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<\/p>\n“Sir, My problem is that I have cleared Mains. I was not expecting it.” he said.<\/p>\n
“But those are good problems to have”, I said. “Imagine having the not-clearing-the-Mains-problem.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
What is the worst thing that can happen to you when you finally get an Interview call with the Union Public Service Commission for the Civil Services Examination?<\/p>\n
I mean not the\u00a0really worst thing \u2013\u00a0<\/em>like being hit by a car or something, or getting Covid.<\/p>\n I mean the second<\/em> worst thing.<\/p>\n Having a newspaper\u00a0backlog<\/em>\u00a0before the Interview.<\/p>\n The Personality Test is the final leg of the Civil Services Examination conducted by UPSC, and often the make or break part which determined the service you will get, the cadre that will be allocated to you – which in turn means the state you will be living in – and this in turn decides – in most cases – the person you will marry. ( Or the person who will marry you! )<\/p>\n There are ‘n’ number of problems you could have when you finally get the Interview call, but there are some problems we can avoid.<\/p>\n And with the benefit of hindsight, of my own experience, and the vicarious experience I have had with a few hundred students in the past decade, in not thousand, working for the Interview preparation, I can tell you that a stitch in time saves nine.<\/p>\n Getting an interview call is no mean deal. Even if you have been getting a call every year, you must have met all the below four conditions<\/p>\n Most people who get interview calls every year ( and there are hundreds of them ) may not realize the preciousness of the situation, or the self. But ask a first timer, and you shall know.<\/p>\n So its January. You are still relaxing from having written Mains ( which is now only a week\u2019s affair post 2013).<\/p>\n And Mains results are far way. Interview is still further away.<\/p>\n You are in absolutely no mood to study, read the newspaper or do any of the 22 things you did before Mains.<\/p>\n And you have appeared for the Interview\u00a0last year too,\u00a0<\/em>so you are chilling.<\/p>\n The Civil Services Interview\u00a0requires<\/em>\u00a0preparation. Almost. You will be competing against some of the best as well as some of the\u00a0luckiest<\/em>\u00a0people for the coveted IAS position when you prepare for the Interview. Not getting IAS in itself is a pain for two reasons:<\/p>\n I asked Apala is she did any preparation for her Interview. She scored 215 marks – the highest in CSE 2020 Personality Test ( from what I know, and from the hate comments I sometimes read on the Internet )<\/p>\n So when I asked her, she said without mincing any words – It was my first ever Interview, and indeed I was a little scared about the Interview. I prepared very thoroughly for it – I prepared for it even more than I prepared for the Prelims.<\/em><\/p>\n The last part says something about the kind of effort that was put into something, which from outside – most people would like to imagine as just being lucky.<\/p>\n No matter how good communication skills you have, the Civil Services Interview will require\u00a0some<\/em>\u00a0preparation<\/p>\n If its January, sleeping till 11 AM, because its cold in Delhi , may not be the best preparation strategy. We could tell you the\u00a0second best strategy.<\/em><\/p>\n If you managed to do well in Mains because you did 365 or DD’s handouts, the same wont happen in the Interview. You will need to have to be a \u201cwell read\u201d \u00a0and \u201cgenerally aware\u201d person. Interviews do get very current affairs oriented sometimes.<\/p>\n Especially, if you have\u00a0not<\/em>\u00a0supplied good fodder with hobbies\u00a0&\u00a0extra-curricular activities in your DAF \u2013 prepare current affairs well.<\/p>\n You don\u2019t have to do Current Affairs The Hindu style. Indian Express will do. Nor do you have to do hidden stuff that you so minutely prepared for Mains.<\/p>\n\n
But this mistake can be costly.<\/h3>\n
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Why you need to prepare for this god-dam interview?<\/h3>\n
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The six things you need to do in January<\/h3>\n
Act #1 Read the Newspaper. Daily.<\/h3>\n
The good news.<\/h3>\n
But Why cant I do current Affairs later like in Mains\u00a0at the end<\/em>?<\/h3>\n