The civil services personality test or the interview, serves as the final gateway for selection in the long-drawn three-stage examination process. The preparation for the personality test, particularly for the personal profile, however, remains perplexing to many — how much should I prepare? Can I be asked about my last job, where I only had a short stint of less than a year? Being an engineering graduate from IIT, will my switch to the generalist stream be perceived negatively, and so on .
These are some befuddling doubts which repeatedly nag aspirants. Here are some pointers which would be helpful in preparing for the personal profile and also in tackling some of the aforesaid unremitting and lurking fears. So, what does the ambit of personal profile entail? This includes the entire gamut of information which is furnished by the candidate in the detailed application form (DAF) submitted to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). This would range from one’s name and date of birth, the State of domicile, current job, educational profile, hobbies, interests and achievements, family background, and optional subject to the subjects of graduation.
The DAF is the only document about the candidate available to the board members. Understandably, it catches their attention and culminates in a reasonable number of questions. The queries from personal profile may initially be factual or ice-breaking type questions pertaining to hobbies and interest or even one’s name (particularly if it is uncommon). But later, questions to gauge critical thinking, analytical ability, views and opinion, and thoughts of the candidates are invariably asked.
The latter type of queries are often from the candidate’s job experience, challenges before the State of domicile, concurrent issues emanating/relating to one’s optional/graduation subject, reasons for switch from a technical/well-paying job, or even from hobbies, interests and achievements.
Past experience
Previous job experience (if any) is one of the most crucial areas of the personal profile and must be prepared well irrespective of one’s job tenure. If the association is greater than a year old, the expectations are more and mere superficial knowledge would not suffice. To begin with, understand the objectives and functions of the organisation, its structure and hierarchy, its strengths and weakness, challenges before it and how to surmount them. More specifically, one’s role, job content and its demand. The probability of questions from this area become higher if the organisation/its functioning has been in the news in the recent past.
Identify key issues relating to your job and read expert reports and articles on it. If possible, discuss the issues with domain experts. Where you have switched multiple jobs, try to prepare for all of them to the best of your ability. It is pertinent to realise that while the ambit of interview preparation is vast, the area of personal profile, and particularly, of the previous job experience is specific and defined. A well-prepared reply to a somewhat anticipated question, has the potential to change the course of the interview and possibly of one’s career and life.
The author is an IRS officer and author of ‘Civil Services Interview: How to Excel’, and other civil services examination preparation books.
This is the second of a five-part series on the civil services exam.
