Catch Your Dream to Become an IAS Officer – Tips & Tricks

Civil Services Examination, colloquially called as the IAS Exam is a dream of lakhs of aspirants. Every year, close to a million and a half aspirants fill the application for Civil Services Exam. If you ask them what drives them to this coveted examination, most of them will answer with their dream to become an IAS Officer. This post is a most desired post in the Indian administration and hence, each and every aspirant who sits for the examination targets this post only. You  can read on to know the tips and tricks that will be beneficial for you while you set your foot out to achieve your civil dream. 

How to become an IAS Officer

The post IAS officer is not a piece of the cake. To reach this post, one has to strive through a lot of challenges. The way to get the post of an IAS is through civil services examination. One has to write the CSE that is conducted by the UPSC every year. Now, an aspirant should know about the basics of this exam which are mentioned below:

1. UPSC Notification is released every February/March – This year, the notification was released on 12th February 2020. 
2. The first stage is Preliminary Examination which has two exams:
   1. General Studies – It has 100 objective questions coming from different subjects like History, Polity, Geography, Economics, Environment, Social Issues, Current Affairs and, etc. 
   2. CSAT – It has 80 objective questions. It is qualifying in nature.
3. The second stage is Mains Examination – It has nine subjective papers including 4 GS papers, one essay paper, 2 language papers and 2 optional papers. 
4. The final stage is the interview which is called the personality test. 

Candidates should know that both Prelims and Mains stages are cleared only when an aspirant touches and scores beyond UPSC Cut Off. Hence, it becomes a challenge for the aspirant to pass each stage with the required score. 

Tips to become an IAS Officer

The following tips will help you to reach the post of IAS:

1. Follow the UPSC Syllabus – The commission comes with a syllabus every year. Syllabus has remained the same since 2012. There is  no major change in the IAS syllabus. 
2. Know the subjects of the examination – Though the syllabus has a wide array of subjects, aspirants should always try to fetch more marks from the scoring and favorite subjects of the commission like History, Polity, Environment and Current Affairs. However, candidates should not ignore other subjects. 
3. Develop a habit of making a time table and sticking to it – While everyone dreams to become an IAS officer, they tend to ignore one good trait of the officer and that is to be disciplined. Hence, with the time table one has to set goals for the completion of the syllabus and try to stick to those goals. 
4. Make notes from basic books – Though the examination is tough but with reading of basic books one can sail through the examination. However, one has to complement the simple reading with a few reference books. 
5. Apart from studying, an aspirant has to inculcate the intangible traits in the personality. Analytical, honest, and a dedicated aspirant is always preferred by the panel of interviewers. 

It is not the destination but the journey that counts. If every aspirant remembers this adage, he/she will surely become an IAS Officer. It should not be the post that should drive you but the utmost dedication towards the nation that will take you forward in the race.