Success Mantra For Doing Well In An Civil Services Exam

Every year, Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts examinations for recruiting candidates for All India services (like IAS, IFS, IPS) and Group A and Group B posts. IAS also was known as Indian Administrative Service is the most sought-after post in India with people from all sections of society and from all fields whether engineering, doctor or normal graduate strive towards cracking the UPSC Civil services exam and getting into Indian Administrative Service.

An IAS officer starts his/her career as a Sub Divisional Officer and then gradually moves up the ladder and showcases his/her administrative abilities by holding key positions both in States as well as Central Government. Due to the paucity of seats and popularity of UPSC exams, UPSC Civil Service exam is considered one of the toughest examination in India. To become an IAS officer, one not only needs to be academically sound but must have traits like determination, grit, patience and mental strength. Here are some tips for cracking the IAS exams:

Civil Services Preparation for Preliminary Examination
Go through the syllabus thoroughly
The scope of the syllabus for UPSC is huge. Unless one goes through the syllabus twice or thrice it’s almost next to impossible to gauge the depth of the syllabus. One thing you need to understand is that whatever you study it will never be enough. So going through the syllabus will help you to understand exactly what they want from you.

Read the NCERT books
NCERT books are one of the primary and best source of information for civil service preliminary examination. You must read each and every NCERT book from class 8 to class 12 thoroughly. If you do not have much time in hand, then it’s better to at least buy some book which has the compilation of all NCERT notes.

Make the habit of reading newspapers religiously
Reading newspapers like The Hindu or The Indian Express is a must to get a grip on all the current news of national as well as international importance.

Do not ignore the CSAT paper
The main part of UPSC Preparation is CSAT. Though the CSAT paper is qualifying by nature with only 33% marks required, it has been observed that many get good marks in paper 1 but fail to qualify for Mains due to low marks in CSAT paper. Going through the concepts and previous years papers are enough for securing the qualifying marks.

Make easy to refer notes
Making notes should not be a compulsion. You should make notes only if you read those again in future. You must make notes in such a way such that the notes become an easy-to-refer source of information.

Solve previous years question papers
Solving previous years’ questions not only helps you in getting accustomed to the format of the UPSC Civil Service examinations but also enhances your speed and accuracy. By solving previous years’ question papers, you will understand which are the core areas of the syllabus and where do you stand in your preparation. You can also attend Civil Services Coaching center for this, they also help you in it.

Civil Service Main Examination
Don’t read too many books
Besides the NCERT books, here are some of the must-read books:
History
Modern History: Bipin Chandra, and Spectrum book.
World History: Norman Lowe book
Culture
Nitin Singhania Note Book
Polity
Indian Constitution by Laxmikanth
Geography
Geography of India by Majid Hussain
Certificate Physical and Human Geography by Goh Cheng Leong
Economy
Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh
Environment
Shankar IAS environment book
Must take help of internet and other sources like magazines and journals
In today’s age of the internet, it will be foolish to not utilize the internet. Mrunal Videos for culture, economics, and Geography are very good. For current affairs, Insight on India and GK Today is a good source of information. You must also do a selective reading of Economic survey and Yojana every month.

Mock tests are very important
Writing mock tests is a perfect way to assess your strengths and weaknesses and also get habituated with writing long precise answers in a short period of time. Enrolling in any good test series program whether online or offline has become necessary in recent years primarily to get used to the basic trends in the question patterns.

Try to practice writing answers to daily exam related questions
If you want to crack the Civil Services Main examination then you need to have an in-depth knowledge of all the topics which are asked. Supporting answers with diagrams, pie charts or tables can fetch you good marks. Also, it’s important to support your opinion on relevant points. Many IAS Coaching in Chandigarh helps students to clear their basics in these subjects. So you can consider it if need any help in it.

Revise and re-revise the topics
To cover the vast syllabus of the Civil Service Examinations, you do not need to read 20-30 books. Just revising the 10-12 books again and again and going through the notes made by you while reading newspapers is enough to get a good grip on all the topics.

Try to link the static part of the syllabus with current affairs
In recent years it has been observed that questions have come from static parts like History, Geography, Polity and Economy and they have asked its relevance with some current news. So to fetch better marks one needs to able to connect the static part with the everyday news.
Have a positive outlook and stay calm and patient

Civil Services Preparation takes years and years of hard work. So it’s important to take care of your health and stay positive. You must not scrap ties with your friends and close ones for the sake of this examination. Being calm and composed will help you to enjoy the process of preparing for this epic examination.

Being an IAS officer is not just a job but a responsibility towards the betterment of the people and society at large. To join the noble profession, one needs to have a helpful, caring and open mindset. You must always remember UPSC exam is not a 100m race, so try to be Mo Farah instead of Usain Bolt.

Should you be looking for Best IAS Coaching Institutes, click on the link below as per your city

IAS Coaching in Chandigarh, IAS Coaching in Delhi, IAS Coaching in Jaipur