In the fast-paced world of governance and public administration, civil servants play a pivotal role in shaping policies, implementing reforms, and ensuring efficient service delivery to citizens. We were fortunate to have with us one such civil servant, Miss Anju Joon (HSS, 21), IIT Kharagpur to share with us her experiences and preparation journey for UPSC Civil Services examination. To motivate and inspire aspiring civil servants, a recent seminar conducted by the Public Policy and Governance Society provided a unique opportunity to the students to virtually meet Miss Anju Joon who shared her personal preparation journey and offer valuable insights into the UPSC examination process. The seminar not only provided a platform for interaction and learning but also fostered a sense of community among the aspirants, encouraging them to strive for excellence and stay committed to their dreams of serving the nation through civil services.

Q. What inspired you for UPSC and how has been your experience so far?

Until my final year, I had no plans for civil services or appearing for the UPSC exam. The major turning point in my life that made me go for civil services was the migrant crisis during the covid lockdown. It sparked a thought that a prudent administrative judgment might have better dealt with the situation and made me realize what my true calling is. Till my final semester I had mentally prepared myself for UPSC and hence did not apply for the placements at CDC, despite this I did appear for a walk-in interview and was lucky enough to get shortlisted.

Q. Should one start reading NCERT’s or the standard books at the beginning?

There is an element of subjectivity here, as for in my case I did not read any of the NCERT’s other than Geography for class 12, owing to time constraints. This somewhat worked for me, but might not work for you. If you have the leisure to read then you should go through them. Also after talking to many candidates who were selected this year, I got to know that NCERTs of history are quite important and one should try to cover those.

Q. Are monthly magazines sufficient for prelims or should they supplement it with Newspapers?

For the prelims, I did not read the newspapers or the monthly magazines. It was after my mains, that is during my interview I began reading newspapers. The approach for monthly magazines shouldn’t be like reading it for the whole month at a stretch, instead one should read newspapers daily and at the end take up these magazines for revision purposes. For current affairs, I mostly followed news analysis from the internet and made my notes from there itself on a daily basis.

Q. How should one include current affairs in GS-answers and optional?

With Everyone nearly putting the same output as far as the main crux of the answers are concerned, adding the recent happenings about the same can make you stand out of the crowd. Also you can supplement the same with a plausible opinion or a solution (if any). Again, if you are running short of time you may consider omitting current affairs from your answer.

Q. How should one analyze mock tests and PYQ’s?

The effort one puts in the exam only counts if maneuvered in the correct direction. There are topics of vast diversity in the exam, with some topics demanding mugging up of facts while others requiring a subtle understanding and some both. It is only after analyzing mock papers, pyq’s and following the trend will one be able to get an understanding of how to study and attempt the paper.

Q. Does an interview require specific preparation or going with a free mind is beneficial?

I think both, for the interview you should be exhaustively prepared about yourself, your Detailed Application Form (DAF) as well as you should have a free approach to juggle out of any situation placed against you during the interview. You should be very much ready with details like your background, if you’ve done any internship or Job then questions from there might be placed before you. Also it is very essential to be honest with your answers and attention must be given to framing of answers and your response to them.

Q. What aspects should be fulfilled while making notes separately for mains and prelims?

I haven’t been preparing separate notes for prelims and mains, but made sure to make notes on important topics/current affairs which i found crucial, until prelims. I just added extra information, if any, for repetitive news rather than re-writing everything as the content in newspapers is often monotonous. After clearing prelims I made short notes beforehand related to value adding topics for e.g indexes, that could be read shortly before exams, because those thick books won’t be helpful in the eleventh hour.

Q. How should one add value adding materials to the notes apart from newspapers and books?

I realized that once you start preparing, then you automatically comprehend what value adding material can be. While reading books and newspapers, you will start to realize what extra key points should be researched up on as value adding points. One shouldn’t worry too much about that

Q. Do you suggest any sequential order for the GS syllabus?

I personally started with disaster management, international relations, history and so on. Some subjects do not require a foretaste of other subjects and can be read separately, like economics, history, disaster management, so I started with them. While some subjects do require some knowledge of other subjects, reading them in sequential order would be recommended, like doing international relations after polity. Some topics are smaller and can be viewed later too. It is purely based on one’s interest and comfort for subjects.

Q. How should one prepare for essay writing? What was your strategy?

I was unprepared for my essay writing until prelims and started to prepare 10–15 days before my actual essay writing exam, which I highly regret and do not recommend. It is a very good subject as it is very scoring. Due to time constraint I had to go through mocks and essays from previous years toppers like Shubham Kumar sir, and tried to mold my essays based on that analysis. When I used to come across crucial events, morals, ideas or value adding key points during regular reading of books, novels, biographies, I just tried to include those points in my essays. so it’s just mindful reading that has helped me more.