Essentials for Civil Services Exam ?

Answer Writing

Presentation of Answers is one of the most important aspect of Mains or we can say it is the utmost important factor in realising your dream. Understanding of subject is one thing that cannot be undermined, But it is just the presentation of answers that matter in deciding your score. You cannot cultivate this skill overnight before mains. You need to start earlier. So lets discuss everything in detail here. Mains examination, which is a subjective examination, carries 1750 marks out of a total of 2025. Developing Answer Writing skill is an absolute necessity for cracking the Civil Services Examination. Besides adequate knowledge in General Studies, understanding the demand of question, better structuring of the content, excellent articulation and the presentation skills matter equally.

Few questions/doubts related to answer writing

• How to start answer writing?
• What is balance approach in answers?
• How can we score higher?
• What examiner is looking at in our answers?
• How to impress examiner even if you have moderate knowledge?
• When should we start answer writing?
• What is the time period required to get hold over it?
• What is ideal answer?
• Do we need to write ideal answer all the times to sail through?
• Do we need to follow word limit?
• Do we need strong command over English( Grammer or Vocabulary)?
• How is it different from answering our university papers?
   

Go through this article and you will get aswers to all your queries.

 

How Beginners Should Start

• As a beginner starting from point zero one can buy previous years question paper module and attempt some questions daily, moreover the questions from NCERT too will help.
• Start writing answers as and when you study, don’t wait for the whole or even sufficient amount of syllabus to be finished.
• Say you are studying polity and finished President, soon after, check previous years’ papers on this topic and try to answer as many as you wish, you could pick a single question that is the easiest for you and start answering on a piece of paper.You might not be able to answer questions that involve president and the prime minister as you wouldn’t have covered the latter yet. You can skip such questions for later.

 

Qualities Of Answer To Score High

 

1. Multifaceted answers are appreciated.
2. Short introduction and conclusion are required.
3. Reiteration of the similar thoughts is to be avioded.
4. Use as many concepts as possible especially for your optional papers.
5. Give as many examples as possible to support your view. Try to have a contemporary relevance to you answer.
6. Use simple English , Don't use jargons.
7. Dynamic and holistic perspective answers is required. As UPSC says “The candidates must give relevant, meaningful and succinct answers.
8. Write answers directly; do not beat around the bush. Some punctuation marks like this one (;) play a crucial role.

 

 

Balance Approach

 

• For a balanced answer that too within the specified word limit -you first need a reasonable level of knowledge base.
• First read and learn a topic. Attempt simple questions, Commit mistakes again and again while practising. Practice makes it perfect.
• When a Question is asked to present your views try to give a generalist’s view. Sometimes you need not to give your suggestion, but you are expected to present existing facts in the present context. For e.g. Instead of writing ‘I feel’,it is better to write ‘it is felt….’.
• If they are asking what innovation means, then a simple definition with one relevant example will be better rather than explaining it with lot of jargon/theory/models.
• Also while writing for a particular paper do not think that you can write points from that particular syllabus only. Take a holistic view, broaden your outlook, Use relevant concepts/knowledge from other subjects also.
• Communication skill, command over a language etc are known as SOFT Skills. A good vocabulary is needed to articulate your thought in a precise manner.

 

How it is different from College/University

 

Examiner intent

University is checking your knowledge about the subject. UPSC is looking for a leader in you. So its not just about knowledge but the perspective that matter.

Word Limit

In University theory papers word limit doesn't matter, But it matters in UPSC and it is expected from you that you would not cross that limit.

Quality Of Answer

In university paper, both matter but in CSE -quantity is fixed and quality only rules.

Dynamism

In university exams questions are quite repetitive but in CSE ,No one knows.

 

 

 

 

Tips And Tricks

Understand Question And Directive

Understand the directive asked, which will decide how your answer will look like.  Examples are justify, critically evaluate, discuss, comment, examine, analyse, etc. Each of them warrants a specific approach to answer writing in IAS mains exam.

Answers It completely

Use multidimensional approach to answer the questions. Use many perspectives and balance your answer. Most importantly, answer all the subparts.

keywords

Always use keywords to highlight important points and scoring points in your answers. Highlight these keywords to grap examiner's attention.

Substantiate your answers

Don’t forget to substantiate what you claim in your answers. This will give legitimacy to your answers, not to mention, make you look well-read to the examiner. In some questions, you will be asked to ‘substantiate’. In these cases, it is mandatory to give real-life examples to situations.

Presentation

Presentation is important since you are not typing the answers. It is important to make the answers neat and legible. Give headings and subheadings wherever necessary. Also, have tables and figures if it will augment the quality of your answers.

Practice

The last tip in improving your answer writing in IAS mains is daily practice. Practice makes perfect and this can be the key that will separate you from your rivals. You can enroll for the BYJU’S Mains Answer Writing Series that will help enhance your answer writing skills and also give you a good practice for the actual exam.

Enrich your answer
As the questions are quite analytical in nature, the answer should incorporate multi-dimensions. Placing different dimensions requires proper understanding of the question as well as good active reading skill through which a student may be able to jot down good points from the article, report and place that at Right time at Right place.

 

So, We should understand that CSE Mains requires timely effective actions directed toward our ideals and objective to crack the Mains exam. It’s a time taking initiative and challenges you to step out of your comfort zone to achieve big. All instruments that you will ever require to crack this exam can be found via introspection. Lastly stop worrying and start believing in your hard work and face the challenge of UPSC Mains with open arms.

Time Management

Time management is essential and one of the important tool in the Civil Services Examination.

In the first stage of examination that is called preliminaries, real-time testing is very important.

When it comes to Mains time management has become more important one has to solve the whole paper in merely three hours. Here aspirants should allocate the time as according to the requirement of the question paper. As the nature of Mains exam paper is that one need to stick to the word limits in all questions and here need proper time management, candidates should note that if too much time  spent on one particular question will surely means that one miss out on others questions. This examination process checks management skills of candidates.

Time management is important not just in writing the exam, but also while preparing for it. It is advisable to break up long study sessions into a few compact ones with more breaks to refresh oneself. For example, two four-hour sessions prove to be more beneficial than one long eight-hour stretch. Some students prefer to study in short bursts of two hours, with 15-minute breaks in between.

Here are some tips for time management

• Set practical, realistic target: Always set time bound targets that are achievable, for UPSC preparation,. If the target is not accomplished in the desired period then do not panic, just revise the schedule. Try to achieve the target and take a break and start with a new topic.

• Aviod exhaustive schedule: Ideally a good schedule comprises of sufficient amount of breaks too, and the right amount of study hours since overburdening yourself with too much of study will reduce the ability to understand the topic. Candidates should also include an hour to dedicate for personality development as UPSC exam tests the overall personality of the candidates.

• Assess yourself periodically: Time management for UPSC examination should also include self-evaluation to understand the learning you have achieved, by writing mock tests. If you are lacking in some concepts, revise again. All this process helps in better UPSC preparation.

• Aviod Distractions: Keep distractions like mobiles, phones, TV and social media at bay. When you have to ensure effective UPSC preparation, these distractions waste a lot of your time and then the real goal goes for a toss.

• Eat healthy and exercise and sleep well: UPSC preparation is not just about studying; it’s about management of time along with staying healthy ad focused. A fit body helps in studying better and retaining the knowledge well. So, eat timely and eat healthy and have adequate sleep. Take some time out for exercise and yoga which relieve the mental pressure and ensure successful UPSC preparation for you to reach your goal.

• Follow a regular routine and stick to your pre-scheduled plan.

• Always remember that your IAS preparation is aimed at becoming a topper and not just for qualifying the exam as it will get reflected in your IAS preparation, and naturally you will not be giving your best.

• Focus on your optimum time utilization, instead of consumption of the maximum time consumption.

The main thing is to manage time and focus on the time regime that you allocate for the preparation of the civil service exam. There could be many agonizing moments during the preparation but never compromise on your time schedule. The adage, fortunes favors the brave is best description who judiciously manage time for the preparation of the civil service exams.

Ultimately it is up to the individual to find his or her own unique time management strategy. It is also possible to use "free time" effectively. Thus, time spent commuting, or relaxing can also be used to refresh concepts or read different, if not completely unrelated, books. However, it is important to "switch-off" for at least some time in a day.

Stress Mangement

The Civil Services Examination is known to induce considerable stress on aspirants and this stress may even hamper their chances of getting through all the stages of the examination. The focus of this strategy is specifically on time and stress issues that come up during preparation.

Stress is not the same as ill-health, but has been related to such illnesses as; Cardiovascular disease, Immune system disease Asthma, Diabetes, Digestive disorders, Ulcers, Skin complaints - psoriasis, Headaches and migraines, Pre-menstrual syndrome Depression-

• Stress can lead to Distress.
• Therefore De-Stress yourself to relieve yourself from Stress.
• Become a master over your actions rather than a prisoner of your reactions

To manage stress and for a proper management of time, first we need to identify the various sources of stress and the various reasons for time mismanagement.

Sources of Stress

Main source of stress is in understanding the huge syllabus. Candidates are simply dubious whether or not they will be able to cover the entire syllabus within the available time. So starting the preparation becomes a hard task. That is why, lack of clarity regarding the syllabus, its open ended nature on some topics, are the primary sources of stress when preparing for the CSE. Candidates usually find it difficult to evaluate whether or not they are covering the important topics from the right sources. Hence to make choices with respect to reading materials is another source of stress. We have numerous sources like books, mazagines, coaching material and others for single topics.So what to prepare and from where is very important and source of stress.

Another most important issue is the long cycle of the examination and you need to follow this vicious cycle again if you fail in cut throat situation. It long drawn process and even if a candidate clears all the stages at one go, it takes close to a year for the process to complete. God forbid if one falters at any of the stages of the exam, one should utilize the time available for making the next attempt the best one. You have to take it positively and keep working on your preparation. For overcoming the pressures of competition you have to keep in mind that CSE is after all a competitive examination and as such competition is natural. It is not the competition that should matter but only the preparation that you do for it. So just focus on factors which are in your control.

Another side of coin:
Stress is not negative always, It can also have a positive effect and makes your more responsible gentleman like:

• enhances motivation and awareness,
• Helps to cope up with challenging situations.
• Stress helps us to survive when we confront threatening situations

Basically to overcome stress we have to change our attitude, by accepting our strenghts and weakness. And then understand the situation in complete manner. Don't compare yourself with any one in this world. If you do so, you are insulting yourself. Remember everyone is unique and each individual has its role in this worls. And we need to accept that role with courage and repsonsible manner rather than being fearful and dubious.

Some tips to de-stress yourself

• Remember its your decision.
• Say yourself i am the hero in my life
• This world, this society and your family needs you.
• Enjoy your food, cloths and your life events.
• When you are sad blame your stars, when you are happy thank your stars
• forgive and forget
• forget and forgive
• Laugh and smile makes you stonger internally.
• Plan your short term and long tern goals.
• if you can't fight, flight
• anger is one letter short of danger
• Love yourself

Strategies To Reduce Stress

Take control, Manage your time instead of letting it manage you. Use a to-do list, follow a written plan, set goals and follow through. Avoid procrastination (defer action): a major cause of stress. Make a realistic list of things you need to do each day. Do the most important things first. That way, even if you don't finish the list, you get the most important things done. Take a break: Sometimes it is better to get away from the situation for a short time. Take a brisk walk, focus on pleasant thoughts. Then, go back to the task feeling refreshed and ready to tackle whatever it is you have to do.

Join the crowd

Even though you may think you are the only person in the world who is experiencing stress, the fact is that everyone experiences it sometime. Talk to someone: Find someone you trust, discuss the problems and look for solutions Put it in perspective: Chances are, this is only one small part of the rest of your life

Visualize

Sit comfortably and think of a favorite place. Imagine yourself in a successful situation Breathe: Sit quietly, and breathe deeply and slowly. Continue for five or six breaths. It is calming and the extra dose of oxygen increases the brain's thinking ability. Lighten up: Take responsibility for your feelings. When you get angry, take a break and cool down before you act. Learn always to count from one to ten or more. Use it: A little stress is a good thing. Athletes use it to increase performance. If you are experiencing a small amount of anxiety, it can help to keep you active and alert. Use it to increase your performance.

Desired Life Style

During IAS Preparation, the life style of aspiring candidates matters a lot. From the initial stage of their preparation for IAS Exam, the IAS aspirants should focus on such activities which should not hamper his/her enthusiasm to become an IAS and help his/her entry in civil services. With ever increasing competition, cracking the IAS exam has become a mammoth task for aspirants.

One of the key reasons that make IAS exam so tough is apart from being a test of knowledge it is also a test of lifestyle, personality and character traits of the aspirant. While, knowledge can be accumulated from books and resources but lifestyle qualities like self-discipline, motivation, punctuality and others cannot. They are part of one’s lifestyle and is incubated over years. These make a vital different for candidates when it comes to the final selection. If you also want to stand apart from the crowd when it comes to IAS exam, here’s how your lifestyle can help you.

Must qualities for a candidate

• Honesty
• Inquisitiveness
• Grasping power
• Read Read Read
• Persistence
• Physical Health
• Dedication
• Self Belief

Required changes in aspirant life

Reading Enthusiasm

• UPSC syllabus has vast horizontal and vertical coverage. Anyhow you have to read a lot of stuff. So if you love what you do , is the only way to success.

Consistent in life

• Actually by following all these tips, aspirants will develop this quality by itself. There is no strict rule to be consistent. Type of consistencey, time table etc vary for individuals. so stick to your pattern rather than copying another ones.

Sleeping pattern

• You should rise early and sleep early to be healthy. You can revise things in morning after meditation or utilize this time for test or other prepa

Active Life

• You need to be energetic to get most of the day. This can be achieved by eating, excercising and sleeping on time.

Eat right

• Eat green vegetables, fruits and other things which provide required nutrients to you. So that you can be healhy body, without which you can't achieve your goal.

Exercise

• A healthy brain needs healthy body so excercise regularly.

Yoga And Spirituality

• This is also important to have concentration and strong from inside out.

Suggestions For IAS Exam

Toppers Suggestions to crack IAS Exam:

 

1.Hard work and Dedication

There is one commonality between all the IAS toppers irrespective of their educational back ground, family status, Age and category is Hard work and Dedication. Yes, IAS toppers has stated that we achieved success because of our hard work and dedication with the help and support from family, friends and their mentors who guided them. Tina Tabi 2015 IAS topper admitted that it is because of her hard work and dedication she was able to achieve All India Rank 1 in UPSC IAS exam.  

 

2. Understanding the syllabus

Aspirants preparing for IAS must have complete knowledge on UPSC prelims and Mains syllabus. Syllabus is very important in UPSC preparation it provides the proper direction and also intimate what to read and what not to read in the civil services exam. All toppers admitted that they followed syllabus of UPSC for preparing the exam.   

 

3. Proper Guidance and Support

In UPSC preparation aspirants need proper guidance and support to prepare their exam. Especially for IAS interview. IAS interview is the most crucial part in Civil Services exam and it is not a test of knowledge, rather it is a test of personality. Most of the toppers admitted that they took guidance from experts and mentors for interview preparation specially and few took complete guidance for IAS preparation.  

 

4. Mock Tests

Regular practice of question papers both previous years and Mock test question papers will provide aspirants to analyse their strength and weakness. All IAS toppers who qualified the UPSC exam have admitted that they followed some institutes or online portal test series programmes for their exam preparation. Mock test questions papers are important for both Prelims and Mains. In prelims it allows to student to rectify their mistakes and in mains it helps in improving their answer writing skills.   

 

5. Answer writing practice

UPSC Civil Services exam is all about writing good answers. There is no magic wand to change your answer writing style in overnight. As Haritha V. Kumar says, Success is not the product of an overnight effort . Further she says in order to write good quality answers in Mains exam one has to do lot of writing practice before appearing the exam. She admitted that she was not able to crack his earlier attempts, though she had knowledge, hard work and knew answer to questions  

 

6. Self-Notes

It is better to make own notes than referring other materials. The classic example for efficient note making is done by IAS topper Nitin Singhania. He prepared his own notes for all subjects and in that he prepared a detailed note on Art and culture, which is now being referred by all IAS aspirants. In fact, it has become a primary source for Art and culture subject.   

 

7. Newspaper Reading

Newspaper reading is a must says 2015 IAS topper Tina Dabi. In UPSC exams Hindu newspaper reading is must without which one cannot have good knowledge on current issues. UPSC gives more importance to the Current issues be it prelim, mains or interview. All toppers have admitted that they followed national news-daily regularly for news update. Most of the toppers followed either Hindu or Indian Express. Most preferred one was Hindu.  

 

8. Relied on authentic resources

UPSC toppers has stated that they referred standard text books and magazines for Civil Services Examination. As this exam is conducted by UPSC, it relies more on government sources like Pib website, Yojana Magazine, AIR News analysis and Publication Division Books. As Gaurav Aggarwal mentioned in preparation book list, he stated that he referred authentic government resources like ARC reoport, Planning commission Document, Economic Survey and annual reports of various ministries.   

 

9. Regular Revision

Revision is very important in IAS exam preparation. Without proper revision one cannot succeed in competitive exams. 2015 IAS topper Chadra Mohan Garg also admitted that he was able to crack this elite IAS exam because of proper revision. He advises fellow aspirants to revise thrice before the prelims exam. And in the mains exam candidates need to revise optional subject after prelims and there should be only value addition to the already prepared topics.  

 

10. Time Management

To be successful one should know how to utilise the time properly. (Remember: It is the same 24 hours for the topper and you.) What matters the most is how effectively you use your study is important in IAS preparation. Haritha V Kumar of 2012 IAS toppers states that, instead of studying for a certain number of hours, divide the syllabus into parts and decide how much you would cover each day. One day your name and strategy will also appear in various news articles and blogs.

 

Work hard to achieve your goal.