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1. Be very particular about the subject you choose for prelims, as you will be appearing for an objective type of paper. History, maths, geography may prove to be very scoring. Choose subjects which have availability of books, reading material and guidance. In recent years engineering subjects like civil and electrical can be chosen, giving BEs and IITians an edge (yes! even here they are giving the BAs and BScs a tough fight!) 

 

2. G.K. will definitely pay in your prelims. Reading newspapers, watching TV news and of course quiz shows like KBC is a must. 

 

3. If you have been lucky enough to reach the interview stage book knowledge may not be the only thing you need. Your mental alertness will count as they ask you questions like “How many steps did you walk up to reach here?” or “ What is the colour of the wall behind you ?” - So be prepared. 

 

4. Enhance your personality because it will definitely be one of the criteria for selection. For IPS physical wellbeing is of great importance, you should be medically fit. 

 

5. Improve your communication skills. IFS aspirants must be proficient in at least one foreign language. So go ahead, have your say in this political mess of our country and try to make it a better place. 

 

 

Five tips on how to study for tests so you can improve your performance on them:

 

1. Take frequent short breaks. 

 

It’s been shown that your memory will remember more at the beginning and at the end of your study sessions than it will in the middle of those sections. Therefore, it makes sense to keep your study periods to a short time frame, say 20-30 minutes at most, take a 5-minute break, then come back and study another 20-30 minutes. This way, your mind will be sharper and you’ll be more focused on what you’re studying. 

 

2. Space out your studying so that your long-term memory retains it. 

 

Another reason to not wait until the night before the exam to study is because the information will stay in your long-term memory. If you wait until the night before the exam, the information will only be in your short-term memory, where it is more likely to be forgotten. 

 

3. Don’t try to memorize everything; make sure you understand the material well.

 

Understanding the material is key to doing well on college exams because often these exams will ask you to demonstrate your understanding of that material by applying it to a situation. Your study material may have presented a sample case for you to help you prepare, but if you didn’t understand the process of how you came to the right answer, chances are, you won’t be able to demonstrate the ability to answer the question on the exam, which will likely lead you to doing poorly on the exam. 

 

4. Listen to relaxing music to ease the boredom of studying. 

 

Listening to relaxing music like classical or jazz can help to relieve some of the boredom of studying. Sitting for extended periods of time, even with short breaks, can cause the mind to dull a bit over time; playing relaxing music can help to revitalize yourself to refocus on the material and study it better. 

 

5. Don’t study later than the time you usually go to sleep. 

 

It is suggested that you don’t stay up past the time you usually go to sleep, as you may be tempted to fall asleep, being that your body is used to going to sleep at a certain time. That is why studying in the afternoon or early evening would be better. If you are a morning person, wake up at your usual time or even a bit earlier and study then, rather than staying up past your bedtime to study. 

 

This is another reason why you shouldn’t wait until the night before the exam to do all of your studying, as you will likely need a few hours to study in order to cover all the material if you haven’t been studying it throughout the course. 

 

 

With the number of vacancies dwindling each year and the competition getting tougher, with the number of aspirants increasing each year, one must consider all the pros and cons before jumping into the fray. One should preferably have an alternative job, which gives one the confidence and makes a wholehearted effort possible. 

 

 

The first and foremost thing to decide while aspiring for Civil Services is the judicious choice of subjects for the Preliminary and the Mains examinations. The selection of subjects should be done most carefully, if it goes wrong, everything will go wrong. 

 

Normally students have the advantage of selecting one of the optionals, which they are familiar with, or have at least studied till graduate level. If you are not comfortable with the subject, you should not select the subject as an optional. 

 

Example: One who studied Medicine in his/her graduation may have to refer many books for one topic. On such occasions it is better to take a subject of one's interest. 

 

The aspirants should opt for a subject of their interest - technical subjects like engineering, medicine, veterinary sciences. Students from science background may find it difficult to understanding economics and vice-versa. Agriculture or Veterinary Sciences will be opted by the students who have studied it at their college level. Hence, the competition is among the people who have opted for the same subject. One should top in his/her subject to succeed in the examination. 

 

One should analyse the syllabus of previous years and the question papers. The comfort levels with the subject opted for and the past trends should be analysed. While going through the questions of previous years, one can judge himself/herself about the knowledge base and comfort level with the subject. After a detailed analysis one should decide the subject for the first optional. One can get some feedback/advice from seniors and fellow students who are well versed in the subject. To avoid confusion at advanced stages of the examination, one should have some consultation with experienced/senior colleagues. They can guide you better than any coaching class. 

 

 

Preparation for General studies can be done hand in hand, along with the preparation for optional papers. Good mix of study hours for General Studies and the Optionals makes studies enjoyable and it becomes easy to sustain the momentum for longer hours, without boredom setting in and without losing interest and enthusiasm. The most important aspect for the preparation for GS (Prelims) is to identify the loopholes and plug them urgently. But remember one thing; never sacrifice the time of optional for General Studies. Because each question in optional carries 2.5 marks and in total it carries 300 marks. More importantly, input-output ratio in optional is much better than that in General Studies. 

 

Always go in for a planned and systematic study. Work out your own study schedules in a manner suited to your style and stick to it. 

 

One should read a leading daily regularly and also a magazine that will give an insight into the writing skills and observe how facts are presented clearly and succinctly. Also watch news & current affairs programmes on a good TV channel. The latest trend has been a shift towards the current issues; hence a thorough awareness of recent happenings is mandatory. In-depth knowledge of such events is most important, as the questions will test the knowledge of details of any given event/happening. 

 

First one should cover the entire syllabus and then one month preceding the Mains, practice with the help of question papers of previous years. Sometimes students may end up studying topics, which are connected to the syllabus, but are practically irrelevant from your preparation point of view. For this, one should always keep a copy of the syllabus handy and keep referring to it time and again to reassess the direction of the preparation. One should also keep question papers of the previous years. Compare them and see what types of questions are repeated every year. 

 

Try to attempt question papers of previous years and General studies papers. This will expose your weaknesses and give you an idea about the extent of your preparation, your knowledge base, your speed and accuracy. 

 

General preparation can be broadly classified as long-term or short-term depending on the available time for preparation. Preparation for Mains examination should begin soon after the Prelims are over, without waiting for the result, as it involves wastage of time. 

 

The generally accepted strategy for CSE is that one must have studied the entire syllabus for the Mains before the Prelims or at least before the result is out. After the Prelims results are announced, all three subjects - two optionals and General Studies should be divided equally in three quarters to revise the subjects. If the subject is not revised, it is as good as not read because preparation is a continuous process. One might have covered the syllabus long back, but memory detoriates with time 

 

One should read/study daily 10-12 hours per day. Some people say that used to read 18-20 hours. However, don't go by the claims of other persons who say that have studied for more than 18 hours a day. It is humanly impossible. Each person knows one's own capacity, so one should prepare the timetable accordingly and follow the same for the whole period of preparation. The execution of the timetable is of crucial importance. 

 

One should be dedicated and have faith in one's own capabilities and in the Almighty. Do not get depressed if you are unable to achieve the targets. Remember, it is your preparation; you are the one who will appear in the examination. You know yourself better than anyone else. Quality of hours put in is more important than quantity of hours. Your time and energies should be used in an efficient and effective manner. 

 

During the entire period of the examination, take a light diet. One should maintain good health during the preparation and also maintain a hobby, which relaxes you during your preparation. Take adequate amount of sleep, as both - body and mind require it. It is always better to study when the body and mind are fresh. This helps in easy grasping of things as well as in retaining them. 

 

To save time during revision, aspirants may mark/highlight important points during their first or second reading. The aim of the first reading is to reduce the study material to half by eliminating unnecessary points. The second reading is to make it more concise, so that you can revise the entire syllabus within two days before the examination. 

 

Information from any source of relevance to your goal should be welcomed, as long as it is from a standard source. Discuss with your friends, talk to them and listen to their views. This will expand your knowledge base and also expose you to different views. (But while discussing be careful and don't waste time on unnecessary details). You should have a guided discussion. It is important to peak at the time of the examination. So, channelise your preparations in such a manner that you don't burn yourself out before the examination commences. 

 

Those who still have two-three years of time left for becoming eligible to appear for Civil Services must begin the preparation for the examination in the right earnest - right now. 

Once you decide that you wish to be a civil servant, as your career has to follow certain steps to be abreast with the latest trends and be ready in the first attempt itself. 

 

 

If you decide to make civil services a career at college stage, try to follow these things: