exam strategy

A very good article written by Sorabh Babu Maheshwari,

IAS Topper 2000 outlining the do's and dont's for the

exam. This stuff deserves our precious time. So find

some time to read it.

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The path to the coveted Civil Services is full of ups

and downs and is a highly uneven track to traverse.

Before taking a decision about Civil Services as your

career, it is expedient to check up oneself and remain

determined after wards. The first and foremost thing

to decide while aspiring for Civil Services is the

judicious choice subjects for the Prelims and the

Mains. This is the most important and first step of

your journey and should be accomplished most carefully

as coming things hinge on it and a wrong decision may

prove to be disastrous. Careful analysis of syllabus,

previous years’ papers, your calibre, requirement of

subject (Visionary, Numerical, Theoretical), comfort

level with the subject and past trends should be done.

Advice from seniors and fellow candidates should also

be sought. To avoid dithering in choice at later

stage, initial deep thinking and consultations are a

must. Having decided the subject, it is advisable to

stick to your choice even if the perception of others

about it is not favourable. Preparation for General

Studies can be done hand in hand while preparing for

Optional papers. Good mix of study hours for General

Studies and Optionals makes study enjoyable and it

becomes easy to sustain for long hours without losing

interest and enthusiasm. Before Prelims result, one

Optional can be exhaustively prepared so as to have an

edge during study for the Mains and also to ease out

burden during these busy days. General Studies, though

does not have any limits, yet syllabus as outlined by

UPSC gives quite good understanding of the question

paper. General tendency about General Studies paper is

to devote much more time on unproductive readings

which, in reality yields little returns. Concentrate

on what is more probable, followed by probable, then

less probable if time permits. Even if you do not

cover less probable ones, you are not at much o floss.

So, be secure and study systematically. Being a

regular reader of newspapers n magazines gives good

command and writing skill, hence, this should be made

a habit. Trend now-a-days has shifted more towards

current issues, hence a thorough awareness of recent

happenings is mandatory. one you achieve the threshold

in General Studies, more efforts should be put on

Optionals (Especially in Prelims) as it is more

scoring and is the hub of success. For Mains, syllabus

is quite beautifully elaborated and we know beforehand

the study topics. Ready reference material as

published in some magazines is of great help. I

believe that the preamble of UPSC Question Paper are

the instructions on the front page of the paper. Give

some time in reading the instructions and follow them.

By doing this, you are averting a possible source of

error which could creep in if you do not read them.

Follow the world-limit as prescribed at the end of the

question to the extent possible. Try to confine your

answer within that limit, never exceed it. The art to

express many contrasting views in a confined word

space comes through practice, so practise some

previous years’ question papers. Be your own while

writing, never try to imitate anybody. Your expression

needs try to be limited yet comprehensive while

writing General Studies paper. In Essay paper, your

imagination can reach zenith but with a purpose, never

divert from the main topic. To ensure, work out the

sub-titles, rearrange them if necessary and once you

are satisfied with the rough work, elaborate are

satisfied with the rough work, elaborate on this

outline after wards. There is no standard word-limit

yet. What one can effectively write in 3-hour duration

is good enough length. My essay consisted of approx

2500 words. Conclusion should be drawn only at the

end, take a balanced approach and write whatever good

comes to your mind at the end, take a balanced

approach and write what ever good comes to your mind

at the moment. Devote initial 40-46 minutes on

preparing rough outline. Next 2 hours for writing

inflow and last 15-20 minuets for review and

corrections. In addition to Competition Success Review

and standard books, I studied History Polity of

Spectrum Series books, Economics, Science & Technology

and Geography through MnM Series books which I found

quite useful. Approach to Optional paper is not

universal and is individual specific, adopt such

strategy which you are comfortable with and which fits

into your constraints. Since, I am working with maruti

Udyog, I did not have plenty of time as against my

fellow candidates. I has to evolve and finetune my

strategy to cover up such a huge Mechanical

Engineering and Mathematics syllabi apart from General

Studies & essay. “How to write an answer” is equally

vital for Mechanical Engineering/Mathematics paper as

it is for General Studies & Essay. Students sometimes

ignore basics and it costs much. Before proceeding,

state all the assumptions involve and try to give

minutes plausible details, adopt step0by-step

approach, see that no vital step is left in between,

as these steps are the links and missing or weak links

can never ensure good strength of the answer, so be

careful about it. All this sequential and systematic

answering comes through a lot of practice and analysis

of standard answers. Simulate the actual examination

hours at home to judge your performance and to plug

any loopholes. For the Personality Test one should

better form a group of 3-4 people as the preparation

for Interview cannot be done in isolation. All would

agree that personality is a life-time asset and

expecting miraculous alterations in personality in a

span of a few days or weeks is not possible. Yet,

efforts can be made to overcome major deficiency and

polish p views and opinions. Remember, no one is

omniscient and non-awareness of something should be

admitted with politeness. Only those people learn who

have urge to change an willing to accept new

ideologies. If at any point of time, you could show

that your approach is flexible an amenable the world

is yours. It is better to say ‘No’ than to bluff

around. Those interviewing are highly experienced

persons and know much better than us, therefore one

should be expressed only if asked so, never start

giving history of an issue, unless asked to do so. Of

the question put is not clear t you, politely ask for

more information. It is not the factual knowledge but

your views which are on test. Always observe interview

etiquette and be honest, polite, convincing an modest.

Arrogance, rigidity, flicking round the issue should

be avoided. A lot depends upon the Almighty, so pray

often. Be self confident but not complacent, honest,

motivated, have patience and be optimistic. Work hard

as there is no short-cut to success and hard work

never goes unrewarded. I would like to quote Swami

Vivekanand (often my eldest brother reminds me of it):

Arise awake and rest not till the goal is achieved.

There are many ups and downs during the course. It is

the ‘downs’ which need to be tackled more vigorously

and skillfully, it is when a person’s qualities are on

test and they emerge as winners who have these

qualities. To cite my example, I was often told that

it is just impossible to think for IAS while working.

I was advised sometimes even to quit the job. Yet, I

managed to come out with flying colours despite all

these hiccups’ kudos to good planning, my faith in

Almighty, parents’ blessing, hard work and God’s

grace. I have read somewhere that winners are those

who manage their hardships effectively and do learn

from our mistakes makes us successful. Never feel

depressed, self confidence and inner strength are the

two basic requirements for anybody to appear in this

examination. Believe in yourself. You are your own

best judge and you know which areas are weak and nee

reinforcement. General perception around the Civil

Services aspirants regarding Mechanical Engineering is

highly discourage yet I took it and got success. So

never get carried away by others. Profound Faith In

God, Strong Will Power and Dogged Pursuit Do Bear

Fruit -Ms. Manju Rajpal, IAS Topper Among Women 2000

“Winners don’t do different things, but they do the

things differently” - these lines appearing in the

Preface of Shiv Khera’s Book “You Can With” touch the

very fathom of success or failure in life. There are

no roses always strewn on the path of those moving

towards their goal in life; instead the thorns in the

way is the biggest truth of life. I never agree with

those who think failure s synonymous with lick. Every

sweat of your brow through hard work bears the

splendour of your bright career and this ensures your

Golden Tomorrow. Those who keep faith in their

capabilities, shape their future with their own deeds.

We have t take exam/test at every step f life.

Therefore, whether it is a competitive exam or a

sundry struggle in day-to-day life, till you have the

high aim of standing first or coming out victorious

therein, the pinnacle of success remains a distance

dream. The first step towards success is to choose

your goal honestly and thereafter to make dedicated

efforts backed by strong determination t achieve it.

By honesty, I mean that incases you are selecting

Civil Services s your career, the first quest ion that

you should put to yourself is: Whether you want to

become the same of which you are making efforts. It is

very easy to inherit a dream, an aspiration or a goal

but to muster courage to convert it into reality is

surely a difficult task. Therefore, if father desires,

mother has a dream or it is a pressure from your

social circle or family that you have to be a shining

star in the firmament of civil Services but you are

planning, for your job satisfaction, quite a different

a career for you, my advice to you would be to

reconsider your decision for making Civil Services as

your goal. If the decision to join Civil Services is

your own, then assess your suitability in the context

of your capabilities to see whether you passes the

requisite self-confidence, dedicated efforts, strong

determination and commitment; the reason being that

the lack of constant and hardwork leading to initial

setback or failure to achieve the desired success

engulfs the whole personality into darkness. If your

decision is backed by an honest assessment of positive

aspect of your capacity or capability, then proceed

towards your goal in right direction and, believe me

no obstacle on the way can ever waver you from your

path. By right direction; I mean that if you want to

ensure your success in Civil Services, then it is

desirable to make a right selection of study material.

I have seen many candidates studying a lot which is

hardly necessary. Therefore, don’t waste your energy.

Take a decision on the basis of the nature of your

Optionals whether extensive or intensive study is

required. Always use authentic and dependable study

material brought out by standard publishers. You must

be quite serious in the selection of your subjects.

Some subjects are considered scoring and that the

chances of success therein are rated quite high. This

is a wrong method of subject-selection.

Subject-selection should be always based on your

interest in the subject, availability of study

material and your ability to understand the nature of

the subject as a first reaction, better evaluate your

deficiencies in the subject and try to remove them. In

my opinion, keeping in view the moral disequilibrium

and fall in performance level as a result of such

frequent change of subjects, it is better to stick to

your original after rectifying your drawbacks.

Preparation for civil Services demands right

time-management. If there is something more valuables

than time, it is ‘Time’ only. Therefore, instead of

wasting the interlude between completion of prelims

exam and its results, prepare at least one Optional,

assuming that you would be successful in the exam.

Then at the time for General Studies and the other

Optional. At the same time, one of the criteria for

selection for Civil Service is that how for a

candidate succeeds in expressing himself through

originality of thoughts; excellence and analytical

presentation via effective writing. An indepth study

of the subject is desirable but there is a world of

difference between “knowing all” and “effective

presentation of requisite knowledge”. Therefore, make

constant efforts to develop your expressive power.

Keep your self-confidence intact while appearing for

the Prelims and the Mains, then only you can attempt

the Question Paper in a reasonably logical way. Select

Questions after utmost thought and instead of making

hurry in answering the questions, it is better to

understand their true content. In prelims, while it

may be alright to answer objective questions on the

basis of intelligent guesswork but in the Mains,

logical and fact-based and to the point answer are

desirable. In General Studies, if you do not know the

answer to a particular question, it is risky to

attempt it with guess work or on the basis of wrong

information. While selection topics in the Essay

Paper, always be careful that it should contain not

only factual or informative data but there should also

be analytical presentation. During interview, keep in

view that no Training institute can improve your

personality completely although some of these

Institutes provide an avenue to be helpful through

well-planned preparation and Group Discussions. During

Interview, keep in mind that the members of the Board

are more experienced than you; therefore, an attempt

of focus your personality is to invite risk. Whatever

you are, keeping faith in yourself, have a balanced

view of the questions put to you. Have faith in life

and have positive outlook towards various

developments; thereby you acquire the moral prop to

face difficulties To sum up:- (No mater whether you

take only a few steps, Go on your chosen pathwith

positive state of mind, Your destination will reach

you automatically: O grumbler with your forethought

and planning, You can even change your destiny) you

will find that a stone” thrown up with right intent

could make a hole in the sky”. Hard Work, Focussed

Approach And Faith In God Are Instrumental In

Achieving Your Goal - Santosh Kumar Misra, IAS Topper

2000 (2nd Rank) 1. Focus on Mains : Always target the

Mains Exam and make passing the Prelims a critical but

incidental objective. If you always focus on Prelims

result and don’t think of Mains till the Prelims

result are out, you will end up as a loser because

there is hardly any time left for a thorough

preparation. So always aim at the Mains. 2. Revision

is a must : Always remember “anything you could not

revise prior to the examination is as good as not

having prepared at all” So always make sure that

you’re able to revise whatever you’ve prepared just

prior to the examination. 3. Practice, Practice and

Practice (Especially for maths) : Go through the

unsolved papers of the previous years and solve them.

Try to monitor you speed. Speed is of utmost

importance in this examination 4. Have a Small Group :

Preparing alone is extremely boring and at times

frustrating. So form a small group with your friends,

and have regular discussions, e.g. in History, Polity,

etc. it helps to keep your tempo up. 5. ‘Dare-to-Bare’

Attitude for your Personality Test : Given the

extremely short time (25-30 minutes) in which your

personality is assessed, it is your responsibility to

bring out your very best in front of the board. This

should be done in a very modest way and it should not

appear as if you are boasting. The risk in baring

yourself in front of the board is that you will also

be exhibiting your weakness. So do it in a pre-planned

and well-planned way. 6. General Do’s & Don’ts for the

Interview: (i) Be utmost respectful to the board. They

are usually very senior and learned people. (ii) Have

no biases for any Board . Don’t go by any stories

doing rounds in your campus corridors. (iii) Never

make any sweeping statement (iv) Accept your mistakes

boldly. 7. Overall : Be patient and maintain your

pace. This examination is all about tenacity and

perseverance. Don’t lose heart and work hard. Your

efforts are bound to succeed. 8. Suggested study

Time-Table: Say you are appearing in Civil Services

Examination, 2001. Here is how I recommend going about

it: (i) Start in December 2000 (ii) December

200-February 2001: Finish your Optional (i.e., the

Optional other than the one you’re taking in the

Prelims. (iii) March & April 2001) : Devote fully to

the Preparation of Optional 1 (i.e., the subject

you’ll opt in the prelims) thoroughly. (iv) May 2001

should be spent exclusively for Prelims. A selective

and precise coverage of syllabus is required. (v) For

General Studies in Prelims, all you need is a

collection of Competition Success Review issues from

December to May. Just go through them and try to pick

as many facts as you can. Also solve the previous

years’ General Studies Prelims and Model Papers

published in competition Success Review. (vi) Take a

break after the Prelims for 10-15 days. Relax and

re-energise yourself for the last four months of the

year-long battle. (vii) Complete the Optional-1 where

you left it at the time of Prelims. This should be

done by the middle of July. (viii)Give second half of

July and August to your Optional -2, once again. (ix)

Prepare all your General Studies including current

events in September and leave October for Revision.

Time Table For The Preparation Of Civil Services

Examination : 2001-2002 December- 2000 January - 2001

Optional February- 2001 March - 2001 Optional 0 1 from

April - 2001 Mains point of view May 2001 Optional - 1

and General Studies from June- 20001 Prelims point of

view July- 2001 Optional - 2 August- 2001 & September

- 2001 General Studies October- 2001 Revisions During

revision or otherwise in nay spare time you should go

through al the issue of magazines like Competition

Success Review (of that particular year) and it will

be extremely rewarding, I can guarantee that. (x)

After your Mains are over, take a break for say a

month or so. Just keep reading Newspaper/Magazines

(Hindu & Frontline’s international events are a good

combination). You should be in touch with magazine

like Competition Success Review. (xi) From January

2002 you should start preparing for your round two.

Prepare the topics you could not do in your lst

attempt and try to cover any, new areas where you feel

you were weak. By March 2002, you should be fully

prepare to tackle the Mains once again (hopefully you

won’t need it, still it pays to be prepared). (xii) In

March the results come out and immediately afterwards

you should start your interview preparation. Interview

: Interview preparation does not require one to stuff

oneself with facts, ability to analyse and to

critically examine an issue is what actually counts.

Facts you may not know and there is no harm in saying

so to the Board but you must be able to think

laterally and analyse all dimensions of the topic

under consideration. Speak honestly, truthfully and

with modesty. Understand the questions before

answering them and clarify the points if you did not

understand them. Many a time what happens is that your

answer is misinterpreted, so do not hesitate in

clarifying it. Framing your own questions and

answering them (especially recording them on to a tape

and listening them) is a very useful technique, if you

don’t feel confident. Otherwise also it is extremely

helpful in making a correct choice of words while

answering a question. Hard Work, Good Planning,

positive Approach and Faith In God Ensure Success -

Vinod K.Jacob, IAS Topper 200 (5th Rank) A civil

servant is one of the most balanced and normal

personalities in a country. He/she need not be an

expert, a genius or a super-specialist, he/she has to

be an average man/woman of pleasing nature and

personality with a flair for leadership and

administration. This dictum should guide every IAS

aspirant throughout the 3 stages- Prelims, Mains and

Interview. A 10 to 14 months programme is a must for

this Exam. One should not attempt the first Prelims as

a trial. The first attempt ought to be the best

attempt. Preparation should be focussed on the Mains 3

months solely devoted to Prelims. Choice of Optional

should be the first step the choice should rest solely

on aptitude and bent of mind. The study should begin

with understanding of the first principles and the

basics. One should refer only to the standard

text-books and noted classics in the concerned

subjects. Preparation for Mains should not be on the

basis of past years’ Questions papers only. First,

complete the syllabus and then one month preceding the

Mains, practise with the help previous years’ papers.

I feel that it is the performance in General Studies

paper that tilts the scales. My observation has been

that he candidates are extremely thorough with their

Optionals and level of knowledge is improving s the

years pass by. Hence General Studies alone makes or

mars one’s chances. Likewise, one has to practise

writing good essays. Writing and presentation skills

count for much. English paper and Language paper are

no easy sailing affairs. I could not succeed in my

first attempt (1998) because I failed in Hindi

compulsory paper. So it is always advisable to brush

up one’s grammar and vocabulary. Making notes, keeping

paper cuttings, regular map reading and group

discussions are a must. Keeping focussed is often a

tall exercise but with the help of our family and few

reliable friends we can always recharge our betteries

and stay on course. Prelims: A three-month exclusive

preparation for Prelims is a must. For the subject

paper, the whole syllabus should be thoroughly

studied, revise, re-revised and mastered. No part can

be afforded to be overlooked. No part can be afforded

to be overlooked. For General Studied, one has to go

through NCERT books and the Hindu and Frontline. Many

of the questions can be answered through intelligent

guesses. Remember, first complete al mental ability

questions and then go onto the rest. Target : 95/120

to 115/120 (Subject); 90 to 100/150 (G.S). P.S. : The

subject is more important than G.S. hence, spend more

time on the subject. Mains : On an average atleast 6

to 8 hours of study a day is a must. I used to take

off and Sundays but used to spend 2 hours reading the

Hindu even Sundays. All papers should be prepared

simultaneously. Equal importance should be given to

all papers. One should always stick to the word limit.

In case of long answers, do not write more than 500

words. Never take an aggressive stand while attempting

your Essay papers. Explain all the differing and

opposing schools of thought and with logical reasoning

explain your viewpoint. Target : 1150 to 1250/2000.

General Studies, I believe, makes or mars your

chances. Interview : A civil servant is not born. But

he is not made one overnight. Hence, one should aim at

projection an optimistic outlook. Humility is a

quality that has no peers. Our arguments should not

resemble rhetoric but should be persuasive. Taking

part in debates and extempores is a must. I even took

classes in Law in my M.L. one should spend atleast 2

hours a day in reading the newspapers. One should be

prepared for analysing any issue of current

importance. But, we should never try to give ad.hoc or

quick.fix solutions. Remember, stalling for time is a

very good way of overcoming a problem. In Civil

Services Examination, Emotional Quotient (E. Q.) is as

important as I.Q. hence, you should stay focussed,

calm, patient and in a proper frame of mind. Remember,

he who rules the mind is greater than he who rules the

city. Dedication, Time Management & Hard Work :

Secrets Of My Success - Ms. Bhawna Garg, IAS Topper

1999 It is indeed a pleasure to write this column

which I remember to have been very particular in

reading, once I decided to go for this Exam. By this

column, Competition Success Review is indeed providing

an appropriate guidance to student aspiring for the

civil Services. I must candidly admit that this column

has been greatly helpful in ensuring my success in

this premiere exam. For the Civil Services Exam, a

very different kind of approach is required. There are

three stages in this Exam Preparation -Though, work,

then deed, and not anyone of them being less important

than other. With the number of vacancies dwindling

each year an the competition getting tougher and at

the same time, the number of aspirant increasing- this

year around three lakh students has appeared, one must

consider all the pros and cons of the situation,

before jumping into th fray. You have to be

self-motivated. I would like to remind the aspirants

the words of Swamy Vivekananda. “Stand up, be bold and

take the whole responsibility on your shoulders and

know that you are creator of your own density. All the

strength and success that you want are within

yourself.” Once having decided about going in for the

exam, it must be atleast a year before you ought to be

appearing for the Prelims. I decided sometimes in

January 97 during my sixth Semester at IIT Kanpur.

Then comes the stage as to what is required to be

done. Start the practise of regular reading of a

newspaper. I was regular with The Hindu and I found it

fairly useful. Also the choice of the optional is very

crucial. You can decide about it based on your own

interests, aptitude, graduation study, consulting the

previous years’ question papers, etc. it need not

necessarily be t popular choice. I had Maths and

Chemistry as my optionals. The criteria to choose

Chemistry as against Physics was entirely based on my

self-analysis because I have more liking for the

subject plus by better scoring abilities in it. So

despite the fact that there was hardly any guidance

available for chemistry as against Physics, I decided

about it. Also because I was getting more number of

days in between G.S. -Maths and then Math- Chemistry

papers (atleast 10 days break in between), this also

was favourable and encouraging which did later prove

beneficial - for I got sufficient time for last-minute

revision. After the self-convincing choice of

optional, the collection of the reading material

becomes crucial. Th study of the previous years’ Test

Papers together with solution is very useful to

understand the trend and type of questions set and how

to answer them. Here again Competition Success Review,

by publishing answer to the latest such test papers in

various Competitive exams including civil Services as

a regular Feature, is way ahead of many such

contemporary periodicals. Apart from this, the

university level books are consulted for they match

the style of the Paper. By September ’98, I started on

with some optional subject study - taking one topic at

a time but main emphasis was on General Studies

especially Polity and Modern History. Due to the

demanding B.Tech study, I was not able to give a lot

of time exclusively for this Exam. But still, I was

single-mindedly concentrating on my goal. At times I

had to compromise with my B.Tech studies. I used to

make a time schedule and a work schedule for the next

day and also note down my time analysis and work

progress if that particular day and introspect my

shortcomings and possible improvements. This went on

till April ’98 When I gave my Final Semester exams. In

between, I managed to devote the Whole one month just

to study Indian Polity - the subject I feared the most

in GS and its in-depth study instilled self-confidence

in me for an otherwise tough subject for me. I started

on for Prelims from mid-March. I just studied the

Brilliant Notes on Maths and read the NCERT books on

History, Geography and Spectrum Guide for Current

Affairs. I got the previous years’ solved Test of

Mathematics to develop a good speed and maintain it as

well. Generally, my tendency during the Practise Test

was to complete the paper 10 minutes earlier than the

scheduled time (Duration: 2 hours) for in the Exam

Hall, in the Hot Summers, one can never be sure of the

comfortable conditions. Also signing the Attendance

sheets and certain few announcements being made by the

invigilators at intervals may be distracting and

time-consuming. Prelim is just a qualifying Exam, so

my eyes were always directed on the Mains. Still I

devoted one full month of May exclusively for it to

avoid any risk so that later I can prepare comfortably

for the Mains without having any apprehensions about

my clearing the first stage. The generally accepted

strategy for this Exam is that one must have studied

the whole syllabus for the Mains before the Prelims or

at least before its result is out, i.e. by July end.

But I must admit that it wasn’t the case with me.

After my Prelims - taking a 3.4 days’ rest break, I

prepared a work plan for the next 5 months. I knew

that revision is very important, still it was only by

August end that I could finish off my syllabus once.

With just two months before the Exam,. This was a bit

demoralising and at times. I felt that I was out of

the race. But keeping my expectations low, still I was

determined not to let my spirits go down (Swami

Vivekananda quotations and anecdotes never let me

down), and sustained my consistency and without

letting any negative thoughts overpower my mind, I

worked mechanically till the last. The next two

months, I divided into three slots of 20days, each for

the three subjects. At first, I revised Maths wholly

followed by Chemistry and then GS till the General

Studies paper on 30th October. I couldn’t do any

special study for the Essay paper. However, the high

caliber essays for Civil Services published by CSR

proved immensely useful in giving me an insight of the

methodology to attempt the next 15 days for Math Paper

exclusively and then the next 10 days for the

Chemistry Paper. So a sufficient gap in between the

Exam proved really beneficial to me. During the

crucial six months duration after the Prelims, I feel

that you must have a very systematic approach, be

disciplines and sincere, be consistent and work

zealously. (Each day I would aim at attainable limits

of 10-12 hours of study time, maintain a diary, go for

some physical work-out for 30-40 minutes in the

evening to refreshing myself.) be calm and positive.

You should be so dedicated that no external coaxing

should be needed to sit and study for long hours have

faith in yourself and the Almighty and your

concentrated sincere effort will never betray you. The

execution step is the last but he most cautious one.

you must take light diet during the Exam days. Have

good sleep. The night before the Exam for two papers

during a day can be very exhausting and during the

second exam, there may be a tendency of lethargy

creeping in quite unwittingly. Be calm and positive.

Dress comfortably. Reach the Exam centre well in time,

so some deep breathing to maintain your cool and be

charming during the interview. The work limit

prescribes for the GS paper should be largely

conformed with, for it helps in good time management

as well. Work out the time plan for the Exam

beforehand for the Exam pattern is very well known.

For the Essay paper about 45 minutes can be given for

planning out, then two hours of writing (on 200 words)

and later 15 minutes of overhauling. Interview

preparation is not just a matter of a few days - your

whole personality counts. Still you must acquaint

yourself with your home State, district your college,

your hobbies, general concepts of Public

Administration, etc. also you can brush up the Mains

GS material like Polity, Economy, History, etc.

Interview is more of a psychological test than just

content based. But along with good communication

skills and self-confidence, good knowledge base gives

you an upper hand. Here again, reading certain

articles like, “Facing the Interview Board” published

by the Competition Success Review helps prepare

oneself accordingly. I solely relied on this important

feature in Competition Success Review. Group

Discussions and Mock Interviews are equally important.

However, I myself could not make a group and go for

any mock interview but I think this may prove helpful

especially to those who feel less self-confident and

have some difficulty in communication. I did not join

any Academy either. On the whole, I feel that the

first attempt should not be taken lightly for the

enthusiasm and the dedication for the first time may

be difficult t sustain on for the next time. Also one

must keep his options open while going in for this

exam - for with the decreasing number of the seats

each year and increasing competition, an alternative

job security can give one more self-confidence and

thus a wholehearted effort is possible. With good

wishes and good luck to all future aspirants of this

coveted service. Self-Confident, Planning And

Systematic Study : Stepping Stones To Success - Amit

Negi, IAS Topper 1999 (2nd Rank) To achieve glorious

success in the Civil Services Examination, proper

approach and excellent guidelines are indispensable.

Your Optionals are the things which can make all the

difference. This single decision has the potential to

alter your life. Choose your Optionals carefully and

with due care. Try to choose subjects in which you

have some background knowledge. Only choose those

subjects which are scoring and also with which you are

comfortable. Remember you’ll have to do both intensive

and extensive study of Optionals. So it is imperative

that you must have interest also in your Optionals.

Always keep an open-mind. Information from any source

relevant to your goal is always welcome. Discuss with

your friends, talk to them and listen to their views.

This will expand your knowledge base and also expose

you to different views. This is important as this will

enable you to view things in a balanced perspective

and avoid taking extremes. Make it a habit to go

through magazines (especially competition Success

Review and General Knowledge Today) and newspapers

regularly and read as many as possible. The syllabus

in the Civil Services is very hazy and vast with no

clearly-defined boundaries. So, it might happen that

you end up reading things which are connected with the

syllabus but are practically irrelevant from your

preparation point of view. So it is necessary that you

get a feel of what the examiner expects from you. For

this keep a copy of syllabus and side by side keep the

previous year’ papers. Compare them and see what types

of questions are repeated every year. Try to have a

feel as to what constitutes important portions of the

syllabus and what is irrelevant. Try to from

boundaries of the syllabus. This analysis will give

you an in-depth insight into the paper and the

examiner’s mind. This will make you understand which

topics need intensive study. This will also enable you

to identify unnecessary portions, which are not

important from the point of view of examination, so

that you may avoid them and save your precious time

and energy. It is always useful to maintain a

note-book to jot down all important developments

happening in the National and the International scene.

Also if possible one should make short notes for

Optional Paper as well as General Studies. For

example, in Mathematics and Physics one can make a

formula note-book in which one should write all the

important formulae and their derivations. Besides

making it easier to remember, such notes are also very

useful and handy during revision stages and save a lot

of time. Always do a planned and systematic study.

Work out your study schedules in a planned and orderly

manner. Maintain a daily routine of studying in a

manner suited to you and stick to it; no matter what

happens. Plan your whole preparation well. I think

this whole preparation should last about 12-15 months.

So plan your preparation in such a manner that before

the prelims you should have completed your both

Optionals and General Studies right up to the Mains

level. This will ensure that you have sufficient time

to revise. So planning at every stage of the

examinations important. Also do a very systematic

study. Work out your syllabus and finish it in an

ordered manner. Some time when you are free, try to

write an essay on post topics covered in the Civil

Services. This will expose you to your lacunae as well

as make you understand the things involved: writing a

good essay. Not only the easy you should also attempt

previous years’ Optionals Papers and General Studies

Papers. This will expose your weaknesses and give you

an idea about the extent of your preparation, your

knowledge base, your speed and accuracy. Thus you can

develop your writing skills and make sure that you can

cover lengthy papers, especially GS Paper-1, in time.

Remember in the Civil Services, writing skills matter

a lot. Most of the people appearing for Mains

Examinations have a lot of knowledge, some of them

have been preparing for the last three or four years,

even then such candidates are not selected sometimes.

One of the reasons for their failure is their writing

skills. They are not able to present all the

information present in their mind in a coherent and

logical manner as expected by the examiner. So, you

should develop your writing skills. The attitude that

I will write directly in the Examination should be

done away with. Remembers hours do not count. Don’t go

by the claims of other persons who say that they study

more than 18 hours a day. Do not get depressed if you

are unable to achieve their targets. Remember, it is

your preparation, you are the one who will appear in

the examination, you know yourself better, so do your

study according to your needs. Quality of hours put in

is more important than quantity. You should use your

energy an time in an efficient and effective manner.

Take due care of your health. You might go in for a

walk in the evenings. also maintain a hobby which

relaxes you during your preparation like listening to

music etc. take sleep as required by your body and

mind. It is always better to do study when one’s mind

and body are fresh, this helps in easy grasping of

things a swell as in retaining them. Remember that

without a good health, you will not be able to

concentrate on your studies and your whole idea of the

Civil services will go haywire. It is always better to

peak at the time of Examination. So channelise your

preparation in such a manner that you don’t burn

yourself out before the Examination. Build up reserves

of energy in yourself. You will need this energy at

the time of your Examination. Do not worry much about

the compulsory Hindi and English language papers. You

will coolly pass them, and you don’t need to waste

your time preparing for them. For Interview, from a

group of friends who have offered the same Optionals.

Remember, Interview is of a personality test. The

Board will check certain traits in your personality

such as your honesty and integrity, your mental

alertness, your acumen, your response to some

situations, your views on varied topics and also your

knowledge base. So, for Interview read as many

newspapers and as many magazine as possible. Discuss

with your friends. Take mock-interviews. Try to find

loop-holes in your arguments and plug them. Form your

views on various subjects in a very logical and

rational manner supported by data whenever necessary.

Do not get nervous whenever necessary. Do not get

nervous before the Interviews. Improve your

communications skills by giving mock-interviews. These

will also open you up. Ask your friends to grill you,

so that you can face pressure from the Board easily.

Always pause a bit before answering even if you know

the answer. Do not give a hasty reply. Answer in an

orderly and logical fashion an always look into the

eyes of the interviewer while answering. Be polite and

courteous. Don’t be too much argumentative. Be

consistent in your views, i.e. just don’t change your

views because of the fact that the Board is differing

with you. Remember that they are only testing you and

often even try to provoke you. Give balanced answers

and avoid taking extremes. Alongwith your preparation

for the Civil services Examination, the following four

elements are the pre-requisites for success in the

examination: (1) Hard Work - Remember that there is no

substitute for hard work. No genie is coming to help

you. You have to finish the whole course by yourself.

(2) Dedication - Dedication towards your duty always

pays in life. Be totally dedicated towards your study.

You will have to sacrifice something like movies,

parties, etc. at this stage of your life to achieve

bigger things. Just work day and night and go on and

on. (3) Patience - As the civil Services Emanation

spans a whole one year right from Preliminary stage to

the Interview stage, it requires a lot of patience to

maintain your tempo. At times you may feel tired and

sick of further studying during the course of your

preparation, but don’t throw the towel as yet.

Maintain your cool and patience and go on. To take out

your anger and frustration, talk to friends and

parents. They’ll provide you with the much-neede

emotional support. (4) Self- confidence- your

self-confidence can make the whole difference. If you

don’t believe in yourself and your capacity to achieve

then no matter how hard you try. You will end up in

failure. So your self-confidence should be at a very

high level. I don’t intend to say that you should

become over-confident, but a good self-esteem matters.

So to pep up your confidence level say t yourself

everyday in front of the mirror that you can do it and

you will do it. You should be in the surroundings of

the people who could constantly motivate you and

inspire you. Keep a group of close friends with you

who are as determined t make it to the Civil Services

as you are. This will make sure that if you are facing

some problems in any subject then you can approach

some one. Also while talking and discussing with them

you’ll be exposed to different views. This will also

ensure that you can vent out your frustration by

talking to some one. Besides, good friends are always

a source of inspiration and motivation. Motivation And

Confidence Secrets Of My Success - Deepak Tayal, IAS

Topper 1993 (3rd Rank) The first and the foremost step

to achieve success in the Civil Services Examination

is to aim high and have a belief in oneself. Once that

is done, one is prepared to give it a go. The first

step involves a suitable choice of the Optional

subject for the Preliminary Examination and the Mains.

I think that the choice subject be based on interest

and comfort level rather than how scoring they are.

One should rather than how scoring they are. One

should have a natural inclination and aptitude towards

these subjects. It always helps if the choice of

Optionals for the prelims is one of the subjects

chosen for the Mains. After this, it depends on the

Particular individual as to what he feels about the

method best suited to him and his instincts. But in

general preparation can be broadly classified as

long-term or short-time depending on the available

time for preparation. For a longterm, one should begin

with one of the Optionals for the Mains and try to

finish as much as possible until about 15 days to 2

months depending on the comfort level for the Optional

chosen for Prelims and whether one began with the same

subject or not. This should be follolwed by

preparation for the prelims. In the prelims, there is

no need to give undue emphasis to the General Studies

and to waste time in order to attempt to cover

everything. A quick study of different areas of the

General Studies is enough if one has prepared

thoroughly for the Optionals in which attempt should

be made to score more than 225 marks. Preparation for

Mains should begin soon after the Prelims is over and

one should not waste time waiting for the Interview.

Here again the major thrust should be on preparing for

optional subject more thoroughly and give them more

time. The preparation for General Studies can be

highly selective and one can easily see that there is

a similar pattern in the questions asked in different

years. Of course, there is no feels that there is a

lot of available time. On the other hand, if one is

following short-term preparation either because of

lack of time available for studies or because he feels

more comfortable with it, there are some suggestions

for books from my side, based on what I did. For

History & Indian Polity, selected portions of Unique’s

Guide and for Current Affairs, Economy & Science and

Technology, Spectrum’s current affairs are good enough

to score more than 325 marks if one has the ability to

grasp them quickly. It helps if one has read magazines

and newspapers regularly but if he is unable to do so,

there is no cause for panic and one can do without

them. A major part of the preparation should go

towards the Optionals. The most important thing to

know about the Interview is that it is not a

question-answer session and what they are looking out

for is different aspects of one’s personality. As far

as possible, the answer given should reveal a

particular aspect of one’s personality and attempts

should not be made to present a make-up appearance or

politically correct answers. There is no harm in

taking extreme views if one is able to justify them.

One need not get carried away by the flood of books

and coaching institute. If one feels that he is

confident enough to take his own, he can do without

them. Most of the questions asked in the Interview are

opinion-based. For such questions, it always helps if

one already such questions, it always helps if one

already such questions, it always helps if one already

has some views on the issue and he can present them

spontaneously. If it is a relatively new issue, the

best approach is to think there and also to be seen

thinking. If the candidate seems to be applying his

mind in an effort towards reaching the solution, it is

the best thing that can happen in an Interview. For

the knowledge-based questions, the presentation of the

answer becomes more important. One should not make

himself appear as having crammed be presented in a

conversational manner. There is no need to panic for

the Interview and even “ I don’t know, Sir” should be

said with confidence and cheerfulness. One is not

expected to know everything under the sun. Finally,

whatever the stage might be, one has to have faith and

confidence in himself. An individual should be the

best judge of what he thinks as the best way to

prepare. He should not follow the crowd if it doesn’t

suit his instinct. Once that happens, he is bound to

success and excel