Coaching! Revision! Pre! Mains! or Interview! All your queries answered: By Sandeep Kumar Ghosh, IAS, Additional District Magistrate, Hooghly

The Civil Services Examination conducted by Union Public Service Commission is said to be one of the most difficult examinations. Lakhs of candidates every year try to achieve their goals through this rigorous process. Through this write up I want to summarise my own way of planning & dealing with each step of the examination.

For the beginners:

My inputs: –

• Regarding initial dilemmas
  • Not having a big profile i.e. best schools/colleges/grades – Don’t be insecure –well if you have them its good if not, don’t feel bad, remember all the successful candidates don’t come from the best schools/colleges or have the best grades! This exam process is a big equaliser!18-20 Hour study!!! – Well basically it’s not required – planning and regularity is – Remember it’s more of a marathon race than a sprint!
  • Doubts regarding clearing in first attempt or as a senior player – There is no biasness. Till interview stage every candidate is a mere roll number which are randomly given to candidates and at the interview stage it’s your personality that counts. So it’s all about preparation.
  • To do –
    • Read the syllabus thoroughly – Every word.
    • Go through the standard books (Annexure – I, II, III) repeatedly.
    • Revise. 
    • Regular Newspaper reading, Current Affairs magazine, PIB website, Read Editorials.
    • Check with previous year’s question.
    • STUDY. REVISE. REPEAT.
  • http://mrunal.org/upsc – For the uninitiated.

• Coaching:
  • I didn’t enrol for any coaching for prelims and mains.
  • Only for interview stage – I enrolled for mock interviews at the Institute of Civil Services, Salt Lake, Kolkata.
  • Personal choice – You need to know yourself first. Your strengths, your weakness.
  • In case you decide or come to the conclusion that you need help or guidance take time to decide the coaching institutes by specially taking feedback from current and ex-students. They will provide you relevant feedbacks.
  • In case you want, definitely go for mock test. (For prelims I didn’t felt the need to attend mock test, because you get ample time to solve the questions, the main problem lies with accuracy which comes from thorough study and not giving mocks! for Mains I practiced writing answers on my own)
  • But remember until you keep on improving yourself with focused and regular effort no one can help you to clear this exam.

• Depends on your own liking, skills and your way of comprehending a material.
• GS static portion – The syllabus is so huge that it’s easier to comprehend the concepts rather than note and rote learning. I read books multiple times and all the markings and scribbles were there on the pages. Those markings and scribbles formed notes for me. It’s my personal preferred choice – others may differ.
• You can make notes for current affairs material – to keep a tab on the day to day happenings –be very concise and specific – In case of factual figures only the important factual figures, for e.g. GDP should be noted.

Using the Internet:

• The biggest and the best resource material base.
• Some of the favoured websites like Mrunal, ForumIAS, InsightsIndia etc. – But be very clear about what you want. These websites have lots and lots of materials and some of these websites are interactive too. Be very specific and disciplined. It’s very easy to enter looking for a particular study material and then roam around the World Wide Web!
• Other relevant websites – Google News, Wikipedia and YouTube.

Prelims:

• Most Critical – No matter how much effort you have given throughout the year failing the prelims enhances the cycle instantly.
• Real scenario – 15008 candidates qualified for mains out of 465000 who sat for the prelims (2015) – A pass percentage of 3.62% – Therefore don’t underestimate this phase – Don’t be casual – Many people concentrate on Mains only and falter – People who reach Mains or Interview stage and who fail to qualify that year or their ranks are not up to the mark sometimes take prelims too casually next year – Every stage is important and we should take great care about every stage of preparation.
• Pattern – Paper I: General Studies:200 Marks (Counted for Merit) – Paper II:CSAT:200 Marks (Qualifying)
• Accuracy – Highly needed, in case you have studied thoroughly the standard of difficulty will be same. Don’t blindly guess answers, will not work!Paper I: The cliché statement – “It’s better to read one book ten times than ten books once only”. That’s what it is. Clear the concepts. On every subject matter. The list of books I referred to are given in Annexure – I.
• Paper II: At the present scenario it’s a qualifying paper. The questions are simple and not out of the world and with regular practice can be cleared easily. Don’t take this paper casually just because it’s 33% to pass. Exam pressure can cause havoc and you may lose one year for your casual approach. Also as per the present state of exam don’t try to be in a hurry trying to achieve 180-190 (Only if you are giving Civil Services Examination). In case CSAT would have been competitive the approach would have been different. As of now it’s qualifying. Prepare accordingly. 2013 CSAT – 179, 2015 CSAT – 110.56 (attempted around 150)

Mains:

• Decides your rank – Well almost – Unless you get a rocking or pathetic number in your interview.
• Writing skill matters – If you have been asked to answer within 150-200 words – your answer doesn’t require more than that – Slight deviation (20-30 words) is ok – To answer in Para form or point form is a personal call – a mixed of both is how I wrote – No need to give a PhD type answers – Say if you have history optional don’t get swayed by History questions and end up not answering questions which you could have answered but couldn’t due to paucity of time.
• Hand writing – If your answers are not readable, try to improve – Again it comes from practice – Three hours of strenuous writing twice a day for almost five consecutive days takes a toll. Prepare.
• Pattern: 9 Papers – 2 Qualifying – 7 other papers Considered for merit based ranking.

Qualifying Papers: Annexure – II

• Qualifying – English Paper & Regional paper – 300 Marks – 25% i.e. 75 to qualify.
• In both the Papers the standard of questions are considerably high, specially the one with whom you have limited interaction after your school or college.
• Tricky as 10-12% Mains candidate fail in either or both whereby their performance in other Mains paper becomes obsolete.
• Put little attention on grammar, easily you can score 40+ out of 50.

General Studies Papers:

Wide variety of subjects – Don’t be selective – Answering the whole paper should be your goal. For that selective study is futile – Another recent phenomenon is that GS paper questions are getting more and more current events related – Gone are the days where you could mug up definitions and drop it on papers – Understand the topics and concepts – Annexure III

Optional Papers:

• Choose the one you find interesting – mug up attitude will not work – nor small short syllabus – If you don’t find something interesting you will never spend enough time to comprehend and clear the concepts
• Graduation subject – Nothing better than choosing your graduation subject – But again ask yourself whether you were forced to take this subject or someone else was pursuing therefore you enrolled for that subject – until you can personally say that i love this subject and I find it interesting, you are on the wrong track.
• Answer writing is important – From the perspective of Humanities subject (I had Sociology) Provide Name of thinkers here and there wherever possible – don’t get overboard on this count as it’s ok if you can’t find or remember a thinker or quote – but don’t push names of thinkers everywhere just for fillers – a diagram or structure wherever possible will make your answer look better.
• Things that i believe are myths-
  • Subjects are being butchered – every year there will be candidates from all streams who would get good marks – concentrate on improving you answer qualities
  • Topper’s subject/Most selection – Again a misconception – If a particular subject is chosen by most people that will obviously create a greater probability of selection, as simple as that, it doesn’t mean free ride.
  • Jump and you will succeed– If you have already started your preparation ask yourself why you had selected the subject at the first place – don’t be in a hurry – be rational and focussed to chose a new subject only after you have given your 100% to the optional that you already have – In case you change be firm and don’t look back.
  • Scoring paper/Short syllabus – Unless you find the subject interesting you will not be able to comprehend the subject easily and write proper answers. So a medical science syllabus for others may seem formidable but for a medical science student that may seem easy and scoring. So it all comes down to the subject that you choose. In case you don’t like your graduation subject or like in my case i had left it some five years ago, choosing a new subject becomes crucial.

Choosing the optional –

• Go through the syllabus. Tick those subjects that you find interesting.
• Go to a nearby library to pick up some books on those subjects or buy some books if possible. You can use internet also for referring to the topics. Give this phase some time. Read various topics from the syllabus.
• Once you have dealt with all of them for a significant amount of time you will be in a position to take a call regarding your optional subject.
• For me it came down to sociology!
• 2013 Marks P1 – 93, P2 – 87 (Problem with answer writing)
• 2015 Marks P1 – 125, P2 – 132

My Optional – SOCIOLOGY

• Go through the syllabus multiple times.
• Some of the topics of Paper 1 and 2 can be clubbed and studied simultaneously. Family, Politics, Economic aspects, Religion, Indian society.
• IGNOU BA, MA books are highly essential, Horlombos and Anthony Giddens are standard books. Try to comprehend the logic, concepts and thinker’s perspective.
• For those who are new to Sociology can go through NCERT Class XI, XII Sociology Books which are available online in pdf form. Start from these books.
• Understand the concepts first, don’t try to mug up thinkers and quotes at the very beginning.
• Practice writing, Its highly needed, specially because the questions seem to be so general studies type that you may forget answering them in sociological terms and end up losing marks.
• Quoting thinkers and their quotes are not necessary for all answers, but whenever you get the chance you should. For that you have to keep revising the concepts and also the corresponding sociological thinkers. You can’t remember quotes or thinker on a standalone basis.
• Observe the society – Have this uncanny instinct of understanding the nuance of social incidents, social systems, societal dogmas, societal prejudices and every other thing related to society. This will help understanding your syllabus far easier than just mere book learning!
• Diagrams and figures – Wherever possible, it provides a glimpse of your understanding, but don’t forget to write along with diagram, mere diagram will not suffice.
  • E.g. SOCIOLOGY, Paper 1, Section A, Question 1(c) – What are Variables? Discuss their role in experimental research. Apart from the answer one can put the following diagram

Writing answers:

Apart from Q 1 and Q 5 of both sections, where word limit of 150 is clearly stated, other question doesn’t have word limits. So apart from Q1 and Q5 you don’t have to limit yourselves, but definitely you have to keep time in mind. Always try to complete all the questions. There is no bigger blunder than knowing an answer yet couldn’t answer the question due to paucity of time.

Don’ts – While writing answers.

• • Don’t be casual, Always be on the topic while answering.Don’t add fillers, it doesn’t help and costs you time.Don’t just write, Before you start writing the answer, THINK, STRUCTURE, WRITE.
  • The space is more than adequate, with no time limit mentioned, so don’t spend too much on one answer.
  • Misinterpret as generalised questions and not writing sociological perspectives.

Essay (Marks : 2015 – 144, 2013 – 85)

• I didn’t felt the need to separately prepare for Essay.
• Preparing for General Studies and reading relevant topics from newspapers, magazines provide the fodder.
• Practice at least four or five random essay to brush up your writing skills.
• Two parts – strategize the structure, that’s important. Your essay shouldn’t be monotonic. Rather it should be addressed from various angles. Don’t shy away from putting different perspectives.
• Flow – Essay should be written in such a manner which doesn’t seem to be hopping from one point to another or random tit bits.
• Be creative.

  My essays – 2015 exam

• Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make a man more clever devil.
• Points– Started with a quote – “With great power comes great responsibilities” – Defined Education and its importance, why it’s a kind of power – Values and its importance – Usefulness of education and values – Historical education system where value education was an important part e.g. Confucius study, Buddhist and Vedas philosophy – Recent education system (value-less, money oriented) – Recent scenario of society, what has our education system led to – Educated devils – Weapons, corruption, black money, littering – Recent changes, ethical studies – Issues like Patent wars etc. – What needs to be done – Conclusion
• Can Capitalism bring inclusive growth?
• Points – Started with a quote – “there is enough on Earth for everybody’s need, but not enough for everybody’s greed” – Defined capitalism its principles, its effects on society – Positive and negative effects – What does inclusive growth mean for the society – Where does inclusive growth stand in relation to capitalism – Has capitalism succeeded in ensuring inclusive growth – Indian perspective – What are the other –ism available e.g. Socialism, communism and their success in bringing inclusive growth – Curious case of Scandinavian countries – Capitalism along with inclusive growth – How could capitalism be used to achieve inclusive growth – Conclusion.

Revision

As much as you can. No matter whether you keep notes or you prefer markings and scribble in books keep revising at regular intervals. As you repeatedly keep on doing at a regular routine the theories, concepts get engraved more and more firmly in your brain. Plan revision periodically, i.e. weekly, monthly, but don’t postpone it till the end.

Exam day(s): It’s for this day that you prepared for so long, so take extra care!

• Don’t try to do anything extra on the day before the exam – It will not help – mugging doesn’t help – neither last minute note reading.
• Double check on everything that’s written on the admit card on the night before the exam. Pack your bag – this relieves from undue stress in the morning.
• Relax – Have a good night sleep – Reach the exam centre early. You can’t guarantee smooth traffic or pleasant weather conditions. So start early.
• Neither have heavy meal or no meal at all. Both are detrimental.
• For mains – keep a pain reliever cream/spray at hand. In case you require.

Interview

Know thyself! It’s about personality, don’t wait for interview call but start early!

• Never have a preconception about any particular board.
• Never bluff in your DAF or in front of interview board. Thorough study of DAF is must.
• Dress – Formal, Suit and tie in case you are comfortable.
• Don’t get nervous – Nervousness happens with everyone – even for the seasoned players – its normal – but if you can overcome this vulnerable phase before interview that will be beneficial towards projecting your personality in front of the interview board (I failed in this aspect at the start later became composed)
• It’s humane not to know some answers – even if you are not able to answer simple questions – don’t get nervous – it can happen with anybody. In case you don’t know – Accept with grace.
• Smile. Keep normal eye contact. Try to be courteous and humble.
• Mentally prepare for a stress interview – where everything you say would be countered – negated – disagreed. Don’t get nervous.
• Never try to gauge anything from the expression of the interview board members – that is futile.
• Don’t intervene when a board member is talking. Complete your sentence whenever given the opportunity to speak. The board members give you ample time to complete your sentence. Be specific. Don’t beat around the bush.
• For more information regarding interview, I read this book –(Civil Services Interview-How to Excel, Madhukar Kumar Bhagat)

My Interview experience (Marks – 162)

Interview Board: Prof. Hemchandra Gupta.Questions asked: Duration: ~ 30 Minutes.

• Why Cossipore (my place of schooling) is spelled in this manner and not Kashi-pore? Why so much fascination with letter O in Bengal?
• 15G/H forms? Use? Is it a method of tax evasion?
• What is Direct Tax Code and its present status?
• How many microbes are present in the interview room? Microbiology related.
• How many muscles in our body do we use when we laugh?
• Have you heard about the book ‘The Prince’?
• Who are the all time best players of football?
• Why is Pele famous for?
• What are rainforests? Difference with evergreen forests? Does India have rainforests?
• What are FMCG? Products?
• Why patanjali products are gaining so much revenue these days? Supply chain management?
• What was the story behind the film “Bend it like Beckham”? Director?
• Indo –Bangladesh water dispute and foreign relations? Teesta river?
• How to sociologically deal with dissent regarding water sharing?
• Why did Singur became famous? Did it impact Bengal’s industrial prospects? ? Economics concerns of both the people who lose their lands and overall economic interests?
• Development vs. environment debate?
• International relations vs. domestic politics?

Discussions based on these questions. It was a stress interview. The first few minutes were stressful and some of the questions I had no clue!

Analysis: Expected my interview marks in this range as my interview was neither very good nor very bad! Some of the main points in my DAF weren’t even touched. Don’t over expect how things will go inside the interview room! I did and it backfired! Just consider it as a new experience. Questions can be completely out of the world types but be calm. Board members are experienced person and they are more inquisitive about you personality than your knowledge level.

Documents required for Interview: Don’t bring all the certificates that you have gathered throughout your life, from class 1 onwards! I have seen candidates bring all sorts of certificates! No need to bring the extracurricular certificates or hobbies certificates if any! It will create unnecessary tense situation for you. UPSC clearly instructs what documents you need to bring for interview. Stick to the list.

Medical Examination: Bring your eye lens prescription. BMI level should be less than 30 or you will be temporarily unfit, so keep your weight under check. You need to undergo 10 Hour fast for sugar testing. You do get chance for appeal within 7 days after the medical report has been uploaded in respective website. Temporarily unfit candidates will be re-examined within a period not exceeding 6 months.

Rumour mills:

I have heard people spread all sorts of rumours and theories. Believe me it’s far better to concentrate on your study and try rectify your own short comings. Till mains every candidate exists as a mere roll number that’s assigned randomly, so biasness of any form is purely a figment of imagination. In case of optional papers I have already stated that every year there will be candidates from almost every subject who clear the exam with flying colours, so I would suggest you to work hard and improve your own standards. In failed in 2013 and 2014 and it was straight back to the drawing board rather fanning rumours. It’s much more pragmatic and assertive to accept the result and try to figure out the reasons behind the failure. In case of interview also there is no point in judging the interview board members, they are far experienced to know where we stand. Strategize every aspect of this exam minutely and thread bare and you will come to know your short comings!

Luck Factor: Something’s are beyond mortal human’s comprehensive ability!

• Well from my personal knowledge and experience I can say – It matters.
• But that doesn’t mean you have to leave everything on luck. As they say the harder you work the luckier you get.
• Life is 99% Hard Work + 1% Luck. But it’s the 1% which keeps on playing games every now and
• then. Eventually it will fall in your favour if you keep on moving and doing your work. So keep on doing your work.

There is no short cut! Don’t have an impression that there will be a book/notes which will exactly provide the topics and mugging up that utopian book you can sail through this exam. You have to have elaborate knowledge to write exactly what is asked for in UPSC mains exam. So rather than trying to find run-of the-mill notes or gist or any easy solution and lose your time and money I would suggest the future aspirants to be firm and study the topics elaborately to clearly understand the concepts and build their analytical skills.