Sunday, 5 July 2015

How To Prepare For The UPSC Civil Services Examinations

The Civil Services Examination (CSE) is a nationwide competitive examination in India conducted by the Union Public Service Commissionfor recruitment to various Civil Services of the Government of India, including Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS),Indian Police Service (IPS), Indian Revenue Service (IRS) among others.
Of all the Civil Services only two, namely Indian Administrative Service and Indian Foreign Service are premier civil services of Government of India as appointment to anyone of these renders a person ineligible to reappear inCivil Services Examination. The examination is one of the toughest examinations in India with success rate of 0.1%-0.3% with more than 900,000 applicants.
It is conducted in two phases—the Preliminary examination, consisting of two objective-type papers (General Studies and Aptitude Test), and the Main examination, consisting of nine papers of conventional (essay) type followed by the Personality Test (Interview). The entire process from the notification of the Preliminary examination to declaration of the final results takes roughly one year.
CSE requires a very organised and (preferably) chronologically well-planned preparation. It requires hard work and smart learning, consistency and efficient upgradation with general awareness. Here are the significant points to keep in mind to prepare for the CSE:

1. Develop the Correct Routine

And stick to it! Yes, ideally you are gonna have to let go of the social life. You might not be able to give much time to hobbies.  The focus required for this preparation comes from avoiding other distractions. That thing you think about when you have got nothing to think about, and that thing you do when you have nothing to do in particular, should be related to your preparations. Sacrifices and passion will be a requisite. You are gonna have to dedicate a significant part of your life to your dream. There are no shortcuts.
Neha Yadav (Optional: Sociology), IFS Topper in CSE 2013, shares her routine during her preparation:
A typical day would begin with reading the newspaper, saving articles, reading the topic at hand 2-3 hrs GS, same for the optional, checking feeds for updates, practicing answer writing for 1-2 questions, watching videos of interest. I had my share of ups and downs, there were days of no study too, but I promised myself to at least complete the newspaper daily  because it’s one thing that troubles the most in backlog. To keep the sources minimal I stuck with materials that kept my interest going, for instance – watching videos, reading a less formal article on the internet instead of reading same thing from a book, as long as I could solve a question, it was enough. I tried to avoid distractions as much as possible, but when encountered with distractions, I used to take time off, clear the thought, watch LBSNAA FC videos (to remind myself of the goal) and move on.

2. General Studies: Everything Under The Sun! 



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The syllabus of GS papers is as wide as it can get. It is very important to prepare diligently, but at the same time the focus should be on building concepts rather than mugging up facts. To begin with, start taking interest in the smallest and biggest of things. Have you ever cared to find out what USSD stands for in a mobile code processing? Have you ever wondered how the US gains if India is empowered? If not, start doing it. The best way to build concepts is the NCERTs! Read up all the NCERT textbooks for History, Geography, Polity and Economics from 6-12 standard (Economics class 12 textbook is not that relevant). After that move on to the conventional IAS books and get a book of solved question papers topic wise, but also read books like The Discovery of India by Jawaharlal Nehru, Argumentative Indian by Amartya Sen to help understand your country better and more conceptually, and I Dare (IPS) by Kiran Bedi and Bureaucracy gets Crazier: IAS Unmasked by M.K Kaw which will give you a peek into the lives of IAS officers and tell you how interesting/boring their work can be. This way you will not only work towards your knowledge but also towards your passion. Remember, what distinguishes a civil servant from others is passion and dedication to the country. Develop it with time.

3. Practice Enough for the CSAT Paper

It’d be wrong to say that this paper is difficult. It actually sets a level of intellect, which isn’t very high either. But the trick with this paper is time management. That is the trick with pretty much every one of the eleven papers in the CSE. Here is a sample question in the CSAT paper:
Other types of questions include English comprehension and decision-making. These papers test response time as much as capability. As such, the aptitude tests are very scoring. With some practice, you can easily score well on these papers.
The thing with CSE is that everybody is weak in GS. It is mostly your performance in other papers that distinguish you. The IAS topper rank 1 in 2013, Gaurav Agrawal, scored 121 on 200 in GS Prelims paper (182 in CSAT). In Mains GS he scored 85, 63, 88 and 102 out of 250 in papers I, II, III and IV respectively. (Find his result analysis here). His performance was made for in the other papers, so practice enough for CSAT.

4. Make Friends with The Hindu

Read this newspaper religiously. Even if you miss out on the preparation some day, do read the newspaper. Because it is the only thing which is not so feasibly catched up on after delays. The most relevant sections of this newspaper are the Editorial and the Business section. Pay more attention to news that involve a new scheme being employed or an old scheme being scraped off, and avoid news which deal with a short-lived controversy.Read the Editorial section meticulously, it will shape your ideas and also give you the antics of answer-writing, which are extremely significant for the essay paper in Mains. It is from opinionated articles that young people first gather ideas, and it is these ideas that mature and go into the Mains papers. Focus on detailed analysis of schemes and developing opinions.

5. Select ‘Optionals’ Wisely and Learn the Skill of Answer-Writing

CSE 2013 IAS topper, Gaurav Agrawal(Optional: Economics) focuses meticulously on the nuances of answer-writing in the CSE. In his article, he writes:
GS and optionals answers are completely different. In optionals, one can write a PhD types answer and be confident of getting good marks – because the examiner who is checking an economics paper would be an economist herself. But in GS this will not work. The examiner who is checking the economics answer in a GS paper in more likelihood would not be an economist. She would be a generalist with limited knowledge and interest in the subject. So if you write some specialized answer or use some specific terms or models from your optional while writing a GS answer, good luck! Most probably the examiner would not understand/appreciate it. And she would not spend additional time or effort in going back and study the term/model you wrote. She would simply give a zero.
So the bottom line is, our answer should be such that they make the life easier for the examiner. She would be happy while reading them and would give us more marks. So no PhD types stuff… just stick to basic points and present them in a way which is easy to read.Next, this exam is not a science exam. This is a generalist exam, a humanities exam. Its like a BA or MA exam. In a science exam, if there are 5 points in an answer but point number 1 is the most important point and rest are insignificant as compared to point 1, so if you cover point 1 only in your answer in great detail showing good understanding, you would get good marks. But in a BA, MA exam this doesn’t work. You have to not only write those 5 points, but also invent 2 more points and write. Only then the examiner would feel that you have covered all ‘relevant’ points. So one cannot ignore the trivial points and has to blindly write everything. Going further, in BA MA exams, if the question asks something say what is RBI doing to contain inflation and you answer all the points (including the trivial points) on what is RBI doing to contain inflation, you still won’t get good marks. Your answer still won’t be considered complete. In BA MA exams, an answer would be complete if we also write a bit about what preceded the question and what succeeded it.
Finally on presentation style. Many coachings tell many things. Don’t believe in any of them. Just use common sense. The examiner is a human being who is checking your copies not because of any interest but because its her job. She would like to get over with it as soon and with as little mental pain as possible and attend to rest of her life. So just present your answers in a way which you think makes her life easier. Personally, I preferred writing point and section wise answers this time with proper section and sub sectional headings. It gives an impression that I have covered all aspects, given a thought to the answer before writing and created a structure. But the choice is yours.
A very important part of the CSE as of now is the Optional. It makes for a considerable difference in your marks. For most people it is the subject they have for their graduation. UPSC provides a list of optionals that you are allowed to choose from, and certain subjects are not on the list, for e.g. BioTechnology. Most people prefer taking a language or mathematical subject as an optional as it increases the chances of scoring marks over other optionals which are subjective and require the candidate to write a high BA/MA level answer so as to get appreciable marks. Choose your optional well in time and choose it wisely.

6. Follow Government Websites and Magazines

Follow government links and download any annual reports they have.Generally, all websites come up with something new once a month, so even if you stalk them once a month it’ll be fine. Some important websites by the Government of India are:
Official Twitter and Facebook Pages by GOI:

7. Join a Test Series

Do join a test series- online or offline doesn't matter. You have to give all tests with full preparation, as it enables you to fail faster, earlier and more often. Give all tests as if you are appearing for UPSC preliminary examination. Start revising at least three days before the test.

8. Coachings? Maybe Not.

 “Despite what UPSC has done in recent years, it has failed to curb the nuisance of Delhi’s coaching factories. In fact, it’s increased under the new syllabus in 2013. Let’s face it, most toppers have relied on (authentic OR Xeroxed) coaching notes because there was hardly any time left to prepare so many topics in such short time. This system works against an individual preparing from far-away area, without any financial resources, high-speed internet or contacts in Delhi.”
When Mrunal expressed this concern to CSE 2013 Topper Gaurav Agrawal, he had a different take. He says:
Don’t agree with this. Coachingwallahs thrive when question papers are static and same things are repeated year after year. UPSC, on the other hand, has made their paper very dynamic in last 2-3 years. Now the ‘bookish’ questions have reduced greatly and analyze types have increased. No longer are they asking questions where information is the key determinant (even in the prelims). What matters is one’s opinion and analysis. This cannot be found in any single place / book and internet has to be referred to. Most coachingwallahs are stagnant and old and are unwilling to change with times. Classroom coachings have become awaste of time. Only 10% of what they teach is perhaps relevant. Instead of attending their classes and wasting time on that 90% useless thing, better to just buy their notes from photocopy shops and study the 10%. Coachings take 6 months to teach what one can study in 2 months and are of inferior quality.
We cannot disregard the importance of expert guidance, given that there is cut-throat competition, whether in the form of classroom teaching or notes or both. Self-study can be done from websites like civilserviceindia.com and mrunal.org. And for those who cannot afford/access coaching institutions, Roman Saini,an IAS Officer from AIMS, Delhi (CSE 2013/AIR-18) has started a free online coaching series called Unacademy.
Dr. Roman Saini, who cracked CSE in his first attempt in 2013, writes motivational articles for UPSC Aspirants and makes free videos for preparation. Some of his videos are Polity Lecture Series, How to Read The Hindu in 90 minutes or less, How to Read Yojana Magazine in 24 hours for UPSC.
Dr. Saini, on myths about preparation for UPSC says:
Do not fall prey to these myths:
1. Dream to be an IAS: You really don’t need it. Any reason for you to be a civil servant is good enough as long as it helps you to stay focused.
2. Preparation is possible only by staying in Delhi: It is a myth which has been perpetuated by coaching in states. Though it certainly helps, but it is not sacrosanct to stay in Delhi. You can watch all my videos, order book from flipkart, get hold of any material on internet today, so your sincerity is the only requirement.
3. IQ=220? Most of the toppers I know have an above average IQ only, hardwork is what separates wheat from chaff here.
4. Study for 25 hours per day? We Toppers are very much from Earth and are not aliens. We need our sleep for 7-9 hours per day. Self study for 6-8 hours per day is more than sufficient.
5. Good Bye Social Life? You don't need to become a hermit to clear this examination, though you do need to limit your social outings. You should exploit social media as much as possible by joining relevant Fb groups and going to my page where I provide lot of worthy content.
6. Bad English/Obscure College/Financially Poor: Its good that you have acknowledged your English is poor. Improve it. College and background hardly matters in interview and before that, you are just known by your roll number. Finances are not that much needed since lots of material is available online and joining coaching is not absolutely essential.
7. Its all Luck? Luck plays a big role and no one denies it. But luck shows random distribution and all of us have equal chance to be lucky. On top of that, handwork is the only variable that can actually create significant difference. The harder you work, the luckier you get.
8. Completing 200 books in 400 days? You need about 400 days to prepare this examination. You will get 2400 hours (400*6) and considering you can read, understand, analyze, retain and reproduce the content worth 4 pages, it gives us 9600 pages and considering you revise it three times it gives us 3200 pages worth of content over the entire duration of preparation. So you have to extremely choosy while you buy any book in the market.

9. Do Not Take the Interview Lightly

Neha Yadav (Optional: Sociology), IFS Topper CSE 2013, recounts the questions of her interview:
Chairman of Interview Board: Shri Chattar Singh
Duration of Interview: 20 mins
Date – 3rd June, 2014
Afternoon Session, last candidate to go.
Chairman:
  1. Showed my photo and asked “Is this you?”
  2. You like cooking, what type of food do you like to cook?
  3. What is your favorite dish? (kadhi and rice)
  4. How many types of kadhi do you know?
  5. How much time do we need to prepare a kadhi dish?
  6. You are a microbiologist…how would you use this knowledge in administration?
Member 1:
  1. Name some communicable diseases
  2. Asked questions about my fellowship (DST-INSPIRE)
  3. What steps are being taken to control TB (revised policy)
  4. Name one discovery in your field from the british era (Ronald Ross got Noble Prize for discovering Malaria parasite)
  5. Where did he discovered this parasite (Calcutta)
Member 2:
  1. Some govt schemes towards welfare of women and children
  2. Do you think that these schemes have worked so far?
  3. What further steps do we need to take to ensure better success in this field?
  4. Do you support women reservation bill?
Member 3:
  1. Name one famous chef who recently died (Tarla Dalal)
  2. She specialized in which cuisine (gujarati, parsi)
  3. Parsi population is found mostly in which part of India
  4. Why are they concentrated only there?
  5. Story behind parsi people coming to India
  6. If govt fails to fill reserve seats for women due to non availability of desired candidates, who should be blaimed?
Member 4:
  1. Who was Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay?
  2. What was his major contribution?
  3. How is he related to Gorakhpur?
  4. Why did you change school after 10th?
  5. Who was Yogi Gorakhshnath?
  6. His contributions?
  7. Is he an incarnation of Lord Shiva?
Chairman:
  1. What is nath sampradaya?
  2. What is nirgunaya and saguna movement?
Your interview is over, you may go now. 
The questions you get for interview are going to be mostly unexpected. They won’t test you academic knowledge as much, as the other papers have already done so. They will test how much you are aware of the world around you and how much interest you take in things. 
CSE 2013 Topper Gaurav Agrawal, on relevance of interview, says:
First, would like to clarify the myth that UPSC interview is only of 275 marks i.e. 10-15%. The real weight of the interview is at least 40%. The reasons are: a) UPSC has developed a habit of giving very less marks in mains. This is a relative exam and only difference of marks between us and others matters. Naturally if low marks are given in written, then difference of marks from others which we can have by performing well in written will be less. b) Only candidates clearing mains can give interview. So whatever little difference in marks was there in mains gets reduced even further (as the difference in marks among the mains successful candidates would be less than the difference in the entire set). On the other hand, interview marks come only after this mains cut off stage and there is a full range of marks given in interviews. So the difference in marks arising out of interview can be great leading to its increased effective weight.So neglect interview only at your own peril! And also unlike what many say interview is not purely ‘luck’ based. Barring few exceptional cases, most of the interviews contain questions 90% of which can be predicted and prepared well in advance!  
Click here to find an account of a real interview of a candidate in 2014! 

10. If You Fail, Attempt Again

Remember, that it is a very difficult examination with an insanely low success percentage. The IAS Topper Gaurav Agrawal succeeded in his second attempt. Mostly, the first time goes into understanding the antics of the examination- answer-writing, time management, newspaper reading. For those in their first attempts, who better to guide you than those who have failed in their first?
Manil Singh (Optional: Sindhi Literature) passout of SRM Institute of Technology( Branch: BioTechnology) , on failing the first attempt in 2014, says:
Initially when I came to Delhi, I spent a lot of time in settling down, which is one thing aspirants should do in advance so as to focus completely on studies. My first attempt was in 2014, in which I fared badly in Paper I (GS) and did good in the second paper (CSAT). But it doesn’t matter at all if you don’t work your way through both the papers.My mistakes were: didn’t read NCERTs, took guidance from various aspirants (a blunder, as perceptions vary from person to person), didn’t practice for paper 2 (was overconfident, as it is easy for me), didn’t make notes of newspapers (still, there are other ways to do it).My advice to all those who aspire for such a difficult examination is: go for it only if you are interested. Before you make a choice, select your coaching institute (Vajiram and Ravi is a preferred choice), get arrangements for fooding and lodging done in advance (if you are an outstation student), start reading NCERTs, The Hindu (again, a preferred choice which is sufficient too), no magazines at all, and government websites (for authentic information). It is your hard work that will pay off.
The UPSC is known for experimenting with examination patterns. In one instance, the optional paper 2 questions of Public Administration were asked in Paper 1, causing the aspirants to think that paper 1 is easy as it resembled Polity or GS 2 paper (which actually paper 2 was supposed to do). In another instance, they changed the question structure and point of view completely. Usually they would ask details regarding the First Battle of Panipat, Second Battle of Panipat and Third Battle of Panipat. So if you had done your history well enough, you’d get marks. But in 2014, it asked a trick question: Why did so many battles occur in Panipat only? Why not in other nearby places?  It makes you think on the spot, no coaching notes would come of use. It is an intersection of History and Geography. This had to be answered within 7 minutes. The beauty of the Civil Services Examination lies in the fundamental conceptualisation involved in its questions.
Akand Sitra, an ex-student of IIT Madras and an IAS aspirant in his second attempt, when asked for his view on the UPSC Civil Services Examination, said:
Civil Services Examination is one of the most beautiful exams in the world. The kind of questions they ask, the kind of patience one needs, the vastness of the syllabus, is just inexplicable. I absolutely adore the exam process because there is a sense of satisfaction when you go through it. Even if I do not pass the exam, even if I do not become a civil servant, I shall never regret this phase of my life. Just the exam process itself builds your character, enhances your personality, makes you much more mature and knowledgeable.
I guess that is why people get addicted to this process. Once you start preparing for the exam, you will be pulled into this chaotic vortex for ever - Either till you pass the exam or till all your attempts get over. You just get addicted to the examination. Once you get into this labyrinth, you will never come out again. No wonder there are thousands of students still giving their fourth/fifth/sixth attempts. The Civil Services Examination is like an irresistible mistress. I am already in my 2nd attempt and I don't know where the time flew.
So prepare passionately, live curiously and most importantly, enjoy what you study! Godspeed.
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