How to Succeed in Civil Services Examination

7/29/2019 How to Succeed in Civil Services Examination

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HOW TO SUCCEED IN CIVIL SERVICES

EXAMINATION

Planned Studies, Hard Work And Inner Motivation

Are The Keys To Success - Sorabh Babu

Maheshwari, IAS Topper 2000. 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


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stick to your choice even if the perception of others

about it is not favourable.

Preparation for General Studies can be done handin 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 littlereturns. 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


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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 zenithbut 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


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work, elaborate are satisfied with the rough work,

elaborate on this outline after wards.

There is no standard word-limit yet. What one caneffectively 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 had to evolve and finetune my strategy

to cover up such a huge Mechanical Engineering


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and Mathematics syllabi apart from General Studies

& essay.

"How to write an answer" is equally vital forMechanical 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 canbe 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


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who have urge to change are 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 yourviews 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


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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 goodplanning, 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 requirementsfor 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 thePreface 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


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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 ensuresyour 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 victorioustherein, 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 selectingCivil 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


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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 contextof 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 studymaterial. 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 bystandard publishers.

You must be quite serious in the selection of your

subjects. Some subjects are considered scoring and


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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 materialand 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 toyour 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 isdesirable 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.


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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 andinstead 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. Duringinterview, 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


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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 chosenpathwith 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.


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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 thisexamination

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


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sweeping statement (iv) Accept your mistakes

boldly.

7. Overall : Be patient and maintain your pace. Thisexamination 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 optin 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.


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(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 thetime 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 forRevision.

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- 20001Prelims 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, Ican 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


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international events are a good combination). You

should be in touch with magazine like Competition

Success Review.

(xi) From January 2002 you should start preparingfor 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 beable 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.


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Otherwise also it is extremely helpful in making a

correct choice of words while answering a question.

Hard Work, Good Planning, positive Approach andFaith 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 natureand 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. T

He 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


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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 thescales.

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, keepingpaper 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 forPrelims 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


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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 almental 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 : Onan 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


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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 spendatleast 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, IASTopper 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 civilServices. I must candidly admit that this column has

been greatly helpful in ensuring my success in this

premiere exam.


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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


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study, consulting the previous years' question

papers, etc. it need not necessarily be the popular

choice. I had Maths and Chemistry as my optionals.

The criteria to choose Chemistry as against Physicswas 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.The 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


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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.Techstudy, 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 workprogress 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 subjectfor 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


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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 bedistracting 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, Iprepared 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


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letting any negative thoughts overpower my mind, I

worked mechanically till the last.

The next two months, I divided into three slots of20days, 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 dedicatedthat 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.


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The execution step is the last but the 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 andduring 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 belargely 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 200words) 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


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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 thisimportant 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 thisexam - 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)


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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 singledecision 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 totheir 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


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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 examinerexpects 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 thesyllabus. 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


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and handy during revision stages and save a lot of

time.

Always do a planned and systematic study. Workout 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 andGeneral 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


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writing skills and make sure that you can cover

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

Remember in the Civil Services, writing skills mattera 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. Youshould use your energy an time in an efficient and

effective manner.


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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 andmind. 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 thecompulsory 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 certaintraits 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


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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 onvarious 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 muchargumentative. 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 servicesExamination, the following four elements are the

pre-requisites for success in the examination:


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(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-


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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 peoplewho 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 withthem 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


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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 long term, one should begin with one of the

Optional 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 followed 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 Optional 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


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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 asimilar 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 somesuggestions 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 regularlybut 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 Optional. 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


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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.

How to Succeed in Civil Services Examination

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