Success at Civil Services Interview - Meeting people is helpful
Success at Civil Services Interview – How can meeting people help?
Candidates who have been successful at Civil Services Interview have more than often mentioned that there have been people behind their preparations. Meeting people can help to the greatest extent in preparations for the personality test provided that you know what kind of people you should be meeting. It is better to be preparing along than taking guidance from the wrong people. Make sure you are not misled by myths and assumptions. I would recommend that you take help from the following type of people:
Candidates who have cleared the test previous year
Meet candidates who have been successful at the civil services interview of the previous year or a year or two before. Their experiences are fresh and they can recount it for you along with helpful advices and guidelines to be followed. Make list of your doubts and clear it before them to make the best use of time you get with them. You can know from them the difficulties that they faced and how possibly could you avoid them. Ask them to share their own tips of preparations and how they went along doing things that need to be done before facing the interview board. You can make a note of the questions asked to them related to state of domicile, family background, hobbies, etc. If they belong to the same state as you, there are good chances that you will benefit from their experiences.
Professors and teachers of your chosen subjects
The subjects that you mentioned in the examination form need to be prepared for the interview. Doing all the studying might not be easier and there will always be too much to cover and too less time for the same. Teachers and lecturers of the same fields are people who have sound knowledge of these areas and they are also aware of the current changes that might have been introduced to the subject or the recent news related to the field. Nobody can help you prepare better for the subjects that the teachers of the discipline. Meet teachers and lecturers of the subjects that you had opted during graduation or subjects that have been a part of your hobby like reading fictions or classics – meeting a good language and literature teacher can be bliss for you.
Experts in fields of your interest
If you happen to have experts in your acquaintance, it can help a great deal during your preparations. The fields that have a place in your examination form needs a certain amount of effort dedicated to each of them. You might want to meet a musician, a sports person, an author, a painter, etc. Meeting experts of the areas could provide you imminent understanding of their field and what it takes to be into that field. You can ask them about the recent developments in their fields since experts are most likely to know the current happenings of their fields. Not everyone might have an acquaintance with an expert but if you do have or could arrange to meet one, do not miss the opportunity
Civil Service Officer
While arranging a meet with an IAS or IFS officer might be easy or within reach most of time, you can always try and see if you could get to meet some of them. They might not be able to recall their own experiences but they can help you a great deal in knowing what the interview board is looking for in the candidates. You can ask them for guidance regarding the traits of personality that is essential for being a civil servant. You can ask them the reason why they chose the particular field. Also discuss with them about your profile data like state of domicile, preference of service, current job, etc. If you do get to meet a bureaucrat, it is advisable that you note down the questions that you want to ask them instead of missing them and regretting later. Meeting them is going to boost your confidence level and this is really fruitful.
Friends and family
Nobody knows you better than your family and your friends. While you might be all too busy for the preparations, sparing a couple of hours for family time and with friends has their own advantages. These are essentially the people that can tell you about your flaws and weaknesses and you do not have to be hesitant or feel offended with them. They also help you get rid of communication or pronunciation error and improve your body language. They can also be of great help for group discussions on current affairs. The best help they can give you is a boost of moral support and instilling of confidence. Could you ask for more?
