If we read interviews of successfull Civil Services candidates we will find that their are some common characteristics that bound them together. They are :
1. Determination.
2. Hard Labour.
3. Disipline.
4. Planning.
5. Intelligent Work.

Apart from these qualities they may have some special qualities like social, witty, man with the few words, etc. But the most important are the common characteristics.
While talking with Mr. Vivek Gupta IRS , I found that a person must be determined to achieve the goal. He must have the eye of great Indian Mythological warrior "Arjun".
Civil Service Exam take One whole year and in this long duration candidate may loose focus, so the aim of the candidate is not to loose focus and determined to reach the ultimate aim of clearing the Civil Services Exam.

Once I was in Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy, Hyderabad and a discussion was with my dear friends Dr. Akash Jindal IPS, Siddharth Jain IPS, Dr. Vikram Rathi IPS and Jatin Narwal IPS. We discussed about the importance of Hard Labour and concluded that hard work is in the direction of achieving the goal and not to read everything. There are lot of things to read but smartness of the candidate is to read what is necessary for the examination and to discard what is not necessary. Our orientation must be towards the syllabus and smart reading.

This competitive examination comprises two successive stages :

a). Civil Services (Preliminary) Examinations (Objective Type) for the selection of candidates for Main Examination; and

b). Civil Services (Main) Examination (Written and Interview) for the selection of candidates for the various services and posts.

2. The Preliminary Examination will consist of two papers of Objective type (multiple choice questions) and carry a maximum of 450 marks in
the subjects .

a). General Studies - 150 Marks
b). Optional Subject - 300 Marks

This examination is meant to serve as a screening test only; the marks obtained in the Preliminary Examination by the candidates who are
declared qualified for admission to the Main Examination will not be counted for determining their final order of merit. The number of
candidates to be admitted to the Main Examination will be about twelve to thirteen times the total approximate number of vacancies to be
filled in the year in the various Services and Posts. Only those candidates who are declared by the Commission to have qualified in the
Preliminary Examination in a year will be eligibe for admission to the Main Examination of that year provided they are otherwise eligible for
admission to the Main Examination.

3. The Main Examination will consist of a written examination and an interview test. The written examination will consist of 9 papers of
conventional essay type in the subjects.

a). General Studies -1 - 300 Marks

b). General Studies -2 - 300 Marks

c). English - 300 Marks

d). Essay - 200 Marks

e). Indian Language - 300 Marks

f). Optional 1 - Paper 1 - 300 Marks

g). Optional 1 - Paper 2 - 300 Marks

h). Optional 2 - Paper 1 - 300 Marks

i). Optional 2 - Paper 2 - 300 Marks

4. Candidates who obtain such minimum qualifying marks in the written part of the Main Examination as may be fixed by the Commission at their discretion, shall be summoned by them for an interview for a Personality Test . However, the papers on Indian Languages and English will be of qualifying nature. The marks obtained in these papers will not be counted for ranking. The number of candidates to be summoned for interview will be about twice the number of vacancies to be filled. The interview will carry 300 marks (with no minimum qualifying marks).

Marks thus obtained by the candidates in the Main Examination (written part as well as interview) would determine their final ranking. Candidates will be allotted to the various Services keeping in view their ranks in the examination and the preferences expressed by them for the various Services and posts.


Now list of optional subjects for Preliminary Examination.

Agriculture
Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science
Botany
Chemistry
Civil Engineering
Commerce
Economics
Electrical Engineering
Geography
Geology
Indian History
Law Mathematics
Mechanical Engineering
Medical Science
Philosophy
Physics
Political Science
Psychology
Public Administration
Sociology
Statistics
Zoology

Candidate has to chose only one subject from the list.




From the list of optional subjects for Main Examination a candidate has two chose two subjects from the list.
The list is:

Agriculture
Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science
Anthropology
Botany
Chemistry
Civil Engineering
Commerce and Accountancy
Economics
Electrical Engineering
Geography
Geology
History
Law
Management
Mathematics
Mechanical Engineering
Medical Science
Philosophy
Physics
Political Science and International Relations
Psychology
Public Administration
Sociology
Statistics
Zoology

Literature of one of the following languages :

Arabic, Assamese, Bodo, Bengali, Dogri, Chinese, English, French, German, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam,
Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Pali, Persian, Punjabi, Russian, Sanskrit, Santali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu.

Note (i) Candidates will not be allowed to offer the following combinations of subjects :–

(a) Political Science & International Relations and Public Administration;

(b) Commerce & Accountancy and Management;

(c) Anthropology and Sociology;

(d) Mathematics and Statistics;

(e) Agriculture and Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science.

(f) Management and Public Administration;

(g) Of the Engineering subjects, viz., Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering–not more than one subject.

(h) Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science and Medical Science.

For more information click here UPSC

Indian Civil Services

is the most coveted and sought after job.It serves as the backbone of India and carries great respect and responsibilities. Due to this challenge India's best brains vie for it as officers. Moreover, prestige and power that comes along with these top-notch jobs is a definite reason for anybody to join this profession. And the large number of professional from various fields (every year 3-4 lakhs fill the form of UPSC Civil Service Exam) shows that it is still the dream job.

This is blog is started keeping in mind the large number of artcles present on the web and the meagre relevent information present on them. This blog will be updated thrice a week and the motto of the author is to provide short and crisp information for IAS as well as State Civil Services aspirant.