Mains 2019 Preparation and Discussion Thread
Now that 1 week is over, it is time to shift focus to Mains. With barely 103 days left there is no time to waste.
@AzadHindFauzno issue..bdw can you please respond to my query..it would be great
@VishwanathIt's quite subjective to give any solid opinion. I tend not to opine over things I'm less sure about. I'm afraid I wouldn't be of much help here bro.
@johnwicksaid inMains 2019 Preparation and Discussion Thread:
@pranay3962129highest FA is in singapore around 4500 USD . and minimum in poland around 3300 USD . for every other country on the globe it lies between 3300-4500 USD for a new joinee . even in nepal its north of 3500 USD per month + indian basic salary . the pay scale of IFS is comparable to sillicon valley employees if you include free housing , free medical , free children education in international schools where yearly fee is 25000 USD and tax free income and the added respect of being a diplomat . and quality of life of IFS is far superior to other services . as they mostly live in capital cities and that too in posh colonies . if you want to compare then in delhi IAS officers live in govt colonies and get around 1.25 lakh per month . and diplomats of even pakistan live in chanakyapuri in posh houses and get 3-4 lakh per month tax free and free education , medical etc .
the downside of IFS is not perks . its the liability to serve all over the world and changing countries every 3 years might be hard for someone . and some might get homesick there . otherwise the perks are of world standards unmatchable to any home based service .
U have summarised well. But do remember always that IAS can make more impact.
Power you exercise is directly proportional to Public Interaction.
With strong PMO, options for IFS to exercise their discretion reduces alot.
If Foreign Allowance is priority then go for IFS. But remember entry level Under-secretary in IAS, IPS enjoys far more influence than IFS.
And foreign posting in IFS is not at all compulsory. It's just that lure of Foreign Allowance takes over you eventually. And being Head of Mission abroad gives u first taste of kind of Absolute Power.
@LeoMessiAs someone already said Suyash Chavan is in Berlin for CFL training (must’ve chosen German). He would be back after an year for exam and only then he would get posted to a country which may or may not be Germany.
I knew another IFS officer she was in Paris as her CFL was French. She got posted to an African country as many African counties are French speaking.
It’s a gamble. Your first few postings definitely relate to your CFL but it doesn’t really matter much later on. But having a good rank enables you to have a CFL of your choice.
Even then it’s not that simple - consider this you chose German - you could be posted in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Belgium, etc which are well to do countries but we don’t really have very active foreign policy towards most of these. We have great relations with France and France is also asserting itself more now in EU in wake of Brexit. So French seems reasonable choice but it’s wishful thinking to expect to be posted in France itself since many African speaking nations are past French colonies, that increases odds of being posted elsewhere.
I wouldn’t worry so much about postings, as long as it keeps changing, which it does. Or fir kya pata perspective change ho jaye and relatively less happening postings give more satisfaction.
@bevancomsaid inMains 2019 Preparation and Discussion Thread:
@kochikaameKaise paper hue the?
Optional paper 1 thoda mess up ho Gaya.Essay mein kah Nahin Sakta. I won't be surprised with either 105 or 145.
Baaki to achha tha. Let's see how my marks add up.
@Hermione_Granger CFL does not determine foreign postings . They are given by rotation . Your CFL does not give any significant advantage or disadvantage regarding to your foreign postings .
While giving foreign posting the main things which matter are
The countries which you served in previously , your own skills as perceived by FSB , preference indicated by you etc . CFL comes the last when they decide .
@LeoMessiYar, I can only ‘assume’ that French might have more seats. I didn’t say rank decides CFL but that it’s on merit cum preference basis. She was 104 rank if I remember. Only a handful under 100 would have chosen for IFS in the first place and even that no one can say about what language they opted.
@STit's right . Nothing can beat IAS . IAS provides the best of both worlds . As IAS officers too go on foreign postings as trade representatives are generally only IAS and many other positions at some International bodies are reserved for IAS . Every other service is part of a department of govt , like IRS income tax Dept , IPS - Police dept etc . But IAS itself is the govt , not part of any department .
But IFS is second only to IAS .
@johnwickI’ve heard from IFS officer himself that it does determine the first few postings.
But if that’s not the case it’s only better, since it could be very limiting.
@Hermione_Granger it determines the first posting as you have to learn the language . If you get Chinese , you will go to Beijing for sure . And at most the 2nd posting . After that rotation comes into play . If you got class A countries in the first 2, now is your turn to serve in C countries and vice versa .
If you get into IFS , obviously you are not there for a few years and will probably serve 30+ years and in your whole career CFL will not have any impact , but your skills , personality , expertise will be the only thing which will decide how successful you are , and if you got more good countries on average than your peers . And one more thing as other people are claiming about 1st Gen , 2nd Gen IFS . MEA is the most professional of all organizations , and this kind of nepotism is more prevalent in home based services , it has no place in the IFS .
@johnwickthat’s nice to hear. IFS was why I got into this in the first place
@Chanakyaarnd 765 for gen
@Chanakya
750
@johnwickagree that MEA is a very professional org, but to say that there is no nepotism or corruption would be an over-statement.
Don't know whst case of D.Khobragade was talked about, but there was also a case by her batchmate. He accused the FSB of alloting her a CFL which he wanted and did not get despite being higher in merit. Recently, Amb to Austria was called back(many say on charge of fin irregularities), an IFS(B) officer in Lisbon commited suicide alleging discrimination and that he was regularly sidelined.
Yes, the foreign service is relatively clean and possess some of the best talent, but not like there is nothing wrong that has ever happened in there.
^^Foreign service enthusiasts should give it a read, written by Gopalkrishna Gandhi
@johnwicksaid inMains 2019 Preparation and Discussion Thread:
@Hermione_Granger it determines the first posting as you have to learn the language . If you get Chinese , you will go to Beijing for sure . And at most the 2nd posting . After that rotation comes into play . If you got class A countries in the first 2, now is your turn to serve in C countries and vice versa .
If you get into IFS , obviously you are not there for a few years and will probably serve 30+ years and in your whole career CFL will not have any impact , but your skills , personality , expertise will be the only thing which will decide how successful you are , and if you got more good countries on average than your peers . And one more thing as other people are claiming about 1st Gen , 2nd Gen IFS . MEA is the most professional of all organizations , and this kind of nepotism is more prevalent in home based services , it has no place in the IFS .
Reading your comments it seems you know quite alot about IFS
Hope you get it
@ChanakyaMarking pattern outweighs any presumption. But still, I would say 750-60.
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