By Ankita Verma
April 14 2011
Union Public Service Commission conducts an All India Combined Competitive Examination for Civil Services. Recent times have seen a change in the pattern. It is a three-staged process. The primary stage is passing the Civil Services Aptitude Test.
Both these papers will carry equal weightage. The change in pattern was put into effect to counter the various doubts aspirants had about the scaling system for varying subjects. The second stage entails a series of 9 papers in an essay type model.
The exam has questions ranging from 2 marks to 60 marks, which is to test the decision making ability and reasoning ability of the candidates. Out of 9 papers, 4 are on optional subjects, as chosen by the aspirant. The papers of optional subjects are based on the syllabus of graduate level.
There are 2 question papers and each question paper consists of 5 questions of 60 marks each. The questions require lengthy descriptive answers, which checks the candidates writing speed and skill. Also there is a 200 mark essay paper where one is required to write an essay on a specific topic. The choice of topic will be given.
The interview in the third stage. It aims to judge if the candidates have the requisite qualities of an administrator or not. To appear at the Civil Service Examination one has to be a Citizen of India, between the age group of 21-30 years and must hold a degree from any recognized university.
Maximum four attempts are offered to the candidates. Many youngsters work extremely hard to get into a government office because the pride that comes with the designation of a Civil Servant is bigger than everything else.