Now let’s try to figure out what are the qualities and attributes that the Board or selectors is looking for in the candidates.
Mental Alertness:
If you are frequently asking the Board to repeat the questions, that means you lack on this attribute. Not only you should be mentally alert about the questions being asked; you also be alert about the overall situation around you.
Power of Assimilation:
This means to what extent, how easily and how quickly you can understand a particular situation. This is required of a bureaucrat. Therefore, you should try to analyse a topic from all the possible dimensions before you answer because only then an impression can be given to the Board that you have good abilities of assimilation.
Reasoning Ability:
The ability of thinking, based on certain facts and premises, about an issue or something in a logical manner so as to form a conclusion, judgment or an inference is termed as the reasoning ability. Such an approach has to be there in an officer so that he/she can analyse the situation objectively an can come out with the best possible solution.
Constructive Approach:
A problem can be solved by two approaches; the constructive approach and the destructive approach. Let me elucidate this with an illustration. You are intensely involved in an important work and in the same room a child is constantly making noise. The detructive approach (negative) is to slap the child and kick him out of the room. On the contrary, the constructive approach (positive) would expect you to listen to this child, to understand why he’s behaving in such a fashion and to address the root cause.
Solutions will be achieved through both the approaches but in the destructive approach, firstly the solution is short term and temporary; secondly, it is not the final solution and thirdly, it has all the potential of creating a much bigger problem in the future. Whereas, through the constructive approach not only the solution has been found, but it has been found permanently; and as the root cause has been addressed there is no scope of further problems in the future.
Leadership:
The rank at which you will be entering the coveted civil services demands at every step very dynamic, visionary, all encompassing leadership skills from you. I would say that even if someone has various other positive attributes but lack in this important quality, he/she can’t be an efficient and effective civil servant.
Decision Making:
Often the bureaucracy is accused of being reluctant in taking decisions. You should try your best to give an impression to the Board that you don’t belong to that ilk. You can not only take a quick decision but also a decision that is accurate; and you have the guts to own your decisions. And in a case of a wrong decision, you have the ability to rectify that wrong decision as well.
So when a question is asked where there is a requirement of taking a stand, don’t refrain from taking one. You should not subscribe to the view “of being diplomatic and thereby not taking a stand”.
Ability to handle the things diplomatically:
Often the word diplomatic is considered to be a negative word. It is assumed that if one is trying to be diplomatic either he is trying to be diplomatic either he is trying to be evasive or he’s trying to be over smart or he is a shrewd person. Though I will not say that this connotation of the word is wrong but this is not this only way this word is used. The word diplomatic has various positive dimensions as well.
First of all, let’s go through a dictionary definition of the word. Oxford dictionary defines being diplomatic as “having or showing an ability to deal with people in a sensitive and tactful way.” This definition has the positive connotation. Now there are two aspects in this definition. One is to be ‘sensitive’ and the other is ‘tactful’.
Hence, to be diplomatic means that while you are suggesting something to somebody you should be sensitive about the context, you should be sensitive about the feelings of the people, you should be sensitive to the fact that whether what you are trying to suggest is within the constitutional, political and legal paradigm of the country or not. The other word to be understood is ‘tactful’. This becomes important because many times in our day to day duty there are scenarios where the person in front of you is not willing to listen and understand the hard reality but you have to execute your task. Being tactful here means that you get your work done but the person in front you get a feeling that he has his way prevailed.
As this is an important attribute which will be required very often during the service, the Board will be very seriously searching for this attribute in you. Hence show your diplomatic skills.
Ability to handle difficult situations:
Once a candidate could not answer eleven questions back to back. One of the Board members asked “It seems that you don’t know anything. Why?” The candidate, obviously on the backfoot and dealing with a difficult situation, replied calmly and politely. “Sir, I am sorry that I don’t know about the questions you asked though I have knowledge about other topics” This is a smart answer to handle a difficult situation.
Problem solving skills:
Whether you can solve the problem or not is definitely the Board is looking for; but that is not the only thing they are searching for. They also want to know that how you will solve the problem and what skills will you employ to solve the problem. It becomes important due to the fact that if the skills and the techniques of problem solving are efficient and effective, the same problem can be solved more effectively and efficiently which is definitely one of the pressing requirements for the bureaucracy today. Moreover, your skills and techniques should conform to the constitutional and legal paradigm of the country.
Attitude:
Always reflect a positive attitude whether through the language or through the body language. Majority of the problems are solved through a positive attitude and a majority of the problems are created due to this negative attitude. Remember “It’s not your aptitude, but your attitude that determines your attitude”
Be yourself (don’t try to fake):
It signals to the Board that you are trying to fool them, that you feel that they can be manipulated. This is definitely not desirable. The people who are judging you would be perhaps more than double of your age and their work experience would be more than your age. So they will at once find out that you are lying and this is the biggest disaster that can happen to anyone.
Be yourself (don’t imitate anyone):
You are because of your unique set strengths and weaknesses. Some other person is like that because of his/her strengths and weaknesses. When you try to imitate somebody you are trying to imitate his/her external traits but you don’t have the knowledge of his/her internal strengths and weaknesses. There is an obvious mismatch and it will get reflected. You will not be able to support your arguments. There will be a chasm between your language and your body language. So dear friends. Please avoid this.
Self belief:
If you don’t have a belief on your own self, how can you expect any other person to have a belief on you and your capabilities. So friends, to ensure that you can win the trust and the belief of the board. First of all have a strong self belief; that you have what it takes to be a strong bureaucrat.
Perseverance :
You should be able to impress upon the Board that you are not one of those guys who quit very easily. Often during the service one has to go through very taxing times; the times where it becomes very tempting to quit. But that is not what an officer is supposed to do. Hence inculcate this positive virtue in you and then showcase it to the board.
Politeness:
Who doesn’t like a polite person? So if you are polite, everyone will like you. Politeness helps you in mitigating the negatives that the Board may have for you. It also, sometimes, helps in masking an average reply.
Fresh and unique ideas:
Freshness and uniqueness is always desired and appreciated, more so in the bureaucracy which is often accused of being status quoits and devoid of innovation. So impress upon the Board that you could be that officer who can bring this change to the image of the bureaucracy.
Intellectual traits:
Whenever you are projecting your views on a particular issue make a conscious effort that they should be intellectual. You cannot afford to discuss in a colloquial manner.
Social traits :
Not only intellectual traits but social traits are also expected from you. That means you should be having the attributes that make a good social being.
Suitability to the public career:
The career in the public service is very different from private job. The biggest difference is that the former is a ‘service’ and latter is just a ‘job’. Hence the Board will test that whether the candidate has those traits in him or not.
Social Cohesion:
You should be a person who can lead the cause of social cohesion. India is a land of diversity; It is the most heterogeneous country of the world across a score of factors. Hence it becomes a very important aspect of the job of a civil servant to have a personality through which he/she can bring in the cohesion among these diverse groups.
Sensitivity:
Very often I have heard that the candidates have an impression that a prospective bureaucrat should give an impression of being a very strong and a hard person. Both these attributes are required and desired; and you should make an effort to inculcate these in you but many times it is mistakenly believed that to be a strong and a hard person means that you need to be insensitive. This is wrong. You should be a hard and strong person but simultaneously sensitive. Sensitivity means that you can empathize with a person, with his/her problems and while taking a decision about that person you actually tend to enter into his shoes to understand his/her perspective.
Unbiased:
A biased person is a total misfit for the civil services. As has been discussed, India is full of diversities. Often your subordinates, colleagues, seniors, political executive and the people will belong to different socioeconomic groups. You can work together with them only if you are free from any type of bias; and also you should be able to convince these people about your being unbiased. Only then, they will be open to you.
You will be tested on this trait quite often in the Test, generally indirectly.
Character:
It is the combination of the qualities and the attributes that distinguish one person from another. Hence various attribute being discussed here when taken together in a proportion, which is unique to you. Constitute your ‘character’. [Emphasis added]
So not only should one work on imbibing the good and positive attributes and qualities; one should also be conscious of their proportion. Let me elucidate this ‘proportion’ aspect. ‘Efficiency’ and ‘honesty’ both are the desirable attributes for a civil servant. But a candidate who is ‘a little inefficient’ but ‘totally honest’ (the proportion of honesty higher here) would surely be preferred over another candidate who is ‘a little dishonest’ but ‘highly efficient’. (the proportion of efficiency higher here). Hence the proportion of the attributes should also be kept in mind.
Integrity:
The word ‘integrity’ comes from the Latin adjective integer, meaning whole or complete. In this sense, integrity means the inner sense of “wholeness” or “completeness” deriving from the qualities such as honesty and consistency of character etc. it means truthfulness and honesty towards one’s beliefs. It also means that the person is consistent in his approach and that his stand doesn’t change with the situation. It is the opposite of hypocrisy. Integrity is the hallmark of a bureaucrat and should never be compromised.
Values:
You should be able to impress upon the Board that your upbringing and social milieu has brought you up as a person subscribing to an ethical value system.
Honesty:
I will simple say that the famous phrase ‘honesty is the best policy’ is absolutely applicable over here. The higher you score on the index of honesty, greater are your chances of being successful.
Humility:
Never boast about your good qualities. If you have been complimented on something, thank the Board very politely and don’t let it change your style.
Sincerity of Purpose:
Lack of sincerity behind a particular purpose is often what the bureaucracy is accused of. You should be able to convince the Board that whatever you do, you are always sincere in your mission; you are always sincere in your purpose.
Optimistic Approach:
It means to see the brighter side of the picture. Remember one thing friends. No situation is so bad that here is absolutely nothing good in that and no situation has gone so out of hand that it can’t be brought back to track. Hence, being a prospective civil servant you should be able to convince the Board that you have this positive approach; that you can bring the things back from the edge because even when the things have gone horribly wrong, you have the ability to look for the positives.
You should refrain from the statements like “nothing can be done about this.” Or “It is too late for us to take actions now,” etc.
Communication Skills & Linguistic Skills : Click to Read here
Clarity of Thought:
It helps answering in a coherent and logical manner. It means that we should have a full understanding of what our thoughts and views are on the various dimensions of a particular subject and on the subject as a whole. There should be no contradictions between the two.
Let me illustrate it with an example. A friend of mine while explaining how important it is to uphold the constitutional values, said that the people resorting to corruption should be immediately removed from their offices. Now here lays the contradiction. On the one hand, he is trying to support the larger objective or goal, that is, to uphold the constitutional values; which is absolutely right. On the other, he’s trying to suggest depriving the person of the due process of law, which he is entitled to by that very constitution itself, by summarily removing him from the job. This represents lack of clarity of thought.
I will be emphasizing the importance of this concept at various other points in this book as well.
Clarity of Expression:
It means that you can express to the Board exactly in words what is there in your mind. This is very significant because at many points the concepts and ideas in our mind are very good and novel but for the want of correct expression we end up conveying something else.
Balance of Judgment:
This is one of the most important attribute required. I have already emphasized a number of times that never take extreme positions while judging a particular issue. Maintain a proper balance. An obvious question is how to achieve this balance? While you are judging a particular issue, try to judge it through the dimensions of the legality, constitutionality, ethics, social acceptability and national interest.
Appreciation of Different of Points of View:
It happens very rarely that a particular point of view is totally redundant, that it has totally nothing to offer. Generally every point of view has some positive in it. while you are having a particular point of you and are defending it, you should be able to actively appreciate the other points of view as well to the extent you feel they are correct.
A good preparation for the personality test requires your preparation to be from a number of sources. Every source has its own significance and uniqueness. Hence ideally one should try to make his/her preparation as diverse as possible. Let’s go through the various sources of preparation:
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