About:

Union Public Service Commission conducts the Civil Services Examination in three stages i.e., Prelims, Mains, and Interview or Personality Test.

• Preliminary is the objective type test, and it is considered as the screening test to check the aptitude of the candidates.
• Mains is in descriptive type to check the candidates’ analytical skills.
• Finally, the Personality Test is the last level in the format of viva to check the attitude of the candidates.

The UPSC CSE Interview is considered to be the final milestone of the aspirants to reach the goal to be an IAS officer. For the Interview stage, the number of the candidates called equal to twice the number of vacancies.
Number of candidates called for the interview will mostly 1:2.5 ratio, the current year 2022 the number of candidates called for the Interview is 2529 for 1011 post.

About the preparation for the Interview for the IAS, the very first question that comes in the mind of each and every candidate who has successfully cleared the mains examination and now is looking for some good civil service interview tips or strategy.

Language:

UPSC allows the candidates to take the interview in English, Hindi, or any other Indian language in which the candidate is comfortable. Even if the candidates have written their Mains examination in English, they can still opt for Hindi as their Interview language if they are comfortable in Hindi. For other regional language, UPSC can allot interpreters as well.
About Panel:

There are 8-9 separate UPSC interview boards. Each board consists of a chairman and four members. The chairman of each board is a UPSC member. The other four members are external members invited by UPSC. They are bureaucrats, academicians, scientists, armed forces officers etc.
They are known as domain experts. They all are very experienced, seasoned persons with wide exposure in public life. This gives them the ability to frame very diverse questions and evaluate the response accurately from the candidates. It should be noted that there is no professional psychologist sitting among the members.

Qualities to be assessed:

• Mental alertness
• Critical powers of assimilation
• Clear and logical exposition
• Balance of judgement
• Variety and depth of interest
• Ability for social cohesion and leadership
• Intellectual and moral integrity

Method of allocating marks:

• The chairman is key person to allocate marks on the basis of your performance.
• He/She will propose a certain percentage of marks to be given to you to other members.
• If a member or more members advise the chairman that you deserve less or more marks, he/she may consider the advice and propose new marks.
• sometimes, the board marks you in comparison to what marks other candidates before you got based on a certain performance.
• But it is generally the chairman who has a final say in marking you. But he/she also goes by consensus.

Preparation Strategy:

Prepare a questionnaire based on your DAF:

The DAF (Detailed Application Form) it has the detailed information about your hobbies, achievements, education, and extracurricular activities. Do prepare a list of all the possible questions that can be asked from it and be ready with sound answers.
Educational Background:

The interviewer will ask you why you choose a particular graduation field, technical questions from your graduation field, why did you or didn’t make a career in your graduation field, etc. These questions to check your scholarly attitude.
Covering your own state:

The state to which you belong may be likely area of discussion during the interview. You should be fairly aware about the history, culture, society, economy, industries of the state. Also, you should have a critical knowledge of recent developments going on in your state e.g., some policies like reservation, attracting, investments, transforming agriculture etc. Should visit the state website for gathering current information about the state.

Dress Code:

The dress code for male candidates is dark trousers with a light plain shirt and for female candidates, a saree or salwar suit works very well. Both female and male candidates can also wear blazers which goes well with their choice of dress. The colour of the formal attire should not be very bright like bright yellow, red, or neon pink, and should look decent and formal.

Read Newspapers:

Don’t stop reading news and watching the news channel because it’s very crucial to get updated about the current scenario. Most of the questions in the UPSC interview are based on the current happenings in the country and abroad.

Don’t Take Optional Subjects for Granted:

Most of the students don’t pay attention to the preparation of optional subjects. From the interview point of view as well, optional subjects are important. This is the favourite area of the interview board. So, don’t take it for granted and prepare them with equal attention.

Your body language will reflect your confidence. Sweating, shivering, stammering, or sitting awkwardly before the interview panel will not leave a good impression. It’s best to maintain calm and eye contact during the interview.
Do’s:
• Start interview preparation in advance
• Be your natural self before the board
• Never bluff, be honest before the board
• Attend mock interviews and take their feedback seriously.
• Practice before the mirror to get the confident level
• Keep all of your documents
• Bring opinion on the contemporary issues