First day, first show

My friend Sadayappan (BITS-Pilani, Dual degree - Chemistry/CompSci Engg) had his interview today. This was his first mains, second attempt. He had worked with an IT firm for some time before taking the exams. This is what happened inside Mr.E.Balaguruswamy's chamber today for about 40 mins, in Sadayappan's own words.

"Chairperson:
Did you have anything outside? How was the tea?
Tell me about your district (for 1 min).
You should have got a good placement in campus? Then why did you leave the job?
What is dual degree?
Which is the by-product? Chemistry or computer science?
What are your hobbies?

1st member:
Tell me about food adulteration. How it can be controlled?
How did coco cola give different test results in the span of one week?
What are the methods done in for testing these kind of beverages?
How would you stop food adulteration as a bureaucrat?
Tell me some of the problems caused by computers.
What is impression finding? How well it is developed in India?

2nd member:
What is governance? (I had already mentioned about 'governance' in one of my earlier answers)
What is good governance?
'The government which governs the least is the best government'. Comment.
What is literacy rate in your State?
How often it is calculated?
Do you find any pattern of literacy in your district?
What is the burning issue 'today' ? (inflation)
What is the government doing today to tackle this issue ? (cabinet committee)
Tell me where who have come close to the government.
Do you know that your financial benefits (w.r.t fifth pay commission not sixth) will be less here when compared to software job?

3rd member:
Tell me about Tanjore painting.
What was the issue of badminton and bird flu?
Which badminton event was stopped because of that?
What is your opinion about the coming up of malls?
Explain character, integrity and honesty.

4th member:
How is chemistry going to help computers?
Tell me about C 60 and its applications.
How computer is going to help chemistry?
If you become collector in your district which issue you would address which today's collector is not able to solve?
How will you tackle political pressures?
Will you resign your job when you are harassed and will you go back to software sector?

Chairperson:
What Sadayappan is the interview over?
Do you have anything to ask us?
Be frank..Do you think we five (referring to the interview board) can solve any burning issues?

..thats how it ended.
Many technical questions I flunked. Overall it was cordial. The board helped me to keep myself cool."

For more details sadayappan@gmail.com

SadaiIntvw © pp2008

The D-day CSE Interviews - concluding Part

The CSE Personality Tests start tomorrow. At this point of time there is not much to add but just that - Be yourself. Do not lose your cool.

Have in mind that you are already in the top one per cent and its just the finishing touch that is happening today.

Just be natural. All the best!

The high decibel days CSE Interviews – Part II

The results are out, and as usual there are many shocks that make us believe that the theme of UPSC happens to be “uncertainty”. Here I just have one thing for those deserving candidates who have failed to make it – something much bigger is waiting for you. Just take time out, and get ready for the next onslaught at the exams. Success is just a matter of time.

Here we will see what is to be done during the high decibel days – from the time of the mains results to the day before interview. To save my time as well make it more readable for you this is given in a kind of FAQs format.

Should I join coaching?
Yes and no. Yes – if you are looking forward to taking some mock sessions. No – if you are going to solely rely on the coaching to understand what is happening around you. Though the rapid current affairs classes are useful in making you aware of where to focus and where not to, they are not useful in terms of the depth of coverage. In fact it is not possible for the institutes to do that within the short time frame. The coaching classes are done under the presumption that you have done your groundwork well. Also try avoiding religion/caste-based coaching institutes.

“I do not feel confident, I’m overloaded with facts”
Unless one utters these statements, one is not going in the right track! Given the nature of the interview it is very normal to feel pressurised, insecure etc. Take it in the right spirit; the following steps might help boost your esteem levels.

• Be thorough with your mains form
• Be systematic in acquiring and absorbing information
• Take time out, think about key issues like – women empowerment, terrorism, corruption, democracy etc. (this would help in handling the third category of questions confidently)
• Maintain a positive outlook
• Visualise/Mentally create the interview environment while practising answers for the expected questions like Tell me about yourself, why civil services after BE-MBA? etc
• Give quality mock interviews
• Just have in mind that this is not a knowledge test

About mock interviews?
Never be afraid to appear in mock interviews. In fact mock sesions form the backbone of the preparation. One should definitely give 4-5 mock interviews. Do a benchmark mock interview in the next 3-4 days. Take another 2-3 mocks in the last week of March, depending on your interview date. And the final mock about 2 days before the actual D-day. Take the help of quality coaching institutes, seniors, and those who have appeared in the interview earlier.
Ensure that your first and the last mocks are with top quality people. A bad feedback can spoil your career! Take the last mock in your formal/interview attire – especially if you are not used to wearing tie, blazer etc – for men, and sarees – for women. (Am making it so explicit just to avoid some ridiculous comments from CosmicNoises)

How to improve communication skills?
This is something that is totally under our control, as we often see people from villages around towns like Tirunelveli start speaking US English within a few weeks of joining a call centre. If they can, why not you? The next two weeks are enough to significantly improve one’s oral communication skills / spoken English. Also, just remember that the interview is being conducted to recruit civil servants not news readers or receptionists – you need not have any hi-fi accent; just clear, confident, communication is expected.

• Read aloud for about 20 minutes daily. This can be a news item or the editorial. If possible record it once and hear it. This will come a long way in helping you.
• Speak slowly, do not rush while speaking.
• Rehearse/Visualise/Voice out. Especially answers for the expected questions like How will your hobby, watching films, be useful to you as a Police officer?, Why should you be made an IFS officer? etc.

During the interview -
DOs:
• Smile. Be pleasant
• Maintain a confident posture
• Listen the question carefully
• Take 2-3 seconds before you start answering. In fact, even for the questions like What is your name? take some time to answer
• Be flexible. If you really see a point in what someone else is saying, accept it
• Maintain eye contact with all the members from time to time
• Feel free to say "sorry I don't know", when you actualy don't know something

DON'Ts:
• Enter the room without the Board’s permission
• Take your seat without being offered
• Place your hands on the desk
• Speak fast
• Have a casual attitude. Don’t utter words like – ya / ok / cool etc
• Make bold body gestures
• Guess answers without the Board’s permission
• Argue with the Board. If you have to disagree with someone, do it politely
• Compromise on values

Just remember these points over the next two weeks, use in your mock sessions and by the time of your interview, these will be a part of your habit. Else one is likely to flounder under pressure on the D-day.

Keep head cool! Good luck!

Before the results are out...CSE Interviews – Part I

After silencing his critics with his bat in the final matches of the recent one-day series in Australia, Tendulkar had the following to say on his hectic season, “….These are the demands cricketers have to prepare for. Its tough when one plays a day/night match, gets back to the room, packs the bags and takes the morning flight, settles down again and be mentally prepared for the next match”. You have toiled your way through the tricky prelims and gruelling mains spanning over a year or many – Congrats! But the war is far from being over. Just get your body and mind ready for the last lap of the CSE. This is the shortest, yet the most crucial lap. Shortest, because in a matter of another 60 days one gets to know what had happened over the last many months of preparation. Most crucial, because there is a huge chunk of marks waiting to be scored. It might be needless at this point to remind that every single mark matters.

In this Part we would see what one needs to do / have done even before the mains results are out. The next Part would cover the high intensity period – from the time of the mains results to the Interview day. Part III would speak about things to be done on the D-day.

Firstly get the purpose of the interview very clearly. (By the way it is officially called the Personality Test) These are some of the pointers taken from the UPSC site about the interview “….natural, directed and purposive conversation”, “…to reveal the mental qualities”. This means that it is not going to be merely a question-answer type interview or something like the viva voce one gives in college. Interview is not a test of one’s knowledge – that has been tested thoroughly over the year – it is a test of one’s personality and suitability for the career.

Questions like What are your views on the Rs.60,000 crore farm loan waiver?, What do you think is the lasting solution to the Tibet problem?, Tell us something about the recent developments in genetics etc are not intended to check whether one is a walking wikipedia or not. They are intended to unfold one’s personality whether one is –
• having the capacity to provide social leadership
• showing interest in the world affairs across a variety of areas
• open to learning new things
• honest and value-bound
• able to make logical explanations/judgements
• able to communicate confidently

(Don’t waste your time wondering whether all the civil servants who have scored well in the interview possess these qualities or not. Though it is quite an interesting time-pass it erodes your belief in the system. And that’s not the best thing to do now)

Having got the purpose of the interview, it time to move on to the actual preparation stage. We can broadly classify the interview questions like this:
• Mains form
• National/World events
• Situational/Personal

Your Mains form is the primary tool of the panel to unfold your personality. Handle it well and more than half the battle is won. The most important thing is to be thorough with every single item in the Mains application form. Thorough means knowing at least two levels in that area. Every single item means, well, every single item. For example, if you have filled the mail address as abc@gmail.com, Expect questions like Why did you choose your mail address with google?, Do you think google earth is a threat to our security?, What are your views on MS-Yahoo takeover battles?. I hope “Thorough” and “Every single item” are clear now.

In your register allot a page for every item in your Mains form; brainstorm and jot down the most relevant questions under the item. At this stage your aim is not to look up for answers but just to think of possible questions. You may team up with 2-3 others to generate such questions. For broad areas like home state and district you classify the questions under categories like Historical/ Geographical/ Political/ Economic/ Social. This structured approach will help you in generating varied questions as well managing information.

Start looking for the answers from reliable sources like Government documents, authentic websites, college brochures etc. If possible just write down some pointers near the questions or just give reference to the answer source. Keep the sources ready in the form of printouts/paper clippings/softcopy etc. Be systematic; else be ready for nightmares towards the fag end when one finds it almost impossible to manage information. Prepare on your academic areas as well optional papers on similar lines. Get the basics right.

Once you are ready with your Mains form its time to move towards the second category – national/world happenings including science and technology, art, sports etc. Identifying the key areas for this section is also quite easy. For example – China Olympics/ Sub prime crisis/ Chandraayan/ Coral reefs/ Rural developmenmt/ Hybrid cars/ Judicial activism/ Kosovo/ AIDS/ Pakistan politics etc need to be prepared well. Sit as a group and generate such topics under some broad headings. Develop questions under each topic and be strong with the basics. Here again rely on authentic sources for information.

Don’t you think you are wasting your MBBS degree by opting for civil service?, As the PM's Special Economic Adviser what would be your take on balancing growth-inflation?, Whom would you prefer – an honest but inefficient officer or a corrupt but smart officer?, Why do you prefer IAS, is it because of the power and dowry it fetches you?, As a DM what would be your immediate and long term steps to curb naxalism in your district? Such questions fall under the third category. Generate many such questions, sitting with your group of friends. The answers do not need any help from external sources like the net, all answers are inside you. Probably you may speak with some seniors to get the process going. Just take time out, spend hours on such questions and develop a very clear thought process on issues like integrity/career preference etc. Unless one is ultra confident on such issues, it will not be very difficult for the panel to spot your weakness. Be careful!

While the third category can be prepared in the days after the results, the first two areas need more time and form the foundation. So get going….!

There is an interesting, very useful book “Interviews Redefined” by Sh.M.K.S.Sundaram. This book is a compilation of interviews of many civil servants. It can give you a very clear perspective about the nature of questions to be expected and more. My interview preparation started with this book; though I do not claim to have made some exceptional marks am kind of happy with my 195. Also go through "India after Indepedence" by Bipin Chandra, and "Development and Participation" by Amartya Sen/Jean Dreze. Need not memorise these books, but be selective and get your fundamentals clear.You may also check out Guhan, Anurag, Vivek.

On Certainty

Uncertainty is something that makes most of us uncomfortable. Be it a train delay without any prior announcement or the exam results that takes us by surprise or presidential polls or the time someone takes before accepting the red rose you offer – we are not comfortable anywhere. The common theme here seems to be “control”, or “ensuring certainty”. So we have a battery of tools to make life more certain – beginning from simple checklists to six sigma techniques, from a price list in a mandi to high-end gadgets that guide nuclear missiles, from horoscopes to mega investments in branding. Life is full of practices that are aimed at reducing uncertainties. We want our environment to obey our orders, or at least intimate us in advance whether we will be in control or not.
So far it is fine, but we also derive significant sadistic pleasure when we see people who are surrounded by uncertainties. That explains why cricket is a very popular game. The game is built of uncertainties (glorious?) of different varieties – batting, bowling, fielding, running between the wickets and these days even sledging and umpiring uncertainties. Did the spinner abuse the opponent’s forefathers or not? Such news makes it to the headlines. This liberal mixture of uncertainties makes it an enjoyable game. Player’s uncertainty; viewer’s pleasure. The IPL auctions also prove an interesting point – it is an extremely well-paying job to handle uncertainties. The profits an entrepreneur reaps is also exactly for the same – the reward for the risk she takes, the uncertainty she handles. The same case with cinemas or a story – the more thrilling (uncertain) it is, the more complex the story gets, happier the audience become. That explains why the so called art films or documentaries generally don’t do well, while masala movie makers have a bull run. Masala, by definition means a mix of varied flavours. It keeps one guessing – there’s a song now, humour there, anger here, some romance sprinkled, sentiments and stunts strewn. The finer the uncertainties are blend, more the producer earns. Here again we can not take extreme uncertainties - we always want the hero to win in the end!
So why is it we love uncertainty in others lives and not in our own? Is it because we want to be the most dominant one? There are many millions who are not sure about their next meal or whether they will live to see the sun tomorrow. Here certainty has to do something with the very basic question of survival. The gene inside them wants to live and replicate, drives them to ensure food, water and family. Or even here is it the question of who is dominant – who can find food, water and the best partner against all odds? Does everything in life boil down to what the genius said some 150 years back?