Becoming a civil service officer is considered to be a moment of pride ever since they came into being during the British rule. Thousands aspire to crack the exams but only a handful are able to do it successfully.
Good academic background:
There are various pre-requisites for getting selected in Indian Civil Services. After you decide to give the Civil services a go, give your academic performance an unbiased look. If you have been an above average student scoring consistently well, you can give the exams a shot. But do not take them up simply because your parents want you to. Remember, it is you who has to go through the grind.
Choosing optionals:
It is important to choose the right subjects as your optional papers, both for the mains and prelims. You might get confused about choosing the right ones as the list on offer is quite huge. For eg, if you have been a student of political science, you also study public administration as a paper in college. Now both these subjects are on offer in the list of optionals. It is up to you to carefully decide which one would be easier to prepare and score.
Hard work:
It is common knowledge that civil service exams require you to work really hard. You have to put in as many hours as possible into your preparation. Remember, lakhs prepare for the prelims every year to get into the mains and even there around 50,000 compete to get selected for the interview. The race does not end here as cracking the interview is an even bigger challenge. So if you are serious about the exams, be prepared to give it your 100%.
Mental strength:
The amount of hard work one has to put in can get quite overwhelming, even forcing you to pull out of the exams. So keep yourself calm and motivated throughout the course of the exams.
This is all you need to get selected for one of the coveted jobs in the country. If you have a tick in front of all of them, apply for the exams