocket and study them on your
own or with a shipmate when you have a few minutes of free
time. Follow these tips when creating flashcards:
Create one card for each fact or definition you need to
learn.
Put the question or vocabulary word on one side and the
answer on the back.
Study the cards in order.
Quiz yourself by reading and answering each card.
Flip the card to check your answer.
Put the cards you answered correctly in a stack.
Put the cards you answered incorrectly in another stack.
Review the ‘don’t know’ stack and test yourself again.
Continue this process until you know all the answers.

12. How to Prepare for Your Exam
Studying with Your Shipmates
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Often it is helpful to study with other shipmates from your rating
community and paygrade. Together you can help each other stay
on task and focused on your upcoming exam. Follow these tips
when studying with your shipmates:
Review flashcards you and your shipmates have
developed.
Divide information and have group members teach
sections from your BIB.
Make it fun! Use a game style format to study information.
Ask the experts! Your supervisors want to help you
advance.
Ask your LPO or LCPO to work with your study group
when you encounter difficulties.
Start each study session with a review of information you
studied in your last session.

13. How to Prepare for Your Exam
On-the-Job Training (OJT)
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On-the-job training (OJT) is one of the best ways to prepare
for your advancement exam. Hands-on training reinforces the
information you have learned from your BIB references and
study sessions.
If you can operate it, then you can answer questions about its
operation. If you can bake it, you can answer questions about
baking.
Ask your LPO or LCPO to assist you with this real-life
training.

14. How to Prepare for Your Exam
Verifying Your Worksheet
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Prior to exam day you will go to your Educational Services Officer (ESO) and/or your Personnel Support Detachment
(PSD) to review your Advancement-in-Rate or Change of Rating Worksheet. It is extremely important that all the
information on your Worksheet is correct. It is your responsibility to verify the accuracy of this information. After
reviewing the information on your Worksheet, you will sign it verifying that it is correct. On exam day, you will
receive a computer-generated Worksheet, and you will transfer some of the information on this Worksheet to your
exam answer sheet.
To view or print a copy of a sample Advancement-in-Rate or Change of Rating Worksheet, click on the Form icon
below.