If there is anything which can mean as many things as there are people, Civil Services would certainly qualify for it. Candidates all over the country pursue this dream for variety of reason. Some want the enormous power these services offer, some are deeply motivated to serve their people, a significant number are doing it just to realize the dreams of their parents, some are just too eager to have the Red Beacon and a white Ambassador car to place it. Whatever the motivation the fact it should be there and loads of it is required, for Civil Service exam preparation is a long drawn affair and one has to keep going on till one hits the Bull’s eye.

For everyone who is going through or has gone through the drill of Civil Services it offers a world of experience. The very preparation for the Civil Services can be a really enriching experience. For starters the sheer scale and scope of the topics to be covered may look daunting. Take for example General Studies; it literally touches every aspect of knowledge ever created by human civilization. From interesting General Knowledge snippets to really deep analysis of Current happenings across the Globe; from tricky analytical ability questions to complex physical sciences questions the breadth and depth of the syllabus literally looks infinite. In fact every piece of information can potentially be a question in Civil Services question paper, both Preliminary and Mains.

But the fact remains that howsoever daunting it may seem, still the preparation is very well within the capacities of a sincere student. The ‘focus’ matters a lot in any examination and more so in case of Civil Services Entrance examination. Second comes the motivation, which shares a chicken and egg type causation with focus. First and foremost one must open up one’s mind. The receptivity of one’s mind will decide the final assimilation of the knowledge that comes one’s way. Always be on alert for new information and keep yourself updated. Reading Newspapers and Competitive exam magazines are good options but the power of observation must be extended to all the realms of life. For example questions like , How many colors in the Olympic symbol? Meaning of various traffic symbols? The color codes of vehicular number plates for personal as well as commercial vehicles? Etc is things we come across everyday and may not bother to remember, but these small bits can actually form questions in the exam!

Here we are going to discuss the strategy to prepare for the Civil Services entrance examination in general and about UPSC’s Civil Services Entrance in particular. To start with let’s have a look at the examination pattern. There are generally three steps before the final selection and recommendation for the appointment-

1.    Preliminary Examination- It is of generally objective type in nature and consists of multiple choice questions. In many cases it can also carry negative marking for wrong answers, like in UPSC’s Civil Services Entrance (Preliminary) Exam. We will deal with strategy to deal with negative marking later. Let us first see what the pattern of preliminary exam is generally. It consists of two papers- 1. General Studies 2. Optional Subject. Here ‘optional’ papers carries more weight but its normally the General Studies paper which makes or breaks ones chances of success. This examination is basically the elimination round which allows only most sincere of the candidates to move on to second stage. The marks obtained in this stage are not counted towards final selection

2.    Main Examination- It is next stage after clearing the Preliminary examination. It is of descriptive type in nature and the questions expect ‘essay type’ answers. Here again there are various papers like General Studies, mandatory languages’ papers, Essay paper, and two optional subjects having two papers each. This exam is more focused on testing the analytical capabilities of the aspirants. It tests the combinational skills of the candidates. Most of the questions generally call for analyzing one topic in the light of another.

3.    Personality Test- If one is fortunate enough and has crossed the hurdle of Main examination the final test awaits one, and the decisive one too. Personality test, popularly known as the Interview, is of substantial weightage. Performing well in this test can actually compensate for average performance in Mains. On the other hand a below par performance in this test can spoil the rank or even diminish the chances of getting a final appointment call altogether. On top of it, candidates getting Interview call are not told their Main examination scores, so it is absolutely imperative that one must save one’s best for this last challenge.