Everyone has a memory of at least one interview. Mine is the interview I gave at the time of appearing for the civil services.
Every interview is not necessarily a landmark in one’s life, but each interview is important. It reflects a search, a quest, a desire to do something. The interview is the opportunity to realise a dream, to achieve what one has been searching for; it may be a job, a grant, or an agreement.
The art of giving an interview is important. Everyone prepares for an interview. But often it’s not crammed knowledge that influences the judgement. A balance of good awareness, analytical ability, the capacity to think on one’s feet, and a good personality generally play a key role in assessments. In any interview, the interviewer tries to assess the sincerity of the person in front. Is it just regurgitation of acquired facts or has the person actually thought about the issue? How much sincerity and commitment does the person have to what he /she is saying?
All this is far more important than the cut of one’s suit or the brand of one’s shoe. Good appearance is important. But neatness and sobriety is more important than richness. Unless of course, the interview is with a bank for a big loan or project, where the affluence and assurance of wealth and success could convince the interviewer of one’s credentials! Or for a creative endeavour, where being outlandish could be a qualification by itself. The apparel should, thus, be appropriate to the occasion. This understanding is an important life lesson. There are phrases in the English language that colourfully describe an inappropriate appearance: when someone says that a person is dressed like a “Christmas tree”, it indicates that the person is overdressed! There’s an occasion to dress up the Christmas tree: Christmas. It is not loaded with ornaments throughout the year. It pays to develop an understanding of the basics.
At the end of April, my husband and I were invited by the government of Uttar Pradesh to Lucknow to give such tips for success in the civil services interviews to aspiring candidates. It was then that we discovered the interesting scheme launched in UP at the behest of the Chief Minister of the state to help students crack competitive examinations like the ones conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for entry to the civil services of India, and the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE), which is the Indian standardised computer-based test for admission to various technical undergraduate programmes in engineering, architecture, and planning across colleges in India. An initiative by UP CM Yogi Adityanath, Mukhyamantri Abhyuday Yojana, inaugurated on February 16, 2021, is aimed at ensuring greater participation by students in various competitive examinations and gives free-of-cost training to poor but meritorious students. Already, some students enrolled with the scheme have achieved success at the UPSC civil services examination and the JEE.
Commissioner Lucknow and nodal officer of Abhyuday scheme, Ranjan Kumar explained that the training classes were given online during the multiple lockdowns during the Covid pandemic and that more than 5000 students through offline medium and over 10,000 students through the online medium were prepared for competitive exams like the NEET, CDS, JEE, NDA and civil services.
I was a bit unclear about how meritorious students are selected for the scheme. Ranjan Kumar explained that aspirants of the state who wish to get trained under the scheme for the respective competitive exam have to first apply for it; once registered, their selection is done on the basis of an entrance test conducted by the Abhyudaya authority, they then get enrolled for free coaching and training sessions. To start with, he personally supervised and prepared the questionnaire for some of the entrance exams. A portal has been developed and those who do not clear the entrance test can avail of the coaching material available on it. More than 3.5 million aspirants have filled up the form and registered on the portal and they can view any physical class online. The entire session that we addressed was available on YouTubeLive. Similarly, other classes are also available to those registered on the portal. This hybrid model is the way to go for taking education to people’s doorsteps.
Both my husband and I were happy to share our life experiences with youngsters who joined physically as well as online. The robust discussion and questions and answers session thereafter showed the keen desire of the candidates to succeed. Director Venkateshwar Loo of the Uttar Pradesh Academy of Administration & Management, Ranjan Kumar and his wife, who is a civil servant herself, also shared their experiences.
It was gratifying to have an opportunity to help aspiring young people in the state of my birth. Help for success in interviews is, thus, available online too!
