After clearing the UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) Prelims and Mains, the chosen candidates are required to go through the final stage of the exam — the interview round.
Aaditya Pandey, who secured 190 marks in the interview round of the UPSC CSE 2022 examination and is posted as an assistant collector in Ranchi, Jharkhand, shares tips to prepare for the UPSC interview and reveals the reality of mock interviews.
Except for a few coaching institutes, he says, others make a fool out of aspirants – like asking them to propose to a glass of water, or what to do if this was the last day of their life.
“Many YouTube Shorts go viral over this but such irrelevant questions are never asked in real interviews. Mock interviews are nowhere close to real interviews,” he says.
Aaditya adds that interviews are very subjective. “The first question asked in the interview determines the interview flow and whether you will be able to mould it in your favour.”
“If you have a command of your DAF (Detailed Application Form), then you will be able to sail through the interview,” he adds.
In his DAF, Aaditya mentioned listening to Ramcharitmanas (an epic poem that contains the story of Lord Rama) and watching Korean dramas as his interests.
He was asked about the similarities and differences between ancient values in the context of Indian and Korean societies.
Another question was based on the division of Korea and its war history. Later on, he was asked about the Russia and Ukraine war, which he did not mention in his DAF.
“My interviewer was a war veteran himself. So, you need to understand the interest of the interviewer as well,” he says.
Aaditya believes aspirants must seek one-on-one interviews with a known person who can really assess their personality and attitude in order to help build confidence for the real interview.