If you have been planning to appear for the UPSC IES exam, then preparing well in advance is important that will help in scoring good marks. It is vital to have a basic idea about the IES syllabus and exam pattern. Once you are thorough with the syllabus part, you can confidently prepare for the exam and score good marks.
There are four engineering streams IES is conducted for- mechanical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, and telecommunication & electronics. Aspirants will need to undergo three different stages of examinations, including the personality test (interview).
This examination is named as Engineering Service Examination and is drafted by UPSC to fill up the vacancies in Engineering Services. The board announces vacancies along with the IES salary for specific posts in advance on its website.
Before you start preparing for the exam, it is best to know the pattern of UPSC IES. UPSC IES exam is held in three different stages, written test combining (objective and subjective). Once the candidate successfully attends the written exam, he/she is then called for a personal interview. The written test is of 1100 marks and 200 marks of personal interview. Aspirants will need to appear for the exam for three days.
If you belong to a specific engineering background and will be appearing for this exam that consists of an engineering question; you need to be well versed with the stream. Topics will cover areas like civil, mechanical, electronic, and telecommunication. Both objective and conventional paper will consist of 300 marks each.
The General Ability section will cover topics of GK, so you need to be thorough with it. This section of the exam is to check how well informed you are about your country and other aspects. This includes history, geography, and politics. To do so-
If you successfully pass the written exam, you will be called for the personality test. This is the central portion of the selection part, and you need to be very confident. The best way to prepare is to undergo a mock interview through which you can prepare your mind well.
While preparing for the IES exam, try to cover all the portion of the IES Syllabus, and avoid focusing only on topics. Since you appearing for the competitive exam, you should carry sufficient knowledge of different topics. Give a balanced approach to each subject you are preparing.
There are many UPSC IES study materials available covering all the major GK and engineering topics. Try to develop regular notes while preparing for the exam. There will be calculations, formulas, and derivations, which you will need to, learn, and prepare well.
To appear for the IES exam, you need to work best on your time management. The exam is a yearlong process with having different phases. To crack this exam, you need to work on your study plans and time management. Since you will be under pressure to finish the exam on time, it is best to have a proper mock test to build efficient time management.
Since the IES exam majorly focuses on engineering subjects, students tend to give major focus on a technical area, and less emphasis on non-technical topics. Therefore, the best is to provide a balanced approach to both technical and non-technical papers.
The IES exam is conducted every year, so there are enough previous year question papers available to solve for the mock test. Keep solving the previous year’s paper to get the whole idea of what type of question will appear and how fast you can solve the paper. Develop a habit of solving and analyzing previous year papers for better preparation.
The reason behind this article is to help aspirants prepare for the UPSC IES exam and score good marks to get the job. A good score, along with experience, will result in getting a good IES salary and career.