HOW TO CRACK
CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATION
written by RANKERS
A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATION
Contributions by
Vineel Krishna, IAS
Mutyalaraju Revu, IAS
Vijay Kumar Mantri, IAS
B. Sandeep Kumar, IFS
Arvindhakshan, IRS
Bala Kiran, IPS
G. Kranti Kumar,IPS
A. Vijaya Laxmi, IPS
K. Veeraraghava Rao, IAS
Ramesh Reddy, IPS
Ramanjaneyulu, IRS
Raja Kumari, IPS
Compiled, Edited & Cover Page Design by
Vijay Kumar Mantri
XYZ PUBLISHERS,
This book contains full of suggestions and guidelines. Each suggestion in this book is
the offspring of lessons that rankers learnt from their mistakes during their
preparation. Authors bear no responsibility for any damage from their suggestions
and guidelines, which are actually their opinions. Readers may follow these
suggestions and guidelines after judging rationally based on the suitability to their
nature and environment.
Published by
GVK Publications,
© All Rights Reserved
First Edition 2007
Printed at
Xyz Press,
PREFACE
“How to Crack Civil Services Examination” is a comprehensive guide to Civil Services Examination written by rankers. It covers every aspect of the examination at every stage of the examination including how to prepare, what to prepare, where to prepare, how to chose optional subjects, how to write the exam, how to prepare for interview, etc. It covers detailed strategy of preparation for General Studies Prelims and Mains Exams, Essay and Interview. It gives suggested reading and strategy of preparation for all popular optionals. It even touches upon some miscellaneous aspects, which have impact on the preparation like health, stress management, hobbies, etc.
Each suggestion in this book is the offspring of lessons that Mutyalaraju and other toppers learnt from their mistakes during their preparation. The main aim of this book is to make sure that aspirants do not waste their attempts due to lack of proper guidance.
INTRODUCTION
The Indian Civil Services is considered as the backbone of
The path to the coveted Civil Services is full of ups and downs and is a highly uneven track to traverse. Before taking a decision about Civil Services as your career, it is expedient to check up oneself and remain determined after wards.
The first step towards your success is to choose your goal honestly. I mean you shouldn’t choose Civil Services as your goal simply because your father or mother has a dream or there is a pressure from your social circle. It should come from your heart. This exam is not like IIT-JEE or any other
Many of you may be having presumptions that you should have come from a reputed
Institute like IISc or any IIT to succeed in Civil Services. But the fact is that you need
not have come from a reputed Institute. You need not to have a splendid academic background. You need not to have great scores in SSC or Intermediate. You need not have come from a rich family. You only need to have a dream to become an IAS officer and the rest will follow. Because, it is the human nature to work hard. It is the human nature to gain knowledge and succeed. I say it is your human right to succeed. Anyone can succeed.
Work hard as there is no short cut to success and hard work never goes unrewarded, Never. Every drop of sweat of your brow through hard work adds to the splendour of your bright career. I would like to quote Napoleon Bonaparte: “Victory belongs to the most persevering.”
Your motivation to prepare for Civil Services should be to help the hunger and ignorant people and to drive out the poverty from
This preparation stage is generally the most fruitful stage of your life. Because you are just out of college and your parents are looking upto you for financial support. This is also the time you lay foundations for your career. That is why Preparing for Civil Services at this stage is putting your career at stake. It’s a war. You are the one who is fighting the war not the coaching institute, not the person sitting on the bank and giving you free suggestions. You should prepare your own strategy taking guidance from seniors and coaching institutes (if you join). If you follow a wrong strategy, you are the person who is going to lose not the coaching institute not the person who had given you free suggestions. I would like to remind the aspirants the words of Swamy Vivekananda.
"Stand up, be bold and take the whole responsibility on your shoulders and know that you are the creator of your own density. All the strength and success that you want are within yourself."
I would also like to stress that you should not attempt the first Prelims as a trial. The first attempt ought to be the best attempt. As Swami Vivekananda said “Arise awake and rest not till the goal is achieved”. All The Best.
Vijay Kumar Mantri, IAS
CONTENTS
- Nature of the Exam
- Choosing the Optional Subjects
- Coaching
- General Trend of Marks
- Exam timetable
- General Suggestions
- How should a fresh candidate approach the exam?
- Preliminary Examination
- List of optional subjects for Preliminary Examination
- Main Examination
- List of optional subjects for Main Examination
- General Instructions
- Interview test
- Number of Attempts & Age Limit
- Negative Marking
- How to tackle negative marking?
- General Studies – Preliminary Exam
- History
- Polity
- Geography
- Economy
- Sciences
- Mental Ability
- Current affairs
- General Knowledge
- General Studies – Main Examination
- History
- Geography
- Polity
- Social Issues
- International Affairs
- Economy
- Science and Technology
- Statistics
- Current Affairs
- Suggested root topics
- Suggested
- Groundwork Preparation
- Tips
- Strategy
6. English and Indian Languages:
- English
- Indian Language
- What is looked for in the Personality Test?
- How to Prepare?
- What type of questions does the Interview Board asks?
- Mock /practice
- Dressing up
- Entry
- During Interview
- General Do’s and Don’ts for the personality test
8. Reference Books & Strategy:
- Agriculture
- Anthropology
- Botany
- Chemistry
- Civil Engineering
- Commerce
- Economics
- Electrical Engineering
- Geography
- Geology
- History
- Law
- Management
- Mathematics
- Mechanical Engineering
- Medical Sciences
- Pali Literature
- Philosophy
- Physics
- Political Science
- Psychology
- Public Administration
- Sociology
- Statistics
- Urdu Literature
- Zoology
- Telugu Literature
- Health
- Hobbies
- Internet Surfing
- Ideal Timetable
- Studying while doing a job
- How to Study
- How to prepare notes?
- Revision
- Where to prepare?
- How to write answers?
- How to remember?
- Stress Management
- For aspirants in the long term
Appendix I - Sample Interviews
Appendix II - Marks of Successful Candidates in CSE-06.
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