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Cracking IPS: The PI edge

Be your best self at the civil services’ personality interview. Here’s how.
The Union Public Service Commission will soon conduct the personal interview for one of the most prestigious and
competitive examinations in the country — the civil services exam. Approximately 2,000 candidates will attend the
personality test, competing for around 1,000 vacancies in the services included in the civil services category.
Though the personal interview carries only 275 marks out of the total 2025, the stakes are very high here as the
students can gain decisive edge over others in a relatively short span of twenty to twenty-five minutes. Ideally, the
candidates should aim for a score of around 60 to 65 per cent to come out in flying colours in the exam.
The entire civil services exam’s personal interview can be summarised in one question of the board to the
candidate — to explain who he is. The panel conducts the interview to identify the intellectual and attitudinal
attributes of the candidates, such as grasp of narratives and arguments, reasoning ability, appreciation of different
perspectives, range and depth of interests and personal attributes that are relevant for interaction with people.
The interviewees ought to prepare exhaustively about their name, educational subjects and institutions, native
district, town and State along with national and international issues. Each word they fill in the data sheet, along
with main application form, is a micro reservoir of potential questions that may be asked in the actual interview.
Therefore, the candidates should pay meticulous attention to all of them.
Hobbies
The panel asks lots of questions on the hobbies and extracurricular activities of the candidates as mentioned by
them in the data summary sheet. When candidates prepare for the civil services exam they have to undergo a
rigorous work schedule often for months leading to the main examination.
In this gruelling phase, they need appropriate rest. Hobbies become important here as they provide for the
rejuvenation of mind, soul and body. Moreover, the candidates, through productive and profound hobbies, can
manoeuvre the course of the interview into their own areas of strength by discussing their hobbies and interests.
The students in the past have chosen many hobbies ranging from the mundane ones to extraordinary ones. For
example, reading about aliens, interests in wildlife and yoga and meditation were some of the hobbies cited by
candidates in the past.
In one instance, a candidate attended the personality interview with an interest in alien life as hobby and the
interview panel posed him a cascade of questions that included – Who are aliens? What is the SETI project?
What are UFOs and flying saucers? What is the necessity of missions like the Mars Orbiter Mission of ISRO and
Curiosity mission of NASA? How would life have evolved on this planet? As he had anticipated these questions,
he was thoroughly prepared and therefore answered them impressively.
Educational institutions
The personal interview panel also focuses on the almamater of the candidates. If the candidates have completed
their studies in prestigious institutions, the panel invariably questions them comprehensively about the motto,
vision, origin, emblem, alumni, distinguished faculty, academic rigour, intra-campus politics and democracy,
cultural activities, research contributions, sources and nature of funding, major problems and lacunae etc.
Sports
As the civil services personal interview panel adopts a holistic perspective towards judging the personality of the
candidates, it consciously poses questions on sports and games, especially if the candidates have pursued some
game or sport in their schools and colleges. Once, a candidate attended the civil services personality test stating
that hockey was his hobby and panel spent a considerable portion of the personal interview asking him questions
on hockey. He was asked to explain the causes and factors that precipitated the stultification and marginalisation
of Indian hockey. As a past player of the game, he explained the multiple factors such as the vertical split in the
hockey powerhouse of Punjab due to partition in 1947, emergence of a new breed of hockey called continental
hockey or total hockey where stamina and speed are more important than skills and magic of oriental tradition,
introduction of artificial and synthetic turf, major alterations in the rules and regulations and architecture of the
game that inevitably favoured the western style of hockey. As it was a thoroughgoing analysis of the numerous
forces and factors, the board was greatly impressed and the candidate cornered a lion’s share of the interview
marks, which enabled him to enter the coveted Indian Administrative Service.
Domicile
The interview panel is likely to ask a plethora of questions on the native town, city and district of the individual
candidates. A thorough understanding of politics, economy, society, culture, art and architecture of the domicile of
the candidates constitutes a fulcrum of any successful strategy. For example, when a candidate hailing from
Bengaluru attended the personal interview a few years back, the panel posed umpteen questions on the
contemporary and historical events of the city.
An ideal preparation should cover in a comprehensive manner the multifarious aspects such as salubrious
climate, status as IT hub of India, performance of major information technology companies, place of Bengaluru in
the cricket landscape of India, various educational institutions of national repute like IISc and IIM, national
industrial giants like BEL, scientific institutions like ISRO and problems and challenges in urban governance and
Deccan plateau. Similarly, the students hailing from Karnataka in general and Mysuru in particular should prepare
on the nomenclature, Mysuru as cultural capital of Karnataka, Cauvery river water dispute, Chamundeswari
Temple, Woodaiyar Dynasty, Hyder Ali, Tippu Sultan etc.
General suggestions
Candidates should study objectively their strengths and weakness so that necessary measures for progress can
be designed and implemented. They should apply SWOC analysis to test their personality and to identify their
strength, weakness, opportunities and challenges and formulate remedial measures in consultation with experts
so that the ultimate hurdle of personal interview in the civil services exam can be conquered.
Honesty
The interview panel believes that honesty is an intrinsic and indispensable ingredient for a career in civil services,
and, therefore, it looks for a morally clean personality. Students should not indulge in dodging, pretending or
vacillating tactics in the personal interview of the civil services exam. Dissembling personalities are just not
desirable for a career in civil services. The panel always believes in the maxim that trustworthy personalities will
become praiseworthy bureaucrats in the future.
Stress management
During the course of the personality test, the interview panel may begin to fire cumbersome questions and put the
candidates under enormous unremitting pressure to see how they handle unfamiliar, embarrassing and
psychologically disruptive circumstances. On such occasions, the aspirants should maintain their composure and
not succumb to pressure. The interviewee must remember that adversity holds many opportunities and that
achievers in all walks of life reached their glorious destinations only in spite of pain and not because of its
absence. They need to cultivate a positive outlook and progressive mindset and their strategy should be to hope
for the best and be prepared to face the worst.
Luck
There are certain fortuitous circumstances that influence the course and final outcome of the personality test, and
any amount of scientific planning and systematic preparation may come to nought if fortune decides to desert us.
We have not developed a technology or a philosophy or a methodology that will enable us to achieve mastery
over the luck factor, and, therefore, the candidates should be positive and focused without worrying about
unforeseen circumstances. Remember that luck is nothing but a fortuitous rendezvous between thorough
preparation and tantalising opportunity. Be yourself and be the best of your self.
Dr.P.Kanagaraj is associate professor of Political Science in Government Arts College, Coimbatore. He provides
free coaching for civil services exam and conducts mock interviews. Email: iasips2011@gmail.com

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