UPSC CSE Personality Test (Interview) Syllabus 2024:
(i) Basic Information:
The UPSC Interview, also known as the Personality Test, is the final stage of the examination. Unlike the earlier stages, there is no specific syllabus for the interview. The questions asked cover a wide range of issues.
Candidates who pass the UPSC Mains Exam will be called for the Personality Test or interview, conducted by a board appointed by the UPSC. The main objective of this interview is to assess the candidate’s suitability for a career in civil services, and it is conducted by a group of unbiased observers.
The interview is more like a purposeful conversation designed to explore the candidate’s mental qualities and analytical abilities. It is not a standard question-answer session but a chance to understand the candidate’s overall personality.
The Interview test carries 275 marks, while the total marks for the written examination are 1750, making the Grand Total of 2025 Marks. This total determines the final merit list.
(ii) Personality Test Syllabus:
The candidate will be interviewed by a Board who will have before them a record of his career. He will be asked questions on matters of general interest. The object of the interview is to assess the personal suitability of the candidate for a career in public service by a Board of competent and unbiased observers. The test is intended to judge the mental calibre of a candidate. In broad terms this is really an assessment of not only his intellectual qualities but also social traits and his interest in current affairs. Some of the qualities to be judged are mental alertness, critical powers of assimilation, clear and logical exposition, balance of judgement, variety and depth of interest, ability for social cohesion and leadership, intellectual and moral integrity.
The technique of the interview is not that of a strict cross-examination but of a natural, though directed and purposive conversation which is intended to reveal the mental qualities of the candidate.
The interview test is not intended to be a test either of the specialised or general knowledge of the candidates which has been already tested through their written papers. Candidates are expected to have taken an intelligent interest not only in their special subjects of academic study but also in the events which are happening around them both within and outside their own State or Country as well as in modern currents of thought and in new discoveries which should rouse the curiosity of well educated youth.
