Interview Guide

Interview for any job is meant to test the suitability of personality of an individual for that particular job. The interview is conducted by a set of experts from various fields with, more often than not, the presence of a psychologist.

The Personality Test (as it should aptly be called) the interview of civil services aspirants is meant to test the qualities of aspirants and their suitability as an administrator. Here, we must hasten to add that with maximum score of merely 275 for interview out of a total maximum of 2025 (including 1750 of the written exam held in Oct/Nov. every year), it may not make much difference to those who are expectng a very high score in the Written (and actually get it though the score of written examination is not known till the time final results are out). But, for those at the bottom of the merit list, the interview may improve their chances of success following certain guidelines.

Students of psychology will hand over a list of traits that comprise personality: memory, confidence, coherence, reasoning ability, truthfulness, honesty, integrity etc., etc., some of which may be debatable as personality traits.

But here, you must be able to make a distinction between personality and appearance. While the latter comprises your outer look, the former is your inner self. Better dressing, good looking, make up etc., may change your appearance but the change in personality, if deliberate, may take several months or years of rigorous exercise.

It is said that personality is revealed the moment one open’s one’s mouth. Therefore, Interview Board raises those issues on which you can speak enough for your personality to be revealed.

Basically, there are six broad areas from which questions can be framed by the interview board from the information they have with them.

1. Your Personal Biodata, including your name, your father’s name, your place of birth and the importance of these in terms of mythology (mostly the names in our country follow a certain definite pattern based on one’s belief system, some event or some celebrity). Say, if your name is Ashok Kumar and you hail from Delhi, they may ask you anything from Asoka the great to Ashok Kumar, the great hockey player of yesteryears to Ashok Kumar the matinee idol. About Delhi they may ask you about its history, its governance and the problem including haphazard growth, population, slums, pollution and deteriorating law and order situation.

2. Your Academic Background and your Optionals in Mains: Though you have already been tested for your knowledge of optionals in written exam., the applied aspects of your academic background as also of optionals do form the sound basis to test your memory and logic. Even if you opted for fresh optionals instead of your subjects during graduation/post-graduation, questions based on your academic background can be asked.

3. Your State of Domicile: One of the crucial areas in an interview, you are expected to have a thorough knowledge of economy polity and culture of your state.

Say, if you belong to Bihar, the set of questions may include :  Poverty of Bihar and the reasons for the same;  Regional disparities in economic development; Feudalism, casteism and intercaste conflicts; Various regions and diversity of culture Centre-State relations with particular reference to recent episodes (use of Art. 356, issue of withdrawal of governor etc);  Scams/corruption;Jharkhand/smaller states.

4. Your Hobby: Something you must have taken very lightly while filling the application form for Mains, the hobby may really prove to be a thorn in the neck. Say, many of you must have written ‘listen to music’ as your hobby.

This is a very vague statement unless you are interested in all kinds of music :

Indian and foreign;

Hindustani and Karnatik;

Folk, Light and Classical;

Vocal and Instrumental etc.

Many of you may be clever enough to fill the column more specifically, say listening to ghazals. But have you really done your homework?

Do you know what is ghazal and how is it different from Thumari, Tappa, Dadra, Khayal etc.?

Do you know about various ghazal singers of India and abroad?

Do you like a particular singer and why?

5. Your Job: It may apply to only those aspirants who have already been in the job. You must be prepared thoroughly about your job, its relevance to the organization, complete knowledge of your department, its relationship with other departments, the importance of your office at a national/international level in terms of its contribution socially/economically/politically/scientifically etc.

6. Current Affairs (National and International): Though there is no limit to the preparation of current affairs, you must be prepared about the issues concerning our country particularly those having a direct bearing on our country, particularly economic and political.

Candidates belonging to SCs, STs, OBCs may be specifically asked about problems being faced by their respective communities, constitutional safeguards for them, atrocities, deprivation etc;

Women candidates may be asked about women’s issues like a position of women and change therein, women reservation bill, atrocities on women etc.

Similarly, candidates with professional background may have to explain (to the Board) why they want to become a generalist (a civil servant) with their background as a specialist.

At formal occasions, the dress matters a lot. While facing the Interview, you must be dressed in formal clothing in sober colors. The dress should be comfortable to wear and should follow the demands of the season. There should be a pleasant, welcome smile on your face and confidence should ooze out of every inch of your body.

You must be prepared about all the facets mentioned above, more so about your State, Hobby, and Job if you have one. You can design questions on these issues yourself or with the help of your friends/seniors/teachers and prepare answers in a language you can easily express. A regular practice of these answers along with discussions with your friends should develop a lot of confidence in you. Always remember that subsequent questions in the interview flow from your answer, and therefore, don’t prepare any issue in a catchy manner.

Facing the interview board is an art. The time while you are waiting outside the Boardroom, for your turn, is the most crucial moment. Recall pleasant memories or do something to keep away the fear psychosis. Enter the Boardroom confidently and with the Chair. You may be asked to take a seat and the interview starts. The chairperson reads out your biodata and may appreciate some of the points therein. This he/she does deliberately to bring yourself to normal (or somewhat normal) and subsequently, may start a serious business.

The volume of your voice should neither be too loud, nor too feeble;

Speach should be coherent and confident;

Put your viewpoint boldly but respectfully;

Keep a watch on your body language; too much movement of your limbs reflects your nervousness; Don’t hesitate to look into the eyes of the expert(s) as and when required;

Don’t get entangled into an unnecessary debate to emphasize your viewpoint.; i.e. don’t try to interview the interviewer;

If you do not know something, don’t hesitate to admit it; don’t try to bluff the Board.

Your score in the interview does not depend on the number of questions asked and answered but how you answered, irrespective of the number of questions. Also, that time taken for the interview is no indicator of your performance (rather a complex personality may be revealed in more time while a transparent personality may be revealed easily).