Few Points About UPSC CSE

 

1. You must gather complete information of the civil services before you decide to prepare for it. Most people know only a few post like SP, DM or Commissioner in civil services. They don’t know about 90% of the posts that are held by civil servants in India.
2. You have to work with many corrupt officers and politicians in government. You must know how to deal with them and you should not complain of corruption after joining the service.
3. It is a fact that no one can make you corrupt unless you choose to be corrupt. Most civil servants are corrupt by choice though they often blame others for their corruption.
4. The jobs of civil servants are transferable in nature. You can be transferred from one place to another by government any time. Be ready for it.
5. If your spouse is working in corporate or in a profession other than government, you may have to sacrifice your family life to a great extent as you may not be able to get posting in the place of your spouse’s posting.
6. You must be willing to work in any part of India and not only in your own state. You must also be willing to be posted in small towns and cities.
7. You have to always work under the politicians who are the head of the ministries and departments. Be ready for it.
8. All promotions in government services are based on seniority cum fitness. Don’t blame the government later that it does not recognize your merit and hard work.
9. The average age of civil servants probationers is around 27 years. It means an average aspirant takes around 4-5 years after his graduation to get selected in civil services. Be ready to devote long time for CSE preparation.
10. Luck plays an important role in civil services since all the papers of CSE (Mains) are subjective. The more number of attempt you take, the better are your chances of success.
11. Only about 1000 of the 5, 00,000 candidates who appear in the exam are selected. Hence your chances of selection is just 0.2%. Getting into Civil services is extremely tough.
12. It would be a good idea to have a backup plan if you are preparing for CSE. You must have a fall back options in case you fail to get into civil services after you are 32/33 years old.
13. It takes extensive study to prepare for civil services. It would be quite difficult for anyone to work in a corporate sector and also succeed in getting good rank in CSE. It is better to quit your corporate job for giving your 100% for the CSE preparation.
14. It would be a good idea to simultaneously do a higher study like M Tech, M Phil or PhD while preparing for CSE. This would give you financial independence and also provide you a good backup option.

-Dr.Awdhesh Singh, Ex-IRS, IIT