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@nandana ma'am what are important lessons u learnt from your interview last year ??
Well, let me first mention that i dont know how close my interview was to a 'typical' upsc interview. As for the lessons,
a) I didn't attend any mock last year which I now feel I should have since it was my first upsc interview. I was under the impression that having appeared for many interviews in the past (like for some scholarships, IIM, intern, job etc etc), upsc shouldn't be any different (and it does happen for many people). However, the unpredictability factor of upsc interview is very high where you are sometimes left wondering if there is any co-relation between the questions you are being asked and the job you are aspiring for.
b) Read past transcripts. However, add a lump of salt before you form any impression about the interview based on them. It is difficult to capture the exact mood and ambiance of the interview in a written transcript and most transcripts you will come across will be polished versions of the actual interview.
c) The people in the panel are not necessarily the best people and so be prepared to answer to some random questions. They might make very unusual connections. Example: "You are an engineer, so you must be knowing a lot about machines". (as if all engineers study only machines!) So while it is important to prepare DAF well, you should be ready for anything and everything. The bottomline is don't be flummoxed if you are asked a totally unrelated question to your DAF but projected as if " this-u-must know" or " this-is so-obvious". The crude fact is that 60+ members will only ask what they know and the prob is what they know they think should be known by the aspiring civil servant. So if one of the members has been in the railways, he might think it is very obvious for the interviewee to know the length of railway track in India etc etc.
d) Some people research member profiles so as to customize their prep for each board. I do not have a concrete view on that. I think it is sufficient to have an brief idea of the members background.
e) For every candidate, there are some obvious questions based on his/her profile. Prepare them well but don't overdo them lest they seem mugged up.
f) I have not tried this but it might be a good idea to seek questions on your DAF from other aspirants especially those who do not the share the same background as you (educational, demographic etc etc).
g) Master the skill of disagreeing politely . Also it helps to appear vulnerable at times. Remember you are dealing with people with big 'egos'
h) Lastly, Prepare, prepare and prepare. It is possible that very little (or even none) of it will come handy during the actual interview but having prepared you will feel confident and which i feel is very important. However, arrogance is not tolerated so make sure in you don't cross that line in over-enthusiasm.
I have presented here a slightly pessimistic account of interview. Obviously a lot of interviews go very well. However, when one is preparing for a 'once a year event', I think it is important to be prepared for the worst (while hoping for the best).
@sananthan ..........i feel marks will be on similar lines of prvs years......like 240s, 220s etc out of 275...to increase the weightage of interview
Then why did they reduce it to 275 in the first place? 8-}
They reduced it bcoz there are many civil services commissions who have made it a point to mention that interview marks percentage should not exceed "certain limit" of overall marks. Still 275/1750 is very high is what they say..
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Comments
a) I didn't attend any mock last year which I now feel I should have since it was my first upsc interview. I was under the impression that having appeared for many interviews in the past (like for some scholarships, IIM, intern, job etc etc), upsc shouldn't be any different (and it does happen for many people). However, the unpredictability factor of upsc interview is very high where you are sometimes left wondering if there is any co-relation between the questions you are being asked and the job you are aspiring for.
b) Read past transcripts. However, add a lump of salt before you form any impression about the interview based on them. It is difficult to capture the exact mood and ambiance of the interview in a written transcript and most transcripts you will come across will be polished versions of the actual interview.
c) The people in the panel are not necessarily the best people and so be prepared to answer to some random questions. They might make very unusual connections. Example: "You are an engineer, so you must be knowing a lot about machines". (as if all engineers study only machines!)
So while it is important to prepare DAF well, you should be ready for anything and everything. The bottomline is don't be flummoxed if you are asked a totally unrelated question to your DAF but projected as if " this-u-must know" or " this-is so-obvious". The crude fact is that 60+ members will only ask what they know and the prob is what they know they think should be known by the aspiring civil servant. So if one of the members has been in the railways, he might think it is very obvious for the interviewee to know the length of railway track in India etc etc.
d) Some people research member profiles so as to customize their prep for each board. I do not have a concrete view on that. I think it is sufficient to have an brief idea of the members background.
e) For every candidate, there are some obvious questions based on his/her profile. Prepare them well but don't overdo them lest they seem mugged up.
f) I have not tried this but it might be a good idea to seek questions on your DAF from other aspirants especially those who do not the share the same background as you (educational, demographic etc etc).
g) Master the skill of disagreeing politely
h) Lastly, Prepare, prepare and prepare. It is possible that very little (or even none) of it will come handy during the actual interview but having prepared you will feel confident and which i feel is very important. However, arrogance is not tolerated so make sure in you don't cross that line in over-enthusiasm.
I have presented here a slightly pessimistic account of interview. Obviously a lot of interviews go very well. However, when one is preparing for a 'once a year event', I think it is important to be prepared for the worst (while hoping for the best).
8-}