IAS Interview - Do's & Don'ts, Common Question Asked, Tips and Tricks

How to prepare for UPSC IAS interview? The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts the Civil Services examination (CSE) to recruit candidates for gazetted officer group A & B posts. The UPSC CSE exam is India's highly popular and competitive exam. The UPSC CSE 2021 will be conducted in 3 stages - preliminary, mains and interview/personality test. The preliminary is multiple choice in nature, mains is descriptive while the personality test is face-to-face.

The syllabus of prelims and mains stage of the UPSC CSE exam is available, but the personality test is dynamic in nature and the questions are majorly based on the detailed application form making candidates wonder, how to prepare for UPSC IAS interview? In this article, we will be answering all the questions related to how to prepare for UPSC IAS interview? Due to the tough competition of the UPSC CSE, qualifying each stage becomes trickier than the previous stage. As per estimates, approximately 10 lakh candidates apply for the exam and the seats are just a meagre 700-800. Candidates can refer to the detailed IAS study plan for overall tips, however, here we will be sharing the strategy on how to prepare for UPSC IAS interview?

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What is the UPSC CSE interview stage?

The personality test is the third and final stage of the UPSC IAS selection process, candidates who qualify in the mains as per the IAS result are eligible to appear for the interview. The interview is conducted at the UPSC Bhavan, New Delhi across multiple shifts and dates.

Candidates, 3X the total number of vacancies are shortlisted to appear for the interview. For instance, if there are 800 vacancies in Civil Services, then approximately 2400 candidates appear in the interview.

How to prepare for UPSC IAS interview?

Many aspirants preparing for the exam refer to the IAS syllabus for preliminary and mains but for the IAS interview, there is no specific syllabus and the questions are dynamic in nature. Apart from candidates' answers, their confidence and ability to answer the questions, look and posture, pronunciation, communication skills, common sense, ability to express, ability to explain, and how to tackle situations based on given circumstance are also judged. A panel of 4-5 experienced members from UPSC take the interview and on the basis of performance of the candidates, they are given the marks. These marks then add on to the marks of the mains exam to create the final merit list.

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What type of questions are asked in the UPSC Civil Services interview?

As already mentioned in this article, the questions in the IAS personality test are dynamic in nature. The UPSC panel can ask questions from anywhere. However, these questions are somewhere related to the candidates themselves. A major chunk of these questions in the IAS interview are based on the detailed application form (DAF) that candidate’s will fill after qualifying the mains exam.

From the following pointers, we have tried to share some of the questions that are asked by the panel during the UPSC IAS interview.

• Questions related to candidate's personal information

• Questions related to academic background of the aspirant

• Questions related to current affairs

• Questions related to service preference

• Situation based questions

• Questions related to optional subject

• Questions related to previous job (If the candidate was working previously)

• Questions related to taboos, societal misconceptions, stereotypes etc.

• Questions related to political ideology, communism, socialism, capitalism etc.

• What makes the candidate best suitable for UPSC?

• What are the positive points in the candidate? (Candidate will have to answer this)

• What are the negative points in the candidate? (Candidate will have to answer this)

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Questions related to personal information asked in the IAS interview

• Candidates introduction.

• Meaning of candidate's name.

• Question on family background.

• Information related to candidate's surname, like history, origins

• Information related to the candidate's hometown, famous things about the hometown, political figures, famous personalities about the hometown.

• Historical links about the hometown.

• Tourist spots and famous cuisine.

• Questions related to the home state, history, economical state, crops, famous things about the home state.

Questions related to academic background

Questions related to the stream in 10+2, and why the candidate took that specific stream.

About graduation, college days, subject specific questions.

Questions related to current affairs asked in the IAS interview

This is the most uncertain section, so anything can be asked specially from the last 12 months.

Questions related to service preference and cadre

This section will be based on the Detailed Application Form (DAF) that candidates will have filled. The questions will be based on the service preference, such as why the aspirant has preferred IAS over IPS, why the aspirant has chosen a specific place as cadre etc.

Questions related to optional subject

The panel will ask questions related to the optional subject, like why the candidate has chosen a specific subject. For example, if a candidate has opted Political Science as their optional then the question might be - "Why have you chosen Political Science? Why didn't you choose Public Administration? Your graduation subject was Economics, why didn't you choose Economics as an optional '' etc.

Situation based questions

Candidates will be given a hypothetical situation like, if you are an IPS, and a riot like situation occurs, what will be your plan of action. Another question may be, if you are an IAS officer and your subordinate's are not obeying your orders, what action will you take?

Questions related to previous job (If the candidate was working previously)

If the candidate is a working professional, then the questions might be based on the working background, area of work, expertise, the reason to switch from working to Civil services etc.

Questions related to taboos, societal misconceptions, stereotypes etc.

If the candidate belongs to a certain religion, or background then there might be few questions which can be related to this. During this stage candidates must stay calm and not overreact, they must calmly handle the situation and answer the question politely.

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Questions related to political ideology, communism, socialism, capitalism etc.

Candidate's might be asked questions related to their political ideology, here they have to behave diplomatically and not name favorites or least favorite figures. If the candidate answers the questions, the panel will get to know that the aspirant has a political ideology and they might be influenced while on duty. This can act as a negative point.

What makes the candidate best suitable for UPSC?

Here the candidate will have to praise themselves and talk about their best parts.

What are the positive points in the candidate? (Candidate will have to answer this)

Talk about the positives, but make sure to not get carried away.

What are the negative points in the candidate? (Candidate will have to answer this)

Everyone has some negative points, but it is best to avoid this question politely. Candidates must answer like "Sir, I don't think there are any negative points in me as of what I can see, but If the experienced panel's vision can see some cons in me, I assure you I will work hard to rectify it."

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UPSC Civil Services Personality Test- Do's and Don'ts

The interview is the final stage of the Civil Service recruitment process. The UPSC Civil Services exam is a lengthy process and it takes a toll on the candidate's mental and physical health. Candidates invest their crucial years to reach the interview. Hence, it is advised to give their best during the interview and a small decision taken by the candidate during these 30-35 minutes of the interview will decide the direction of the rest of their career.

From the following pointers, we have shared the dos and don'ts for the candidates who are to appear in the interview round. Candidates must read each and every point and follow it seriously.

Dos for IAS interview

• Wear well ironed formal clothes.

• A suit with tie is a good option, however, it should not be fancy like a three piece suit, or the colour must not be like a party wear type.

• Wear polished formal shoes matching the dress.

• Clean shaved with neatly combed hair.

• If you wear spectacles, wear frameless ones, it looks sober.

• Put on a little smiling face during the civil services interview.

• Sit in a straight posture.

• Keep hands on the knees.

• Hide tattoos that can be seen by the panel.

• Make eye contact with all the members of the panel in a positive way while answering questions during the IAS interview.

• Listen more and speak only when asked.

• Have a positive attitude while answering questions.

• End the answers on a positive note with hope.

• If you don't know the answer, just apologise and say that you will read or check into it.

• Be soft spoked and polite while answering the questions during the IAS interview.

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Donts for IAS interview

• Don't wear informal clothes or mismatched dresses like black trousers with a blue coat or red tie.

• Don't wear sports shoes.

• Don't fold sleeves, or open the cuff buttons.

• Don't wear flashy items like rings, necklaces, bracelets, or costly wrist watches.

• Don't appear in the interview with coloured hair.

• Don't be a critic while answering questions.

• Don't smile a lot, or laugh during the civil services interview.

• Don't elaborate the answers. Stick to the point. More detailing will give the panel more options to ask the questions and confuse you.

• Don't touch those sections for which you are still not well aware of. This can confuse you, and will lead your disqualification from the IAS interview.

• Don't use slangs.

• Avoid hand movements while answering questions during IAS interview.

• Don't fold your legs in front of the panel.

• Don't answer the questions for which you don't know the answers. It is better to skip than to give wrong answers.

• Also, don't skip too many questions on the trot. This can go wrong with panel taking the IAS interview.

• Don't get offensive when the panel in the IAS interview asks something personal related to your specific religion, gender, reservation, political ideology. The civil services interview panel don't want to insult you or harm you, they just want to see your behaviour on certain issues, like if you react with aggression or with calmness.

• Don’t carry mobile phones or any kinds of papers, bag inside the IAS interview room.

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How to prepare for UPSC IAS interview? Tips and Tricks

There are certain things that can help candidates excel in the IAS interview stage. Apart from the academics, candidates must also follow the points mentioned below, so that they are ready to face the IAS interview confidently.

• Read newspapers and magazines to stay up to date with current affairs to tackle the questions in the civil services interview.

• Questions on current affairs will be related to the last 12 months. The panel in the IAS interview can also ask questions related to recent national/international events.

• One thing which is very important in the IAS interview is the punctuation and pronunciation skills. Candidates must work on punctuation skills.

• Work on communication skills to ace the IAS interview.

• Learn the language (medium) in detail.

• Work on the right posture and positive approach. The panel in the civil services interview will judge candidates on the basis of this.

• Talk to yourself in the language medium by standing for hours in front of the mirror. This is the best tip to excel in IAS interview.

• Give and watch IAS mock interviews. These mock IAS interviews are conducted by many coaching institutions.

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State PSC article links