Cracking the Competitive Examination

Entry to the IAS, IPS and the Central Services is through the combined
Competitive Examination for the Civil Services. Recruitment to the Indian
Forest Service is through a separate examination. The Competitive
Examination takes place in three stages:

Stage I: Preliminary Examination

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), an autonomous body that
ensures unbiased recruitment to the Civil Services, conducts the examination.
The notification for obtaining the application forms for the examination will
appear in the Employment News and also in other leading dailies.
The preliminary (prelims), a written examination is held in the month of June
every year. It consists of two papers, both in the objective type format.

Paper I: This paper is called the General Studies and carries a maximum
score of 150 points on 150 questions. It is of two hours duration. It covers
these six topics - Indian History, the Constitution of India, Geography,
Economics, Science and Current Affairs.

Paper II: This is an optional paper on a subject of your choice, for

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instance, Political Science, History, Economics, Psychology etc. A list of
the optional subjects that can be taken, can be obtained from the UPSC
website - www.upsc.gov.in. Paper II carries a score of 300 points on 120
questions and is also of two hours duration.
Since, it is an extremely competitive exam, the candidates taking the
prelims must be extremely diligent and hard working. Only the highest
scorers qualify for the second examination, that is, the Main Examination.
The success rate of preliminary exam is less than 10%.

Stage II: Main Examination

The Main Examination is a written examination in the subjective or essay type
format. It is generally held in the month of November/December. It includes
nine papers:

Papers I & II: These are the language papers, of 300 marks each. One is
the English language paper, which is compulsory; and the other is in any
Indian language mentioned in the eighth schedule of the Indian
Constitution. Marks obtained in these papers are not added in the total
score, however qualifying or passing in them with the specified minimum
percentage is necessary.

Paper III: The third is an Essay paper of 200 marks. The candidate can
choose to write the essay in either English or in any Indian language
mentioned in the eight schedule of the Constitution.

Paper IV and V: These are the General Studies (G.K. and Current
Affairs) papers of 300 marks each.

Paper VI, VII, VIII & IX: Here, the candidate will have to take two optional
subjects, which would contain two papers each. Thus, a total of four
papers, where each paper would be of 300 marks, with a total score of
1200.
The number of candidates, who pass through this stage successfully, is
further reduced in percentage when compared to the numbers who
succeed in the prelims. An indication of the tough competition is the fact
that, (on a 1:10 basis), if for instance, a thousand candidates pass the
Main exam, there is in reality, only 100 vacancies or civil service posts
available.

Stage III: Personality Test

In this final round of elimination, the competition gets the toughest.
Candidates are selected on a 1:2 ratio. So, if there are ten vacancies, then
twenty candidates will be interviewed.

The personality test follows the pattern of an oral interview or a viva voce. An
expert panel judges the candidate's over all personality, his/her social traits,
presence of mind, and leadership qualities, apart from their intellectual
capabilities and aptitude for the work involved.
When all the hard work of the candidate finally pays off and he finds himself
smoothly cruising out of, even the interview stage, he undergoes compulsory
training at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in
Mussoorie as a probationary officer. Training will be imparted in academic
areas, which comprise subject studies like economics, history, political
science, etc. After this foundation course, specific job-oriented training is
conducted separately by each service.

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