Dear friends, hope you are getting ready seriously for the Civil Services Main Examination 2012. I would like to share a few tips with you which may help in fine tuning your efforts. These preparation tips are for the common papers – General Studies and Essay. As you would know, the General Studies Papers I & II are scheduled to be held on 5th October 2012 and the Essay paper on 7th October 2012.

These two papers are turning to be game changers for cracking the civil services main exam. A comfortable attempt at these will make ensure you an entry into the services. The papers are set in such a way by the UPSC that there are always elements of surprise. Hence getting a decent score in these is not that easy. But there are some techniques which can help you to counter these surprises. These may appear to be elementary to an outsider but can work wonders for a serious aspirant. These are discussed in two parts below:

During the preparation:

1. Now that there are only few days left, one should not attempt to cover so many areas. Be selective. There may be many books and magazines before you. Realise the truth that you cannot go through all these. Do not get confused by the flood of materials. Go through your own notes and identified topics meant for revision.

2.Light discussion with friends will help a lot in keeping you cool. You need not discuss serious topics at this stage. The short ones, like personalities, science and technology bits and the latest from the newspapers can be discussed. It will act as a relaxation exercise too.

3. General studies paper requires practice in instant framing of answers. So, whatever topics of relevance you come across, frame the possible questions and think of the precise points for answering. This followed by writing model tests will give you the courage to face any difficult paper confidently.

4. Very high priority should be given to reading a standard newspaper. The trend now a day is that questions from most of the segments are related to current news and debates. Only some portions like Modern India and part of Polity and Geography find questions from text books. It is seen that almost 440 out of 600 marks of GS get coverage from news papers. National and international affairs, Science and technology and personalities are the areas you get immensely benefited from newspaper reading. The analysis of various issues appearing in news papers give you clarity apart from giving information on genesis and background of issues. It helps you a lot in Essay as also in various optional papers like Public Administration, Sociology, Geography etc. So, do not compromise on news paper reading even on the examination day.

5. All of you study a lot, from institutes, books, guides and on your own. Then what makes the difference in the examination? Precise & effective writing and the ability to stay cool amidst pressure of time. Here comes the importance of writing practice. Whoever practices writing mock/ model tests in the examination mode stands a chance to excel.. You better realize this fact and attempt some papers now. It will double your confidence. When you practice, write on A4 size plain sheets with margins on four sides, just like in the UPSC answer paper. (roughly you can make margins of 2.2 cm on top, 2.6 cm on bottom and 3.9cm each on both left and right sides )

6. Statistical analysis should not be neglected. 30-35 marks from this can be decisive. Practice alone can get you these crucial marks, though not full. You can leave the tough and time consuming ones in the interest of other scoring areas.

7. Another important point to be highlighted is about proper rest and relaxation during preparation. Take care to sleep properly. Do not worry about the portions yet to be covered, about what others prepare and about the books and periodicals yet to be seen. Ultimately your balanced answers on so many general topics will decide your score. That requires more of a relaxed mind than a burdened one. consider in yourself and firmly accept that whatever you have prepared so far will help. Don’t burden your mind with serious reading especially on the day before the examination. Relax a lot, watch TV and sleep well the night before. There are people who sacrifice sleep on this day too to find themselves sleeping in the examination hall and ruining their chance !

During the Civil Services Main examination:

Whatever be your preparation, delivery of the answers counts finally. There are so many things to be taken care of in this pursuit:

1. After receiving your question paper, carefully read the instructions before answering. This should not be taken casually.

2. Read the question carefully, understand the exact meaning of the question through word by word analysis. This will help to improve the quality and precision of your answer. Carefully see the options and select the familiar ones for answering.

2. Identifying the tag of the question like ‘Comment’, ‘Discuss’, ‘Elucidate’, ‘Critically analyse’ etc will help in proper articulation of the answer.

3. Write only the relevant points within word limits. The estimate of the words will automatically come because you would have practised it earlier.

4. For 20 / 50 words, you need not put any introduction or flowery language. Directly give the precise information/facts. Even telegraphic language would suffice for a 2 marker answer.

5. Try not to leave any 20 words/50 words question at all because we get almost full marks for a relevant answer here.

5. The biggest challenge in GS (General Studies) Paper II is time. Almost 3000 words and statistics is the scope of this paper. So, you have to be faster in understanding, selection of the questions, framing of answers and putting these on paper. A cool mind is the biggest asset you can have here. Your practice before the examination helps to achieve this. So, you have nothing to worry.

6. While writing the essay, you do not have pressure of time. Of the three hours, think coolly for one hour, frame the essay with all possible dimensions after analysis and write down the flow. This planning part as a rough work at the end of the paper(which will be scored off) will put you in comfort. You can even write an introduction and perfect it before starting the real one. Then you write for two hours, with a cool mind full of the flowing ideas, logically to a positive conclusion. You need not fill up as many pages as possible. An essay of 1500-2000 words will be sweet and enthralling. And you can top up your efforts by giving a thoughtful heading for your essay.

7. Take utmost care while writing your essay. It may be decisive. The extra marks you get here may compensate your deficiencies in other papers. A score of 120 plus shall be your target. Use simple English without mistakes. Your piece of work shall be creative and pleasant.

So, friends, be confident. If you are able to complete the GS papers with reasonable answers and write a cogent essay , you will be the winner. Let’s get ready for that!

Sample Papers:

Try the model papers given here on GS I, GS II and Essay. There are two papers on each. Practise at least one in simulated atmosphere. Try to find out and frame answers for all the questions appearing in these papers as these are expected for the real examination. You can download 3 of the mock tests from here. Click here to access the remaining mock tests.

Author: Mr. P.Gopakumar, IRS
 

Mr.P. Gopakumar is Assistant Commissioner (Service Tax), Bangalore. Apart from this he is also Chief Advisor, Kerala Samajam IAS Academy, Bangalore.

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