Toppers Interview

CSC: What were the basic mantras of your success?

Nasir: Good guidance, Patience, Smart work and Consistency paved the way for my success.

CSC: When did you start preparation for the IAS Examination? When should one ideally begin thinking about preparing for this exam?

Nasir: I started my preparation in June 2013. I think one should start preparing for civil services examination in the last year of graduation.

CSC: How did you start preparation for the IAS Examination?

Nasir: I joined coaching classes to prepare. I followed the guidance provided by my teachers honestly with full commitment.

CSC: What were your strategies for the lengthy syllabus of General Studies for both Prelims and Main examinations?

Nasir: I divided the syllabus in simple and achievable targets so that the entire syllabus of General Studies can be covered for both Prelims and Main examinations.

CSC: What was your optional subject? What was the basis of selecting this particular optional subject?

Nasir: I took ‘History’ as my optional subject. ‘History’ is the most relevant subject from General Studies, ‘Essay’ as well as interview point of view. I analysed that more than 25% of questions in IAS Prelims examination come from History. In Main exam also History covers more than 400 Marks. ‘History’ optional provides background for all the four papers of General Studies and the Essay paper in Mains examination.

CSC: How did you come to know that which sources of reading materials are standard? Please give a list of books, magazines and papers.

Nasir: Guidance of my teachers and the advice of seniors helped me in identifying the right study material and books.

I read NCERTs for basic preparation and then I relied on the class notes provided by INSIGHT IAS ACADEMY, Delhi during my coaching classes. I followed ‘The Hindu’ newspaper regularly.

CSC: Tell us something about preparation of essay paper.

Nasir: It goes hand in hand with the preparation of General Studies because topics and issues are common to both.

CSC: Did you prepare notes? How helpful are the notes? What is your advice on notes-making?

Nasir: For some topics I made notes. I mostly relied on the class notes of my coaching classes. Notes are important because they help in quick revision at the last moment.

CSC: Did you attend any coaching institute? How helpful are the coaching institutes? What is your overall opinion about the coaching institutes?

Nasir: Yes. I took coaching for ‘History’ optional and General Studies. I joined INSIGHT IAS ACADEMY of S. BALIYAN Sir in Delhi. The classes and regular tests helped me a lot in ensuring direction-oriented study. The continuous guidance and support provided by S. Baliyan Sir made my preparation easy and I could crack Civil Services examination.

CSC: What are your suggestions for freshers who want to join coaching institutes for preparation?

Nasir: Coaching classes are necessary but rather than going by publicity, one should cross – check the performance of institute through close friends and seniors. I myself joined coaching after discussing with friends and I found INSIGHT IAS ACADEMY immensely helpful.

CSC: What was your style of writing in Mains exam? How was it distinct from the general writing style? How did you develop this writing style?

Nasir: I focused more and more on what was being actually asked by paying attention to key words, prefixes and suffixes of questions.

CSC: The trend suggests that professionals are more successful in civil services examination. Does this exam prove difficult for Humanities and Social Science background candidates?

Nasir:No, not necessarily. Whoever is hard worker, will clear this exam.

CSC: What should be the best strategy to tackle negative marking in Prelims exam?

Nasir: One should attempt only those questions which are known. Guess work should be avoided.

CSC: How helpful is one’s academic background in his/her success?

Nasir: Academic background does not help necessarily, but sometimes humanities background may help.

CSC: How did you prepare for interview?

Nasir: I prepared my bio-data related questions elaborately. Mock interviews also helped me a lot in preparation for interview.

CSC: What types of questions were asked in interview? Did you answer all?

Nasir:The questions were mostly from my DAF (Detailed Application Form). I did not answer all the questions.

CSC: Was there any specific area they emphasized upon?

Nasir: No, most of the questions were general in nature.

CSC: Before getting down to actual preparation, what kind of reading one should do to improve one’s suitability for this exam? What is the outside reading one should do?

Nasir: One should read Newspaper regularly. General understanding of what is happening around plays an important role in civil services examination.

CSC: To whom would you give credit of your success?

Nasir: Parents, my teachers, myself and well wishes of my friends.

CSC: What is your advice to the freshers who are going to appear in this exam?

Nasir: Follow your dream and commit yourself fully to civil services preparation.

CSC: What is your advice to the candidates who have failed in this exam?

Nasir: Failure is the stepping stone towards success. Never stop, keep striving hard and you will definitely succeed.

CSC: Since when have you begun reading Civil Services Chronicle magazine? What are your suggestions to make it more useful for civil service aspirants?

Nasir: I read Civil Services Chronicle magazine occasionally. It is very good magazine as it covers issues very well. Every aspirant should read it.

CSC: Mr. Nasir, thanks a lot for giving your valuable time and sharing your insight on civil services examination.

CSC: What were the basic mantras of your success?

Shubhanwita: Hard work, discipline, consistency and smart study.

CSC: When did you start preparation for IAS Examination? When should one ideally begin thinking about preparing for this exam?

Shubhanwita: I started my preparation for the IAS Examination during 3rd year of my graduation. I think one should start preparing for civil services examination during graduation.

CSC: What were your strategies for the IAS Examination?

Shubhanwita: I began with the basic textbooks i.e. NCERTs and Laxmikant, etc.

CSC: What were your strategies for lengthy syllabus of General studies for both Prelims and Mains examinations?

Shubhanwita: I chalked out a strategy and followed timetable religiously. I attempted a lot of tests.

CSC: What was your optional subject? What was the basis of selecting this particular optional subject?

Shubhanwita: I took ‘History’ as my optional subject. It is very easy and static subject. One can link and correlate the events with present times. ‘History’ optional provides background for all the four papers of General Studies and the Essay paper in Mains examination.

CSC: Did you follow the myth that only so called popular optional should be opted?

Shubhanwita: No. I selected optional subject on the basis of its relevance for General Studies papers, static nature of syllabus and recent performance in IAS mains examination.

CSC: How did you come to know that which sources of reading materials are standard? Please give a list of books, magazines and papers?

Shubhanwita: My parents and teachers guided me to the sources of reading materials. Classes and notes of Shri S. Baliyan Sir were the main source. Additional sources were: Upinder Singh–Ancient India, Satish Chandra-Medieval, Bipan Chandra, Grover and Grover-Modern, Norman Lowe – World History.

CSC: Tell us something about preparation of ‘Essay’ paper.

Shubhanwita: I wrote an essay every 10 days.

CSC: How much time did you devote for?

(a) Prelims -1 month exclusively.

(b) Mains – 4 months exclusively.

(c) Interview -1 month exclusively.

CSC: Which is the most difficult part of this examination and why?

Shubhanwita: I think the Main examination is most difficult part of this examination.

CSC: Did you prepare any notes?

Shubhanwita: No. I did not prepare any separate notes.

CSC: Did you attend any coaching institute? How helpful are the coaching institutes? What is overall opinion about the coaching institutes?

Shubhanwita: Yes. I attended ‘INSIGHT IAS ACADEMY’ of S. BALIYAN Sir at Delhi. Coaching institute help us improve our preparation level.

CSC: What are your suggestions for the freshers who want to join coaching institutes for preparation?

Shubhanwita: Select your institute wisely because you need best guidance to crack civil services examination.

CSC: What was your style of writing in Mains exam? How was it distinct from the general writing style?

Shubhanwita: I wrote in points and followed introduction – main body-conclusion format while writing answers.

CSC: The trend suggests that professionals are more successful in this exam. Does this exam prove difficult for humanities and social science background candidates?

Shubhanwita: NO, I am from humanities background and I cleared the exam in first attempt.

CSC: What should be the best strategy to tackle negative marking?

Shubhanwita: Avoid making wild guesses. Follow elimination method to arrive at the correct answer.

CSC: Does this exam provide a level playing field for the rural or economically poor background candidates?

Shubhanwita: Yes. Every aspirant faces the same questions and has same chances of success.

CSC: How did you prepare for interview?

Shubhanwita: I gave a lot of mock interviews.

CSC: Which types of questions were asked in interview? Did you answer them all?

Shubhanwita: Interview board asked questions on my background, optional subject and some varied questions on Current affairs. Yes. I answered all the questions.

CSC: Was there any specific area they emphasized upon?

Shubhanwita: No. There was no such specific area.

CSC: Before getting down to actual preparation, what kind of reading should one do to improve one’s suitability for this exam?

Shubhanwita: One should read non-fiction books and cultivate newspaper reading habit.

CSC: To whom would you give credit for your success?

Shubhanwita: Parents, god, teachers and hard work.

CSC: What is your advice to the freshers who are going to appear in this exam?

Shubhanwita: They should focus on building their foundations by reading basic books like NCERTs.

CSC: What is your advice to the candidates who have failed in this exam?

Shubhanwita: The candidates should not lose hope, be patient and persevere. They should analyze past mistakes and work accordingly to improve.

CSC: Since when have you begun reading Civil Services Chronicle magazine? How far do you find it relevant?

Shubhanwita: I am reading Civil Service Chronicle magazine from the early days of my preparation. It is a very good magazine and covers issues very well.

CSC: Ms.Shubhanwita, thanks a lot for giving your valuable time and sharing your insights on civil services examination.

Shubhanwita: Thank you very much.

CSC: When did you start preparation for the IAS Examination? When should one ideally begin thinking about preparing for this exam?

Aman: I started my preparations just after completing graduation in 2013. Ideally, if one has made up his/her mind to join civil services, then he/she should start at the earliest, say during last year of graduation.

CSC: How did you start your preparation for the IAS Examination?

Aman: I started my preparation by reading NCERT books and Newspapers.

CSC: What were your strategies for the lengthy syllabus of General Studies for both Prelims and Main Examinations?

Aman: I focussed on reading and revising again and again. I made short notes for difficult topics so that they could be revised easily.

CSC: What was your optional? What was the basis of selecting this particular optional subject?

Aman: I took ‘HISTORY’ as my optional subject. It has a well-defined static syllabus. ‘HISTORY’ is very interesting subject and it covers a major part of syllabus of compulsory papers of ‘General Studies’. Now a days ‘HISTORY’ optional is the safest and most scoring optional subject.

CSC: How did you come to know that which sources of reading materials are standard? Please give a list of books, magazines and papers.

Aman: I followed the guidance of my teachers and seniors. Newspapers – ‘The Hindu’ and ‘Business Standard’. Books: Indian Polity and Constitution – Laxmikant; Geography – NCERTs, G.C. Leong; Indian Economy – NCERTs, History – Bipan Chandra, NCERTs, Upinder Singh, Satish Chandra and B.L. Grover.

CSC: Tell us something about preparation of ‘Essay’ paper.

Aman: I collected important points and quotes for various topics. After that I prepared theme wise material for issues like education and women issues. I made the mistake of not focusing sufficiently on writing practice.

CSC: Which is the most difficult part of this examination and why? What was your strategy to tackle this difficult part?

Aman: I think Main examination is the most difficult part of civil services examination. Essay Paper and Ethics Paper (GS Paper-IV) have great fluctuation in marks. They can make or mar your rank and selection.

CSC: Did you attend any coaching institute? How helpful are the coaching institutes? What is your overall opinion about the coaching institutes?

Aman: I attended ‘INSIGHT IAS ACADEMY’ of S. BALIYAN Sir at Delhi. The coaching classes helped me a lot.Although there is no rule that one cannot succeed without coaching but correct guidance always reduces the effort. Continuous support, motivation and guidance provided by S. BALIYAN Sir played a crucial role in my success in Civil Services Examination.

CSC: What are your suggestions for freshers who want to join coaching institutes for preparation?

Aman: Coaching institute should be selected carefully. Don’t ever miss the classes and interact with teachers regularly to get maximum possible benefit.

CSC: The trend suggests that professionals are more successful in this exam. Does this exam prove difficult for Humanities and Social Science background candidates?

Aman: Everyone has equal chance of clearing civil services examination, although optional subjects do create disparities in marks sometimes. Subjects like History are fetching more marks now a days.

CSC: What should be the best strategy to tackle negative marking?

Aman: Do not guess in examination if you do not have any idea about the question. Do not have a pre-determined marks target in mind as the cut off marks vary from year to year. Attempt questions on the basis of their merit.

CSC: How did you prepare for interview?

Aman: I prepared my DAF (Detailed Application Form) properly. I attended mocks interview sessions at INSIGHT IAS ACADEMY.

CSC: Which types of questions were asked in the interview? Did you answer them all?

Aman: The questions were mainly based on my hobbies, optional subject, current affairs and economics. No, I did not answer all the questions.

CSC: Was there any specific area they emphasized upon?

Aman: Questions were more on my optional subject.

CSC: Before getting down to actual preparation, what kind of reading should one do to improve one’s suitability for this exam?

Aman: One should read books related to social and economic issues. Aspirants should inculcate habit of reading newspapers and good magazines.

CSC: To whom would you give credit for your success?

Aman: My family for their constant support and my teachers for their invaluable guidance.

CSC: What is your advice to the freshers who are going to appear in this exam?

Aman: They should be clear about goals and work hard with consistency.

CSC: What is your advice to the candidates who have failed in this exam?

Aman: Failure is part and parcel of this exam. Do not lose heart and tempo. Keep working hard and success will come certainly.

CSC: Since when you have begun reading Civil Services Chronicle magazine? What are your suggestions to make it more useful for civil service aspirants?

Aman: Right from the early days of preparation I am reading Civil Services Chronicle, though I could not follow it regularly. The special issues dealing with different subjects were very helpful.

CSC: Mr. Aman, thanks a lot for giving your valuable time and sharing your insight on civil services examination.

Aman: Thank you very much.