Official Edubilla Blog

The performance of the students at UPSC Civil Services interview ultimately decides the final rank in the merit list.

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Civil Services examination is considered to be one of the most toughest competition in India.

With more than 5 lakh candidates struggling for merely 800-1000 seats, the whole process of selection in UPSC involves the preliminary, main examinations and the interview (personality test). It is imperative for candidates preparing for UPSC to know that the personality test carries 300 marks out of the total 2300 marks and is the last hurdle that stands in their way. The performance of the students at interview ultimately decides the final rank in the merit list.

All the candidates who have cleared the mains examinations successfully have to appear for the personality test which is expected to be held on March 20. Let's dig into few tips which students must not ignore while going to appear for the UPSC Civil Services interview.

The tips below will help you clear the interview round:

1. Enroll for mock interview:

Make sure to attend atleast 3 to 4 mock interviews and improve your preparation based on the feedback by panel experts before appearing for the final UPSC interview.

2. Read your DAF thoroughly:

Most of the questions in the UPSC interview will be based on your Detailed Application Form. Read your DAF thoroughly several times and prepare well for the questions from the areas like; education, hobbies, past work experience, services preference, etc.

3. Cultivate a good body language:

Work on your body posture, personal appearance, and body language, as you are going to be judged on the basis of this in the interview. During the interview, keep yourself calm, maintain eye contact, listen to the panel members very patiently, greet them well and appear very attentive yet with a composed body posture.

4. Be up to date with current affairs and read the newspaper thoroughly:

Keep yourself aware of the important current news, elections, government policies, etc. Read Economic surveys, Yojana, and the Indian yearbook thoroughly and take notes from them. The panel may ask you about the news that appeared last week in the newspaper, so keep yourself updated. Make sure you revise the current affairs of the past one month. Questions on these can definitely be expected in the UPSC IAS Interview 2016.

5. Work on your confidence level:

Last, but not the least, appear confident in front of the panel members. If you are unsure about an answer, don't get nervous, just say that you don't know. You cannot have the knowledge about everything under the sun, so it's very normal. Just feel relaxed. But remember the line between confidence and over confidence; just be confident but don't cross the line.