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Published: March 8, 2015 15:32 IST | Updated: March 8, 2015 20:33 IST March 8, 2015Cracking IPS: The PI edge
The Hindu
Mock interview
Be your best self at the civil services’ personality interview. Here’s how.
The Union Public Service Commission will soon conduct
the personal interview for one of the most prestigious and competitive
examinations in the country — the civil services exam. Approximately
2,000 candidates will attend the personality test, competing for around
1,000 vacancies in the services included in the civil services category.
Though the personal interview carries only 275 marks out of the total
2025, the stakes are very high here as the students can gain decisive
edge over others in a relatively short span of twenty to twenty-five
minutes. Ideally, the candidates should aim for a score of around 60 to
65 per cent to come out in flying colours in the exam.
The
entire civil services exam’s personal interview can be summarised in
one question of the board to the candidate — to explain who he is. The
panel conducts the interview to identify the intellectual and
attitudinal attributes of the candidates, such as grasp of narratives
and arguments, reasoning ability, appreciation of different
perspectives, range and depth of interests and personal attributes that
are relevant for interaction with people.
The
interviewees ought to prepare exhaustively about their name, educational
subjects and institutions, native district, town and State along with
national and international issues. Each word they fill in the data
sheet, along with main application form, is a micro reservoir of
potential questions that may be asked in the actual interview.
Therefore, the candidates should pay meticulous attention to all of
them.
Hobbies
The panel asks lots of questions
on the hobbies and extracurricular activities of the candidates as
mentioned by them in the data summary sheet. When candidates prepare for
the civil services exam they have to undergo a rigorous work schedule
often for months leading to the main examination.
In
this gruelling phase, they need appropriate rest. Hobbies become
important here as they provide for the rejuvenation of mind, soul and
body. Moreover, the candidates, through productive and profound hobbies,
can manoeuvre the course of the interview into their own areas of
strength by discussing their hobbies and interests. The students in the
past have chosen many hobbies ranging from the mundane ones to
extraordinary ones. For example, reading about aliens, interests in
wildlife and yoga and meditation were some of the hobbies cited by
candidates in the past.
In one instance, a candidate
attended the personality interview with an interest in alien life as
hobby and the interview panel posed him a cascade of questions that
included – Who are aliens? What is the SETI project? What are UFOs and
flying saucers? What is the necessity of missions like the Mars Orbiter
Mission of ISRO and Curiosity mission of NASA? How would life have
evolved on this planet? As he had anticipated these questions, he was
thoroughly prepared and therefore answered them impressively.
Educational institutions
The
personal interview panel also focuses on the almamater of the
candidates. If the candidates have completed their studies in
prestigious institutions, the panel invariably questions them
comprehensively about the motto, vision, origin, emblem, alumni,
distinguished faculty, academic rigour, intra-campus politics and
democracy, cultural activities, research contributions, sources and
nature of funding, major problems and lacunae etc.
Sports
As
the civil services personal interview panel adopts a holistic
perspective towards judging the personality of the candidates, it
consciously poses questions on sports and games, especially if the
candidates have pursued some game or sport in their schools and
colleges. Once, a candidate attended the civil services personality test
stating that hockey was his hobby and panel spent a considerable
portion of the personal interview asking him questions on hockey. He was
asked to explain the causes and factors that precipitated the
stultification and marginalisation of Indian hockey. As a past player of
the game, he explained the multiple factors such as the vertical split
in the hockey powerhouse of Punjab due to partition in 1947, emergence
of a new breed of hockey called continental hockey or total hockey where
stamina and speed are more important than skills and magic of oriental
tradition, introduction of artificial and synthetic turf, major
alterations in the rules and regulations and architecture of the game
that inevitably favoured the western style of hockey. As it was a
thoroughgoing analysis of the numerous forces and factors, the board was
greatly impressed and the candidate cornered a lion’s share of the
interview marks, which enabled him to enter the coveted Indian
Administrative Service.
Domicile
The interview
panel is likely to ask a plethora of questions on the native town, city
and district of the individual candidates. A thorough understanding of
politics, economy, society, culture, art and architecture of the
domicile of the candidates constitutes a fulcrum of any successful
strategy. For example, when a candidate hailing from Bengaluru attended
the personal interview a few years back, the panel posed umpteen
questions on the contemporary and historical events of the city.
An
ideal preparation should cover in a comprehensive manner the
multifarious aspects such as salubrious climate, status as IT hub of
India, performance of major information technology companies, place of
Bengaluru in the cricket landscape of India, various educational
institutions of national repute like IISc and IIM, national industrial
giants like BEL, scientific institutions like ISRO and problems and
challenges in urban governance and Deccan plateau. Similarly, the
students hailing from Karnataka in general and Mysuru in particular
should prepare on the nomenclature, Mysuru as cultural capital of
Karnataka, Cauvery river water dispute, Chamundeswari Temple, Woodaiyar
Dynasty, Hyder Ali, Tippu Sultan etc.
General suggestions
Candidates
should study objectively their strengths and weakness so that necessary
measures for progress can be designed and implemented. They should
apply SWOC analysis to test their personality and to identify their
strength, weakness, opportunities and challenges and formulate remedial
measures in consultation with experts so that the ultimate hurdle of
personal interview in the civil services exam can be conquered.
Honesty
The
interview panel believes that honesty is an intrinsic and indispensable
ingredient for a career in civil services, and, therefore, it looks for
a morally clean personality. Students should not indulge in dodging,
pretending or vacillating tactics in the personal interview of the civil
services exam. Dissembling personalities are just not desirable for a
career in civil services. The panel always believes in the maxim that
trustworthy personalities will become praiseworthy bureaucrats in the
future.
Stress management
During the course of
the personality test, the interview panel may begin to fire cumbersome
questions and put the candidates under enormous unremitting pressure to
see how they handle unfamiliar, embarrassing and psychologically
disruptive circumstances. On such occasions, the aspirants should
maintain their composure and not succumb to pressure. The interviewee
must remember that adversity holds many opportunities and that achievers
in all walks of life reached their glorious destinations only in spite
of pain and not because of its absence. They need to cultivate a
positive outlook and progressive mindset and their strategy should be to
hope for the best and be prepared to face the worst.
Luck
There
are certain fortuitous circumstances that influence the course and
final outcome of the personality test, and any amount of scientific
planning and systematic preparation may come to nought if fortune
decides to desert us. We have not developed a technology or a philosophy
or a methodology that will enable us to achieve mastery over the luck
factor, and, therefore, the candidates should be positive and focused
without worrying about unforeseen circumstances. Remember that luck is
nothing but a fortuitous rendezvous between thorough preparation and
tantalising opportunity. Be yourself and be the best of your self.
Dr.P.Kanagaraj
is associate professor of Political Science in Government Arts College,
Coimbatore. He provides free coaching for civil services exam and
conducts mock interviews. Email: iasips2011@gmail.com
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