How To Prepare For The Civil Services?

Getting a foothold into the any of the cadres of civil services is a matter of great pride and 

prestige. But for most people it can only be imagined and it is indeed a very difficult task. The 

Civil Services Examinations as the examinations are called in its entirety is at the entry level 

exam taken for making a career of high level Government services in India. The minimum 

qualification required to be eligible to appear for the examination is a university Degree. The 

Civil Services Examinations allows you to be recruited in the following areas depending on how 

you fare in the exam and you choice of the area. The different cadres are:

The Indian Administration Services (IAS)

The Indian Police Service (IPS)

The Indian Foreign Service (IFS)

The Indian Revenue Services (IRS)

The Indian Civil Service (ICS)

About The Examination:

The civil services examination is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission or the 

UPSC as it is more commonly referred to and it is held at the central for recruitment into the 

various services of the Government of India. The examinations are conducted in two phases 

of which the first is the Preliminary examination and the second is the Main examination. It is 

mandatory that the preliminary examination is first cleared by the candidate to be eligible for the 

final examination based on which the recruitment is done. There is an objective type paper based 

on General Studies and an Aptitude test in the preliminary examination. The main examinations 

are the most important and consist of nine papers which are of the usual essay type questions and 

a Personality Test conducted in the form of an interview. 

How to prepare for the examination: 

First and foremost you must be ready to focus only on the examination for at least a year and 

if you are a final year degree student then the preparations should begin in ht at final year. 

If you are already employed then you need to take at least a year’s leave to fully focus on 

the examination. Since the examination is highly in-depth a thorough knowledge is needed. 

Moreover, since the entire duration for the examination too takes about one year, there needs 

to be a lot of time that must be devoted completely for the preparation and writing of the 

examination. 

Secondly your choice of the stream you wish to follow is important. Answering some of the 

sample papers that are available in the book form as well as on the internet is a good way to 

find out your aptitude and skill sets. This will enable you to identify your aptitude and prepare 

accordingly. It is very important to choose the right subjects to ensure that you get into the right 

career or else it might lead to taking up the wrong career later on. 

As part of the preparation process ensue that you read more than a couple of newspapers every 

day. And it is better to be updated on the current affairs, news and other information regarding 

the nation on a daily basis. 

Maintain a set of notebooks and note down each new information that is gathered in the relevant 

notebooks divided on the basis of the topics. For example maintain a notebook for ‘Sports 

and Entertainment’, ‘Geography and History’, ‘Arts’, ‘Scientific Information’ and others 

like ‘People’. 

Irrespective of the subject of your choice in which it is mandatory to be completely updated, you 

should not neglect the others area on which the General Studies is conducted. So always remain 

alert and vigilant to identify some new information and make a mental as well as a written note 

of it to ensure that you know it and above all remember it when the time comes. 

Make a regular practice ahead of a couple of years to start answering sample papers and to 

understand the kind of questioning that is likely to appear in the examination papers. Reading 

should not be a luxurious past-time but reading should be done to absorb and remember what 

you have read. 

By following some of these tips, you are sure to get through .All The Best!!!!!!!

Anup Sharma

( Educationist with more than 15 years expeience in India and Abroad. Presently He is serving the cause of education in Tanzania. You can send your responses to him at anupanjan@yahoo.com)