(Tips) Different ways to ace IAS Examination by: Director- RAU's IAS Study

The civil services examination, which offers the widest range of jobs in our country, is the most important and prestigious examination amongst various examinations conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). It attracts the largest number of candidates from the entire length and breadth of the country and the selected candidates are appointed to the All India Services as well as to the other higher Indian civil services.

Some of the top services offered by this examination are: IAS (Indian Administrative Service), IPS (Indian Police Service), IFS (Indian Foreign Service), IRS (Indian Revenue Service), Indian Customs and Central Excise Service among others. There are, in all, about 24 services offered through this single examination.

Considering the importance and the nature of the jobs, UPSC takes utmost care in selecting the right people. A three-level examination is conducted to achieve this purpose. It tests general awareness, analytical ability and content retention capacity; and a cheerful mental disposition even under stressful conditions and some other officers like qualities.

Each one of these requirements is tested respectively through a preliminary examination (objective-type questions), main examination (descriptive-type questions), and interview.

Changes in Preliminary

The Union Public Service Commission, convinced of the need for important changes in the method of recruitment to the Civil Services, introduced a new pattern in the preliminary examination from year 2011 onwards. The change was brought only in the preliminary examination whereas the second and third stages-main examination and interview, respectively- remained the same.

As per the new pattern, at the preliminary level, there are two objectivetype question papers common for all candidates. Both these papers have equal weightage. These include Paper I (General Studies) - 200 marks and, Paper II (aptitude for civil services) - 200 marks.

Changes in the Main Exam

Consistent with the need for selecting the right kind of persons from the huge pool consisting of multiple languages, creeds, culture and communities, UPSC has constituted a high power committee to suggest possible changes in the pattern of the Civil Services Main Examination.

The new format may replace the optional subjects with a set of compulsory papers designed to test a broad spectrum of knowledge, skills and attitudes which would be more relevant to the requirements of entrants to the higher civil services.

However, neither the changes nor the date of implementation of these changes has been formally announced by UPSC. So, I suggest to the civil services aspirants they should not worry about the changes and the time of changes, instead they should focus on preparing for the exam on the basis of present pattern.

Tips for the final examination

The UPSC, vide examination notice no. 04/2012, has recently notified about the Civil Services (P) Examination 2012. The examination will be conducted on May 20, 2012, and will comprise of Paper I- including current events of national and international importance. history of India and Indian national movement, Indian and world geography, Indian polity and governance, economic and social development, general issues on environmental ecology, bio-diversity and climate Change - that do not require subject specialisation and general science.

While Paper II comprises of seven areas including comprehension, interpersonal skills including communication skills, logical reasoning and analytical ability, decision making and problem solving, general mental ability (GMA), basic numeracy and English language comprehension skills (Class X level).

Comprehension questions based on given text test how good a candidate is at fact-finding, sifting through information, interpreting text, concluding from given information and discerning between stated and implied meaning of the given information.

Understanding of vocabulary, rhetorical tools, hunting for the required information while keeping the holistic picture in mind, etc are essential comprehension skills at play in this area. This topic has a lot of scope for testing of the moral and ethical dimension of decision making.

Interpersonal skills including communication skills: Questions reflecting the ability to understand and manage the dynamics of social interaction can be tested such as Fill in the Blanks, Analogy, Synonyms, Antonyms, Jumbled Paragraphs, Single word substitutions, Meaning Equivalence of sentences, etc.

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Courtesy: indiatoday.intoday.in