IAS Officer Shares 15 ‘Golden’ Tips To Ace The UPSC Personality Test

Even after successfully cracking the UPSC CSE prelims and mains, many aspirants struggle when it comes to the interview. While the former evaluates your knowledge and writing skills, the latter shifts focus to speaking skills, as well as critical thinking.

Presence of mind and confidence are important when you sit in front of the interview panel. In a Twitter thread, Jitin Yadav IAS shared a few tips to ace the personality test/ interview.

The ‘golden’ tips

Jitin is a 2016-batch IAS officer who served at the remote Mathabhanga subdivision of Coochbehar and Balurghat at Dakshin Dinajpur. He was also with the Railway Protection Force as assistant security commissioner. An alumnus of St Stephen’s College and Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jitin is also the author of the book ‘Let’s Crack It’, a step-by-step guide for UPSC CSE.

His Twitter thread about sitting for an interview amassed over 3,700 likes and 726 retweets. Here are the 15 ‘golden’ tips Jitin shared to crack UPSC CSE personality test/ interview:

“Always allow the interview board member to interrupt you, but never interrupt the board member,” he wrote.

15 Golden Tips for #UPSC Civil Services Examination Personality Test/Interview –
#1 Always allow the interview board member to interrupt you but never interrupt the board member.

#2 Answer one question at a time. Never mix the previous question with the new one.

— Jitin Yadav, IAS (@Jitin_IAS) March 29, 2022

He also warns candidates against desperate attempts to impress the board, which will have no effect on their marks. Jitin adds that sitting for the interview with preconceived notions based on others’ experiences is also not advised.

According to the IAS officer, confidence in what you already know is more important than worrying about what you don’t know.

#5 Do not feel under confident imagining how much you do not know. Focus on getting confidence from how much you already know.
(If you are a serious aspirant, then that is more than enough)
— Jitin Yadav, IAS (@Jitin_IAS) March 29, 2022

‘Talk less, worry less’

#6 Do not talk too much to fellow aspirants inside UPSC hall on Interview day. We have a tendency of thinking that their preparation is better than us.
(Some brush negativity on to others also)
— Jitin Yadav, IAS (@Jitin_IAS) March 29, 2022

Along with the next tip, Jitin suggests reading Yerkes-Dodson Law, which says that an individual performs best with optimum amount of arousal.

#7 Optimum amount of nervousness is actually good for interview. If anxiety is in extremes, either too high or too low, then only it’s a concern.
(Read Yerkes-Dodson Law – individual performs best with optimum amount of arousal)
— Jitin Yadav, IAS (@Jitin_IAS) March 29, 2022

‘You are not alone’

#8 Whenever you feel under confident, imagine you are not the only one going through this. All aspirants appearing for interview are in the same boat.
If they can do it, then you can also do it.
— Jitin Yadav, IAS (@Jitin_IAS) March 29, 2022

What you choose to wear is also important in an interview. Many questions may come up regarding the brand or design. In Jitin’s opinion, it’s better to keep the outfit as simple as possible.

#9 Keep your dress code as simple as possible. There have been instances when a fancy watch or a tie decided the course of the interview.
#10 Saying ‘No’ to a question in a polite manner fetches you more marks than giving wrong answers. The interview board appreciates honesty.

— Jitin Yadav, IAS (@Jitin_IAS) March 29, 2022

‘Listening is greater than speaking’

#11 Be a good listener and take a pause of few seconds before replying to an answer.
Some aspirants start framing their answers before the question is finished.
Never do that, we end up giving incomplete answers.
— Jitin Yadav, IAS (@Jitin_IAS) March 29, 2022

#12 Never show you are too desperate for getting selected. Your professional behavior should dominate rather than getting swayed by emotions.
— Jitin Yadav, IAS (@Jitin_IAS) March 29, 2022

“Your ability to bounce back will be tested,” shared Jitin. Too many factual questions might be asked, and it is completely normal if not all can be answered, he says.

#13 Factual questions are bombarded to make you nervous. It is completely fine even if you don’t know their answers. Board wants to check how you respond after factual questions.
Your ability to bounce back will be tested.
— Jitin Yadav, IAS (@Jitin_IAS) March 29, 2022

‘Stay away from negativity’

#14 Keep yourself safe from negative people. You motivation should be at its peak when you appear for the interview.
Negative people pass on negativity. I stopped talking to people before the interview who used to pass negativity on to me.
— Jitin Yadav, IAS (@Jitin_IAS) March 29, 2022

He says that based on his own experience, the interview is not conducted to measure the amount of knowledge a candidate has.

#15 Interview is not a knowledge test, which has already been tested in Mains. Interview checks your personality traits via indirect method i.e. your response to questions will give them hints to assess your traits.
So, be careful while giving responses to the questions asked.

— Jitin Yadav, IAS (@Jitin_IAS) March 29, 2022