Basic Approach towards Preparation of Civil Services For the bright and ignited minds of India, Civil Services have always been the ultimate career choice. While the examination calls for higher order skills of comprehension, presentation, appreciation and analysis, very few hard nuts are alone able to crack these tough tests after years of hard work. How to make it into the coveted posts and at an early age is the crucial question. GS: Swimming in the ocean Success is a diffused term. It is hard to define success. But lone substance is assured only with positive outcome of the effort put by any one to the direction of one’s goal. Appearing for civil services has always been a tough decision to make and an act of courage in itself which demands a strong character and steely nerves. This is basically because of three reasons: • Because of the character of the syllabus associated with it, wherein you are expected to know almost everything under the sun. Now the new dimension in the whole strategy is about concept-integration-approach. • Because of the unpredictability of the exam wherein you cannot afford to make selective study purely based on previous years question papers. How your study, information and knowledge are updated finally matters. • The immense competition which you are confronted with, wherein you face the best minds in the country which come from their respective streams and sweat it out to become a part of the steel frame of the government. So there is hardly any room for carelessness, complacency and even overconfidence. Mind it, You have to earn every mark hard to remain a cut above the rest Indeed, in the past few years, equation of appearance in the civil service examination has been changed. Total count of student has gone high following few reasons that resulted in an atmosphere of cut-throat competition. Large count of students preparing for civil services, consider this examination as a ‘battle field’. Now even those aspirants struggling for survival in this ‘battle’ are ready to claim for their success. Such outcome is not because of their positivity, but they are very much convinced and satisfied by merely on their labour. Often students count their labour and strategies in terms of hours they spend on reading. But the big question – will it work? Do not count hours only, but examine your out-put. Try to build skillful strategies and interdisciplinary approach, which is the demand of new scheme of things in UPSC. Needless to describe the extent of general studies worth 1000 marks in main examination. It is something like swimming in the ocean. So, you must be very selective while preparing for civil services. Otherwise one can mess up with their attempt. Extensive study is essential. Reason behind this case is the vastness of the syllabus and changing configuration of questions. Year after year toughness of competition has been multiplying and so is the case with predictability of success. Despite the fact that the bar of difficulties is touching new high with all the passing years, number of students has gone high. To beat your nearest rival, you need a sound strategy. Nature of the examination Every year Union Public Service Commission conducts most prestigious examination of the country for the recruitment in various All India and Central services. This examination is conducted in three stages – objective preliminary examination, subjective main and final interview. In its latest avatar, General Studies plays most crucial role in all the stages. It counts for 1000 out of total 1750 marks in the main examination. Essay Paper is of 250 marks. If you are reasonably good in General Studies, it helps a lot even in the essay paper. Importance of General Studies When the contest has gone high, every single mark matters in this exam. If one can even score 45-50% in written examination, be confident to get a place in final selection. Most of the students are worried about General Studies, but at the same time they also give evidences of careless attitude by carrying loose mode of preparation. Aspirants generally go through N.C.E.R.T. books and some crash materials. N.C.E.R.T. books are certainly important, but only to begin with. You cannot depend solely on these books. You are required to concentrate on applied books and capable mentors. One can easily score 50%+ in the General Studies in the main examination, provided he or she is not following conventional way of preparation. Unfortunately, if you failed to score good in General Studies, optional alone cannot help you out, unlike the previous configuration. At the same time even one cannot afford to ignore optional either. It would be better to strike a balance between these two. Preliminary examination is little bit unpredictable. The aim of prelims is to test candidate’s range of information and aptitude. So you need to read extensively and practice more for the CSAT. Impact of revised syllabus In past two years significant changes have been made in General Studies as well as in optional subjects, first in the preliminary exam and later in main exam. General Study is likely to get more contemporary out line. In the revised syllabus various topics have been reshuffled between Papaer I, II and III. Paper IV – ethics, integrity and aptitude is altogether a new pitch to play with. You must keep in mind that this was not a routine change. Now questions will be of contemporary nature. You are required to share ample time with news paper and magazines. Undoubtedly, these modifications will provide opportunity to score high in the examination, provided you could understand the nature and purpose behind these changes. So, First things first, you have to create an approach to follow right through the exam, thereafter draw a strategy out of it and finally stick to it till the time you clear the final level. Although the best approach for you is the one which you have created for yourself because you are the one who know yourself the best, you are the one who know best as to what are your strengths and weaknesses, what is it that inspires you keeps your energy and confidence levels high and also what is it that makes you timid and withdrawn. What are your strong subjects and what areas you find tough or challenging? Share if you like!!!
Posted on: Sat, 01 Feb 2014 06:08:16 +0000
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