#For_34th_BCS_VIVA_CANDIDATES Dear 34th BCS Candidates, Congratulations on your success in the written exam. Here is my tips for your VIVA preparation. I wrote it couple of years ago but it is still relevant: #What_to_study_for_BCS_Viva_Exam: (While preparing for viva we spend much time on our appearance, confidence, speaking power etc which are very important factors. However, it is also equally important that you have a solid knowledge base to face the interviewers. In this article I have tried to give you an outline of what to study to build up such a knowledge base. No outline of such nature can be 100 percent perfect so please feel free to add anything that you think necessary) #Introduction: Ok folks, so you are here. You are the brave souls who have fought through one of the toughest battles of career and completed two-third of the journey. The very fact that you have the ability to come this far makes something very clear-You DESERVE to be a BCS cadre. However, since this is a competitive exam- you need to put icing on the cake and blast the viva board with your wonderful performance. Qualifying the preliminary and written exam of BCS is no joke, so I know you are ready to finish this race with 100 metre sprint like Usain Bolt. I know you have what it takes. So, let’s get started!! #Points_to_be_noted_first: 1. It is true that the major part of your exam is over. Out of 1100, you have completed 900 marks the moment you saw your registration number in the written result-sheet. Yes, it is time to be happy. Yet, it is time to be serious too. In the rat race of BCS difference of one mark can decide whether you will get the job or not-let alone 200 marks. So, wake up!! 2. The most common dilemma a BCS candidate faces about viva is- “There is no solid syllabus for viva, what the hell should I study?? What if I am in a tough viva board who will ask everything out of my knowledge??? My dear friends, the above-mentioned thing has happened before, and it will happen in your time too. There have been hundreds of incidents that the interviewer started asking questions out of blue moon and made the poor candidate totally dumbfounded. Now, DON’T YOU THINK THIS IS A GOOD REASON TO STUDY HARDER? If you prepare hard then this kind of situation might hurt you but still you will survive. There will be some easy questions even in the ugliest of boards. Your preparation will help you to answer those questions in a pressure-cooker situation. Instead of failing, you will get average marks. Who knows, combining with your written score, this “average” viva score can be enough to get your desired cadre!! #What_To_Study: The good news is, you do not need to study anything new for the viva.So far what you have studied for the preliminary and written exam should be more than 90 percent of your viva preparation. Remember, they are NOT trying to see how much you know-for that written exam is already there. They are going to see whether you have the good appearance suitable for a BCS cadre or not. All you need to do is to revise what you have studied and keep them in your working memory. Apart from what you have already studied, there will be some additional subjects too. I am coming to this later. Questions that you should practice right now: The following questions are the topics that are important for each and every viva board no matter what your cadre choice is. If you are in the beginning of your preparation, please do ensure that you have good answers for these questions (I have written in bracket in which points you need to specially emphasize) #Describe_yourself (How to start the description, what things to say, meaning of one’s name in English, famous personalities of the same name, what other questions might arise from the given answer, what unnecessary information one should avoid , what can be a standard answer pattern) #Why_do_you_want_to_join_civil_service? (How to avoid typical answer that might make the interviewer angry/bored, what other questions might arise from this question, what can be a perfect answer, how to make the answer sound strong and logical, what will be done if one does not get the cadre, what are the things that must be avoided while answering this question) #What_is_your_cadre_choice? (Why first choice is a particular cadre, what is the relationship between your chosen cadre and your academic discipline, why you didn’t choose another cadre, what will you do if you get your last choice, what is your alternative plan in case you fail the BCS, cadre related questions) #Tell_us_about_your_favorite_hobby. (What is your hobby, why do you like this particular hobby, hobby related questions) #Tell_us_about_your_family (What things can be said about one’s family, speech about mother, father and siblings separately, what things should be avoided, family related questions) #Tell_us_one_happy_incident, one embarrassing incident and one sad incident of your life. (What type of incidents can be said, how far one should describe the incident, what situations should be avoided, incident related questions) #Tell_us_something_about_your_favorite personality/movie/sports/book/best friend/university/teacher/season(How to choose among many, on what basis a personality/movie etc should be favorite, how to justify one’s choice about these things) #Describe your own district/village/the place you live in. (Description, important personalities from the area, role of the place in our liberation war, important institutions/rivers situated in that area , what development plans you have for your area, what are the problems of your area and how to solve them) #Suppose you are the chief of your cadre. What would you do with your position? (What will you do if you are the foreign secretary/Ambassador/IGP/Cabinet Secretary/Secretary/NBR member, how will you improve your department, what steps will you take to make your cadre more efficient) #How_to_answer_personal/tricky questions (PSC members often ask the candidates personal questions/questions that are politically motivated. Sometimes they ask unconventional questions only to test how the candidates react. Sometimes they even ask insulting questions. You must prepare yourself accordingly) #Question from your own discipline ( It is very common that the interviewer will ask about the subject you have studied in your bachelor degree. Especially if you are from general subjects like English, Economics, Political science, Physics etc then there is high chance that major part of your viva will be dealing questions from your academic background. Please have a solid preparation on the basic of your discipline. For example, a student of Economics is almost sure to face questions about stock market crash, globalization, definition of Economics etc . If you cannot answer the primary level questions from your own discipline, it will be very embarrassing ) #Liberation_war ( You must know the basic information about our glorious liberation war as a future BCS officer ) Current Ruling Party and its leaders ( I guess I do not have to make you understand how important this is for any BCS viva. Make no mistake and have a rock-solid preparation in these issues ) #Current Affairs (Important topics like International Organizations, treaties, important topics from the written syllabus for Bangladesh and international affairs. You can read daily newspapers , Economist website, BBC website for this and watch BBC,TV news etc) #Conclusion: What I have mentioned above is the basic for BCS viva preparation that is needed universally. Once you are equipped with these topics you should start fine-tuning yourself. Remember, as I said in the beginning, your appearance, politeness, confidence, speaking power, dress-up etc are also very important factors .If you know everything above but cannot produce them in from of the viva board-the result will be zero. However, I believe that a solid knowledge base will increase your confidence level and you will be able to prepare yourself as a complete package. Happy hunting, tigers!!!! Mashroof Hossain BCS (Police) 28th BCS & 29th BCS
Posted on: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 12:09:11 +0000