How to succeed in UPSC Interviews? Tips for UPSC interview.

India selects persons for appointment to its elite civil services through a rigorous procedure. This article seeks to demystify the Personality Test, which is the last stage in the Combined Civil Services Examination, for all those who are preparing for it.

Ever since the first batch of IAS officers was selected in 1948 many myths and stories about IAS interviews have been in circulation among the public curious to know how the best brains in the country are selected for this elite service These have created an aura of mystery around the IAS interview and painted the picture of a battle of wits among the smartest and the wisest. When I went to spend a few days with a serving Indian Air Force Officer after my IAS interview with the Union Public Service Commission, many of his colleagues were curious to know the questions I was asked in my interview When I gave them a factual ac count of what transpired, there was al most total disbelief!

Demystifying Personal Interview

Performance in the interview was al ways considered as important as that in the written examination in assessing a candidate's suitability for the job. In the beginning it was mandatory for a candidate to get a certain minimum of marks in the interview to qualify for selection. This provision for a mandatory minimum was given up later in the face of criticism Since then interview is treated like just an other paper Nevertheless marks obtained in the interviews have been always very important because the differences in the marks obtained in written papers by the qualifying candidates could be very small and interview marks could significantly affect their inter-se rankings and consequently the service and cadre allotments Under the present system of three stage (Preliminary, Main and Personality Test) Common Civil Services Examination on the lines of the Kothari Committee recommendations, all the candidates for Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Ser vice, Indian Police Service and various central civil services have to write the same examinations and go through the same Personality Test Allotment to various ser vices is now done keeping in view each candidate's rank and preference only after rank list is published by the UPSC

Understanding the Civil Services examination

 The calendar for the three-stage civil Examination is fixed so that the training of the selected candidates starts at nearly the same time every year. This gives approximately one month for the Personality Tests of around 1,000 candidates to be completed. Consequently Personality Tests are conducted by a number of Boards in parallel. The time factor is also the main reason for limiting the Personality Test to a simple interview of the duration of about half an hour

The Constituent Board Members

Each Board will have one member of the UPSC as the President and four domain experts as members. Two of the domain experts (or Advisers as they are officially called) will be retired officers one former IAS officer who retired from service at the level of Secretary to Government of India or equivalent and one former officer from another service like IFS or IPS or any of the central services who retired from the highest level of that service Of the other two, one will be an expert in humanities and the other an expert in science and technology These domain experts are changed after every week and a new set of domain experts come in at the beginning of each working week

The Order of Personality Test

 Nobody, not even the UPSC Chairman, will know in advance which candidate will appear before which Board. Names of all the candidates who are to appear for Personality Test in the forenoon session or afternoon session of a particular day are decided on the basis of the criterion of convenience of access to New Delhi Everyday these names are picked at random and divided into groups. One slip carrying the names of one group of candidates is then put into one envelop and sealed. All the sealed envelopes, equal in number to the number of Boards, are then taken to the UPSC Chairman who blindly marks the Board Number (each Board is known by a number) on each envelope without opening the envelope After members of a Board have assembled in the room where Personality Test is to be conducted the Board President will open the envelope Because of this system it is impossible to "fix" a Personality Test through pre-arrangement. UPSC examinations including Personality Tests have deservedly acquired a reputation for being objective, transparent and impartial

Briefing of the Boards

At the commencement of a session, each Board Member is given a file containing bio-data of the candidates who are to appear before that Board in that particular session. Only the Board President's file, however, will have the information whether the candidates belong to any of the reserved categories or not. This is done to ensure that there is no caste or religious bias in assessing the performance of candidates All other relevant information about each candidate such as academic and job background, mother-tongue, home state. hobbies, number of attempts, age, etc. will be in the file given to each member A common criticism about the system of multiple Boards conducting Personality Tests is that there is a possibility that some of the Boards could be more liberal and the others more stringent in awarding marks. While such a possibility cannot be ruled out altogether, all efforts are made to keep each Board informed of the pat tern of marking happening in the other Boards for ensuring a degree of uniformity. From the afternoon of the first day onwards each Board is shown, at the be ginning of each session, an analysis of the marks awarded by the different Boards This is intended as a gentle nudge to each Board to remain as close to the average as possible.

The Assessment of Suitability 

There can be no perfect system for the ex act assessment of an individual's personality. Most of the candidates qualifying for the Personality Test can be expected to be of above average calibre and comparative assessments can be very difficult More over, the performance of a candidate in a Personality Test will depend on several factors. This is why a candidate may score very high marks in the Personality Test one year and yet not do so well the next year Some years ago at least part of the Personality Test had the appearance of a viva voice for the subjects chosen by the candidate for the civil services examination. This has changed radically in the last few years as a result of the emphasis in the briefing of the advisers that the Personality Test is meant not to test the in-depth knowledge of the candidate in a couple of subjects to assess the candidate's general suitability for appointment to a top civil service job. The Boards are required to assess, besides intellectual calibre, articulation and self-confidence, the candidate's personal qualities like ability to as part of a team, integrity of character, sense of discipline, objectivity, clarity of thought, analytical ability, intellectual etc.

The Range of Topics

In other words, questions could be asked on almost any subject under the sun. It is not that the Board would expect a candidate to be an expert on every subject. What is expected of a candidate is the intellectual curiosity to have a reasonably good understanding about many topics. For example, a humanities student may not know the science behind a technology but he should know the uses of various common technologies and the latest technological trends. A science student may not know much of the theories of economics except the very basic but he/ she should have a clear understanding of the state of the national and global economies. A candidate aspiring for a top job in civil service is expected to have at least some basic knowledge of issues pertaining to environment, national security and defence, broad policy matters, international relations including conflicts. and trade, Indian and world history, Indian constitution and legal system, pub lic health, geography, India's cultural heritage, cultural diversity and religions of India, etc and be familiar with all the recent developments in current affairs. All-round knowledge as described above. is not difficult to acquire if a person makes a disciplined and planned effort over a period of time Nobody can develop such a breadth of knowledge overnight. It requires time and perseverance Nothing can be a substitute for reading as a means of acquiring knowledge but it is equally important to read the right stuff and avoid wasting time reading muck. Many of the subjects mentioned above may be difficult to understand at the first reading, one has to grow up with it. This is where perseverance becomes important. There are all kinds of books, journals and newspapers in the market.

The Time Factor

A candidate must choose the right mix for reading instead of wasting time on indiscriminate reading. In the run-up to the civil services examination and Personality Test, a candidate must remember that time is finite and should, therefore, carefully plan how the available time is to beutilised Candidates should not think of starting to prepare for the Personality Test only after the results of the Main Examination are published as there will be very little time then to acquire much new knowledge It will be better to utilise the time available at this stage to appear in as many mock interviews as possible though most of the mock interview boards have very little idea of the real Personality Test. Nevertheless the very experience of sitting in the hot seat has a value of its own in boosting the candidate's morale so long as the candi date is aware that the real Personality Test in Dholpur House in Delhi could be very different. Candidates should, how ever, remember that the obsessive preoccupation of some of the mock interview boards with region-specific issues will not be shared by the UPSC Boards and they should not waste the limited time avail able on doing research on these topics A few days before departure, the candi date should ensure that all the requisite. certificates and other documents are placed in one file and this file is safely kept in the box to be taken to Delhi so as to avoid last moment rush and confusion

The Decorum

It will be advisable for the candidates to reach Delhi at least a couple of days before the date of the Personality Test Though there is no official dress code for the candidates, it is expected that they come to the Personality Test properly dressed Jacket and tie are not in vogue now Most of the male candidates prefer simple full sleeve shirts and pants. with closed shoes while most of the female candidates tend to choose the combination of sober coloured sari and and blouse with matching footwear A casual attire such as jeans and sandals may, however, be considered a mark of disrespect Candidates should reach the UPSC office well before the reporting time mentioned in the call letter. There will be a queue of candidates at the entry gate Once inside, the candidates should proceed to the central waiting hall where their certificates will be warding verified while they await their turn to face the Board Personality Tests are held in the offcial chambers of the Board Presidents Candidates will be ushered to the chamber and made to sit outside for a few minutes before being asked to go in. Once inside the chamber, the candidate should pause for a moment and say "Good Morning" or Good Afternoon Sir/Madam before the President of the Board greets him/her and asks him/her to take the seat Candidates should be careful not to rush to sit down before being asked

       The Personality Test Framework Normally, each candidate is allocated 30 minutes for the Test but the actual duration may vary slightly for various reasons. The Test will commence with a few simple questions from the President which are essentially meant to put the candidate at ease This will be followed by more serious questions. After the President finishes his/her questions, he/she will ask the other Members of the Board to ask questions one after the other. The normal. practice is that a Member of the Board will start asking questions only after an other has completed his/her questions In other words, candidates will not be questioned by different members together and a Member will not interject when the candidate is answering the question put by another Member. At the end of the Test, the President will say "Thank You" and signal to the candidate to leave Then the candidate may reciprocate by saying "Thank you, Sir/Madam" and leave. It is but natural that all candidates, especially the first timers, will feel a bit nervous as they go in to the President's chamber for the Test It will be useful to talk to one. self to calm down while the candidate still in the waiting hall. A person who has prepared well has no reason to feel apprehensive before the Test and should not feel upset if he/she is not able to answer some question It is well to remember that nobody is expected to know everything about everything but an intellectually inquisitive candidate is expected to know something about most of the things that matter

Tips to Remember

First, they should look composed and self confident but not over confident Second, they should not tell lies or try to bluff their way out. If they do not know the answer to a question, they should say honestly that they do not know. Third, they should not think that they are smarter than the Board members and will be able to divert discussions to their own favoured areas Fourth, they should not be seen to be shifting their stands to please the Member who is asking questions but they should not appear argumentative either Candi dates will do well to remember that the Personality Test is not like a college debate with the Board on one side and the candidate on the other. Due courtesy and respect should be shown to the Board with out being obsequious. Fifth, candidates should practice voice modulation and see to it that the decibel level is just appropriate so that even the Member sitting farthest from the candidate would be able to hear clearly what he/she is saying. Candi dates should practice speaking slowly so that whatever they say is fully registered on those who hear them. Talking like ma chine gun fire is not a good quality and does not necessarily show command over the subject or the language

After the candidate goes out on completing the test, the President and Members of the Board will have a discussion on the strengths and weaknesses of the candidate and then arrive at a consensus on the marks to be awarded. Normally. the marks range between 20% and 75% but an outstanding performance may fetch 80%