UPSC 2024 Interview preparation tips. See and score better in IAS interview

UPSC interviews were started on January 2, 2024. The Commission pre-poned the IAS interviews by around 25 days. This year, the candidates had little time to prepare for the interview stage as the IAS main result was published on December 8, 2023. The Commission released the interview schedule for the first phase on December 19, 2023. The Commission will release the interview schedule of rest of the candidates soon. The candidates can see here some important points to remember while preparing for the UPSC IAS interview. 

UPSC interview 2024 is the last stage of the IAS selection process. The interviews are conducted at Dholpur House in New Delhi and the candidates are required to come to New Delhi irrespective of their residence. The Commission forms interview panels in the chairmanship of UPSC members. These members are called from different Universities, Institutions and the like. They ask questions on a range of topics and sometimes tricky questions during the interview. The candidates must prepare to answer these types of questions. UPSC interview 2024 started on January 2, 2024. UPSC 2024 exam (prelims) will be conducted on May 26, 2024.

The IAS interview is a test of candidates' personalities and opinions. It cannot be changed overnight. Hence the candidates should think legally and ethically from day one of their preparation. The thinking influences personality. The marks secured in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) interview can decide the rank and consequently the service of the candidate. The IAS interview is the last stage of the three and it can make or break the dream to become an IAS. As per the UPSC notification for the Civil Service Exam, the personality test is conducted not the interview. There is a difference between the interview and the personality test. The personality test is conducted to check the suitability of the candidate for the service. It is the test of IAS preparation in a face-to-face manner.

Also Read: UPSC 2024 Interview Questions

UPSC interview can be taken as a discussion with the seniors because sometimes, the board members ask the counter-questions on the views of the candidate and the candidate needs to justify his or her point with a strong backup of the facts and research. The board member can ask the basis of the opinion anytime.

UPSC personality test checks the candidate’s flow of thoughts and his or her manner of representation. The UPSC calls it a personality test because sometimes a psychologist also sits in the interview panel to check the temperament of the candidate. The candidates are checking for his balance of opinion and the approach to the perennial problems persisting in the country such as the existing water disputes among the states, the caste system in the society and the likes.

See here: IAS Syllabus

See here the short video for the UPSC IAS Interviews

How to prepare for the UPSC IAS Interview?

The UPSC interview preparation starts with the IAS preparation itself. The IAS preparation is an integrated study for all three stages of the IAS exam. IAS interview requires recalling all the knowledge gathered during IAS preparation. The candidate has to showcase his or her knowledge with its application to real-life situations. The candidates must prepare for the topic in terms of pros and cons. The candidate should present his idea in a balanced manner which should be acceptable to all.

Detailed Application Form (DAF)

Detailed Application Form (DAF) is fundamental for the UPSC interview preparation. The candidate should carefully fill in the DAF because most of the questions asked in the IAS interview emanate from the IAS DAF. The candidates need to fill in all the details about the academic details, professional details, family details and residence details. The candidate needs to prepare all the topics that can be asked from the DAF. The candidates should prepare all the things about the school, college, and university he or she attended. The candidate is expected to know and understand the latest developments and inventions occurring in the discipline he or she studied in their academics. The candidates should equally prepare all the important things about their place of origin, residence and state.

The candidate should prepare all the latest and significant developments of the state such as any new national park, a new initiative by the state, any new policy or scheme introduced in the state, environmental problem in the state and the like. All these things are equally important from the national perspective as well. The UPSC members can ask questions from any field of their choice.

Newspaper

The Current Events of national and international importance play a major role in the UPSC interview because the current affairs influence the questions asked in the IAS interview. The candidates should think about the questions which can be asked from the current events and prepare their answers accordingly. Reading the newspaper is very helpful for the IAS preparation because it helps in preparing the view and counterview of the topic. It is necessary to know the merits and demerits to suggest the necessary changes.

The newspaper articles are written by the topic experts and they can present the situation in chronological order. The candidate should read at least two newspapers or they can search for the counterview of the article. They can search the internet also to understand the topic in its entirety. It is mandatory to read the newspaper on the day of the IAS interview.

See here: How to read the newspaper?

Current Affairs

Newspaper and Current Affairs is interlinked. The newspaper covers the day-to-day news, but current affairs denote the long-term news which applies to the IAS exam. The candidates should carefully decide the relevance of the news. I should base it on the inputs provided by the mentors, teachers and the previous year's toppers. Current Affairs is equally important for the IAS 2024 Exam.

The candidate should prepare for all the events of national and international importance from the personality test point of view. It implies that the candidate should prepare the topic in the ten-point format. The candidate should learn and remember the pros and cons of the topic and this information.

The candidates should prepare a counter-argument also so that they can provide a pragmatic and long-term solution to the emerging problem. 

Read more: How to prepare Current Affairs for IAS?

Subjective preparation 

The candidate is expected to know the roots of the subject studied in his or her graduation and taken it as an optional subject. The candidates who chose an optional subject other than the subject they studied in their graduation must prepare the justification for that. The board can ask for the latest development in the optional as well as the graduation subject. Sometimes, the university professors are also invited to the board. They ask deep-rooted questions from the optional as well as the graduation subject. For example, the Caste system in India is the most asked question from sociology.

Behaviour Conditioning 

The interview board comprises very senior members and they expect and deserve certain respect from the candidate. The candidate must practice behaving formally during the interview. The candidate should practice this while preparing for the interview. The candidates should think about the interview day and their behaviour on the day of the interview. Practising the behaviour will expectedly condition the candidate’s personality.

The candidates should be honest to the board members because the board members are very learned people and it will be very difficult for the candidate to take them for a ride. The candidates should say that they don’t know the answer to the question. It is perfectly all right. But it would create a wrong impression if the candidate does not know the answer too obvious questions.

These are some of the useful points for the IAS interview preparation. We will provide more on this topic very soon. Keep visiting here.

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