UPSC Essentials of The Indian Express brings to you Part 2 of a special interview on the UPSC Civil Services Examination Personality Test stage. In conversation with Manas Srivastava, P.S. RAVINDRAN, explains and simplifies some of the most relevant queries for the interview stage. Revisit Part 1 to know the importance of DAF, interview etiquette, and popular questions like ‘Why Civil Services?’

In Part 2 today, Ravindran guides on questions on hobbies, the importance of current affairs, communication skills, and more for UPSC 2023 interview candidates and other aspirants preparing for India’s most coveted job.

About our Expert: P. S. Ravindran, is the director of Vajiram and Ravi, an institute for coaching aspirants for civil services examination since 1976. He has been teaching, guiding and mentoring aspirants for more than four decades. He is renowned for personal guidance to candidates for the interview stage of UPSC CSE.

FYI: The UPSC Personality Test, also known as the UPSC interview, is the final stage of one of the world’s most difficult examinations – UPSC Civil Services examination. It is conducted by various boards constituted by UPSC at the Union Public Service Commission office housed at Dholpur House in Delhi. It carries 275 marks. This year the UPSC interviews began on January 2, 2024.

P.S. Ravindran: First of all, a candidate must understand what hobbies mean. I have come across many candidates in the past many years, who lack clarity over the meaning of hobbies. It’s an activity done regularly in one’s leisure time for pleasure, where one strives to do it. Candidates must understand that they cannot make a hobby in just a month or so, after the main exam result declaration. At the same time, something that someone did years before just as participation in an event like painting, drawing, or visiting someplace cannot and should not be marked as a hobby.

Now, coming to a detailed understanding of this column, hobbies indicate many things about a candidate, especially their interest areas, her involvement in it, and to a larger extent her qualitative enthusiasm about it. These are very important characteristics of a person to understand his seriousness about a thing. It indicates values like involvement and perseverance and lets the board take the candidate in a very positive view about the candidate.

When it comes to answering questions on hobbies, candidates should be honest and clear in their statements. It portrays a very good picture of the candidate, as the board can understand that they have really worked on it and have not just mentioned it for the sake of mentioning it.

Hobbies which can majorly end in contributing something to society, are new in the contemporary time.

The demand for intellectual involvement has become the centre of questions in the interviews of candidates.

Candidate must understand that it is something that you are mentioning that you have been doing, upon questions being asked in it, and proper answering, it helps to get a very good score in the test.

P.S. Ravindran: How aware and involved a candidate is, is often tested by asking questions from events happening in the current times. The panel, which mostly comprises of civil servants and people from academics, is very much into understating contemporary events through newspapers, news programmes, and mutual discussions. As a candidate preparing for civil services, one is expected to understand the issues, events  happening domestically and internationally.

The best source to prepare for current affairs is newspapers.

Many times, I suggest students to read two newspapers during this time of the exam phase. The Indian Express and The Hindu, have been marked as the two very essential sources for candidates at the interview phase. Many candidates also prefer to read newspapers like the Financial Express and Economic Times, which should not be discouraged but must be in addition to any one of the first two.

P.S. Ravindran: Mostly all serious aspirants in most of their preparation duration spent time on academic reading and other modes of gathering content and information, keeping in mind the Preliminary and Mains exams which seem to be perceptible bigger huddles. Invariably when many get an interview call, their biggest problem is being presentable to the board. Many of the candidates feel uneasy to now shift gears to this stage of the exam, especially when the time left is less. Nervousness, inability to respond crisply and straightforwardly, and inorganized responses including prioritisation, choice of words in responses, etc. become a considerable limitation on the parts of candidates. The biggest issue is seen in opinion-based questions.

Candidates don’t lack much knowledge but rather a verbal presentation of knowledge chiseled into an opinion or convincing response.

My first suggestion is that candidates must prepare themselves mentally with the thought that now they are responding to questions in front of a board and not on the answer sheet, hence they need to practice short and to-the-point responses. To take care of the knowledge part, it is advisable that candidates must be updated on current affairs and basic knowledge about their optional subjects especially when the subject has current affairs ingrained in it. Also, if you are not confident about building an opinion, you must practice that in front of your friends or at least alone, and if possible, record it and listen back. You will be able to redraft the answer in a much better way. Repeated practice will enhance the confidence of candidates.

P.S. Ravindran: It’s always said that your test of knowledge is done in the Mains exam and the Personality test is not about knowledge. But remember one thing, how do you think the board is going to assess your personality? That’s through the answers you give to the questions posed by the board to you. And for this, the most important thing is to “convey” exactly what you think about the question asked, be it your opinion, any argument in support or against something stated, or even a simple introduction about you.

Communication is the key to putting forth your thinking, which is nothing but your personality. A well-articulated person always seems to be one with a better thinking process. Language proficiency is equally important. And when I say language proficiency, what I mean is not ornamentation of words or usage of complex terms, rather it is choice of words, prioritisation of point that one is putting forth, and most essentially rational thinking and not over sweeping statements. The depth of a topic is measured majorly through the words put forth vis-à-vis answering the topic.

P.S. Ravindran: Candidates must first understand the intention and parameters behind the personality test. Just to make it clearer, candidates must understand that there is DAF with the board, which has already provided some idea about candidates’ personalities before they enter the room. Now, the more convergence is there between what DAF states and what the candidates reaffirm through her answers, the better the understanding of the personality of the candidate.

Essentially, the dos would be, that the candidates remain truthful throughout the interaction, be humble and well-behaved, well–groomed, and must not hesitate to put forth a rational point.

The major don’ts are not violating the dos, added to not indulging with the board in an argument and extreme opinions on social issues without rationality. Don’t mind even skipping a few questions, if need be and the stress must not be visible on your face. Try not to be bilingual while you are appearing for a certain medium.

Remember a confident, truthful, and passionate candidate is always better than a stressed-out, under-confident and confused dis-passionate candidate.

Share your views and suggestions in the comment box or at manas.srivastava@indianexpress.com

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