Success Tips for UPSC Engineering

Services Examination By B. Singh (Ex. IES)

Among all the career options available for engineers across domains, i.e. in pri
vate, public and government sectors still the best, prestigious and coveted care
er remains that of esteemed Indian Engineering Services (IES). Through Indian En
gineering Services (IES) a candidate gets a career in most reputed government de
partments like Indian Railways, Military Engineering Services, Central Engineeri
ng Services, Telecommunication Department, Central Water Services and other este
emed departments.
In Indian Engineering Services (IES), an Engineer gets an opportunity to handle
technically challenging roles and tasks technically, which have a direct bearin
g on the building up of infrastructure and services of our nation.
Strategy for the Engineering Services Examination
The foundation of success can be laid on the resolute efforts but a sound strate
gy accompanied by never say die spirit makes the recipe of success sipid. Succes
s can t be achieved overnight hence a prudent strategy matters a lot. For success
in Engineering Services Exam, a candidate is required to have excellent fundamen
tals in the core subjects, along with thorough update on general awareness, curr
ent affairs and no less, all the traits of matured personality. Following subseq
uent points will be worth mentioning and aspirants should necessarily keep a not
e of the same viz:
Get acquainted with the latest examination pattern and syllabus of the exam. Go
through the previous year's question papers. Compare them and see what types of
questions are repeated every year.
It is advisable not to go refer several books for same topic, instead it is bett
er to refer one good book for each topic, which clarifies basic concepts. Select
ive books are advisable for selected topics.
For every candidate time management is very essential along with the setting of
target. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is apt in his words One always has time enough
, if one will apply it well. The first step which every candidate should follow i
s to make a time table. Take one subject from each section of your technical syl
labus and devote at least 3 hours daily to it. Try to devote 1 hour each to Engl
ish and General Studies so that you can take an edge as it is key differentiator
for being in top rankers.
Manage your time table such that it has good distribution of study hours for Gen
eral Ability Section and technical papers, as it makes studies enjoyable and it
becomes easy to sustain the momentum for longer hours, without boredom setting i
n and without losing interest and enthusiasm.
It is always better to prepare short term plan of study, which should be framed
in mind and executed.
While studying the technical subjects don t forget to make short notes of importan
t topics. Make a separate list of formulae for each subject and revise the short
notes and formulae list daily.
After completion of the topic solve all previous year questions and practice oth
er questions which are available in good books. This will help you to assess you
rself for level of understanding of the subject.
When you are solving the question set the time limit and after the completion of
it check whether you have completed the task within stipulated time or not.
It is better to practice questions on OMR sheets for marking the answers, which
will help to practice the marking of correct answers on OMR sheets quickly in th
e examinations.
After completion of it take another subject and follow the same guidelines and d
on t forget to revise the important portion and your short notes of the subject wh
ich you have prepared earlier.
While preparing the English, segregate the vocabulary from previous 10 years pap
er of Engineering Services Examination and Combined Defense Services Examination
. Try to memorize at least 20 words daily and don t miss to revise those words.

The next step to prepare the portion of English is solve daily 10 to 15 question
s based on finding errors and rearrangement of sentences.
From the topics of general studies first of all find out the area of your intere
st and study it in the form of story or try to correlate the things. It will dev
elop interest and make the things comfortable.
Read Newspaper and articles, watch morning bulletin, surf websites in order to p
repare for General Ability section. The current affairs coverage is required til
l 45 days before the date of examination.
Solve all the previous papers of General studies so that you can come to know th
e main areas of GS.
For making your conventional portion strong and for securing good marks in it, t
ry to solve at least 5 questions daily from the previous 10 years paper and solv
e expected conventional questions from the topic you are studying same day. It w
ill improve your presentation and enhance the writing skills along with the rect
ification of the silly mistakes made by the candidates during the examination.
Always remember Practice Makes a Man Perfect . Reserve last 15 days, for quick prac
tice and revision. Solve as many papers you can. The more you will solve the que
stion more marks you will gain. Practice full-length mock test, comprising of al
l the sections, within the fixed time period.
Tips and tricks for solving the papers
The first motto while solving the question papers is to utilize your time optima
lly.
The Objective Paper-I consists of 120 questions which are evenly based on Englis
h and General Studies. The questions on the topics of rearrangement of sentences
and Comprehension are tedious and time consuming so it is suggested to solve th
ose questions after completion of rest of the paper.
While solving the comprehension part first read the passage then read the questi
ons asked and then mark the lines which are related to the questions.
If you are not able to solve a particular question then don t waste your time on i
t and don t get disheartened. Move to other questions and solve tough question at
the end.
While solving technical objective papers, try to solve the questions on theory f
irst and then work on numerical questions as there is Negative Marking for each
wrong answer and cut off is to be cleared in these papers hence never try to mar
k those answers on which you are not confident.
On third day of examination there are two conventional papers. Before solving th
e paper, first of all read the question paper thoroughly and mark those question
s in which you can perform your best.
Write the answers, step by step in tidy manner to give an impressive presentatio
n and by doing this the candidate will not miss the essential points and formula
e. If some diagram is required try to make well labeled and neat diagram with fr
eehand sketch. You will get the credit for orderly, effective, and exact express
ion combined with due economy of words in the conventional papers of the examina
tion.
Write formulae in the numerical, S.I units of concerned quantities and answers a
s well.
Steps to enhance your performance
1. The examination requires consistency, never say die spirit and most important
is self motivation. Healthy ideas grow in healthy mind so alongwith studies do
devote some time for recreation this will make enhance the memorizing power and
efficiency.
2. Keep safely documents related to examination such as acknowledgment of applic
ation, hall ticket, application number and other details. This is to avoid last
minute tension for obvious things.
3. One day before the examination don t study much, just revise the important note
s which you have made. Relax and sleep for atleast 6 hours so that you write exa
m with fresh mind.
4. Keep atleast 2 sharpened pencils, eraser, sharpener, 2 pens, calculator, hall

ticket, etc. in your examination kit. Leave for your exam timely and don t study
much on the same day during travelling.