Home » Working Women » Careers - Civil Services, Armed Forces » How to Join Civil Services Entry: Entry into the three All India Services (as well as the Central Services) is through the combined competitive examination held for the civil services. The examination is divided into two sections (i) the Preliminary examination (ii) the Main.

The Preliminary examination is the first step for selection to the services. On the third Saturday of December usually, the UPSC publishes a supplement in the Employment News on the Civil Service exams. The supplement also contains an application form for the Preliminaries. The examination is conducted in 40 centres all over the country on the second Sunday of June.

The Prelims is a written test comprising two objective, multiple-choice type papers. Paper 1 is an optional subject of 300 marks and paper 2 is of general studies of 150 marks. There are 23 optional subjects to choose from in the first paper. General Studies covers six topics - India History, Constitution of India, Geography, Economics, Science and Current Affairs.

The Mains, also a written test, are held around November/December each year. The exam carries 2,000 marks, to be followed by an interview (for the successful candidates) of 300 marks. The written exam consists of seven papers and two language papers - one in English and the other in an optional Indian Language. Marks gained in these papers are not computed in the total score, but passing in both is compulsory for qualification. The other papers are: one compulsory Essay paper, two papers in General Studies and two papers each of the two optional subjects that one opts for. All the papers are of subjective type.

The Interview or Personality Test: This is the final stage in the selection process, the battle royale that can swing the outcome either way. The interview score plays a decisive role in the selection process and also in the service, which is finally allotted to you. Roughly only 750-800 candidates make it past the final selection out of the hundreds of thousands who send applications.

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