IAS Interview Experience

Board:

• Mr. Arvind Saxena (Chairman)

Candidate:

• Profile: B.Tech. in Petroleum Engineering
• Hobbies: Untrained Singing, listening to Rap Songs by Afro Americans

Round 1

Candidate: Excuse me, sir, may I come in?
Chairman: Yes, Ashok.

Candidate: Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, and good afternoon, sirs.
Chairman: You are a petroleum engineer, Ashok.

Candidate: Yes, sir.
Chairman: Why didn’t you work after college?

Candidate: Sir, I wanted to prepare solely for civil services.

Chairman: Okay, what is LNG?
Candidate: Sir, natural gas has a large volume at standard conditions, making it uneconomical to transport. To make it easily transportable, it is cooled down to around -150 degrees, reducing its volume by a factor of 600. This liquid is called LNG.

Chairman: Why are the containers that carry it spherical?
Candidate: Sir, I am not certain, but I believe it is because a sphere provides the maximum volume for a given surface area.

Chairman: Oil prices have been very low for quite some time now, rendering the shale gas industry of the U.S. economically unviable. Saudi Arabia is hindering efforts to bring the prices to normal levels. All investments in the U.S. shale industry have been threatened. Do you think the U.S. would attack Saudi Arabia if it continues in this manner?
Candidate: Sir, I believe that the U.S. would never attack Saudi Arabia because it has significant investments in the region, and Saudi Arabia is one of its most important allies in West Asia. Additionally, the U.S. is the largest energy consumer in the world, and Saudi Arabia is vital for ensuring its energy security in the future when prices are stabilized again.

Round 2

Chairman: Why do you think the prices would stabilize in the near future?
Candidate: Because, sir, the factors which caused oversupply and the demand for crude oil would reverse in a couple of years or two. The U.S. shale output is declining already. OPEC will agree on the production cut eventually. The global economy will come out of the recession. Developing economies will grow faster, demanding more oil. Their markets will be more open to investments and production. The trade facilitation agreement would also certainly contribute.

Chairman: Ashok, do you know what graphene is? 
Candidate: Graphene, sir, is an allotrope of carbon having exceptionally high electric conductance. It is also thermally highly conductive and is used in microcircuits. Graphene sheets are rolled to fabricate carbon nanotubes which have immense applications.

Round 3:

Chairman: Can carbon nanotubes (CNTs) be used for lighting purposes, like LEDs, etc.?
Me: Sir, I have not read about it, but I believe that in the future, they certainly will be used for lighting. (The Chairman signals the first member, and he takes over)

Member 1: Ashok, you have a history as your optional subject. Let me ask you a very simple question: What is history? Plain and simple. (After taking a few seconds to think)
Me: Sir, in my understanding, history is the study of past events and circumstances carried out in the present so as to make the future better.

Member 1: That’s a nice definition, which I can see has been formulated right here by you, but is it only the study of the past or the interpretation of it?
Me: Certainly, interpretation and analysis too, sir, and that is how history has evolved so far.

Member 1: Ashok, you talked about LNG. Have you heard of IOTC?
Me: No, sir, I’m not aware of this acronym.

Member 1: Is it something related to the transportation of oil in India?”
Me: Sorry, sir, I am not able to come up with anything like this, sir.

Member 1: Ok, Ashok. What is Schlumberger?
Me: Sir, it is the largest service provider corporate in the world in the petroleum industry.

Round 4:

Member 1: What does Schlumberger exactly do? 
Me: Sir, it acquires seismic data for oil exploration, drills wells, gathers data from them, provides workover services, and so on. (Looks satisfied and signals the next member to take over)

Member 2: Ashok, Indian companies have been carrying out activities in an offshore region which has led to several disputes. Are you aware of the region where this happened?
Me: Sir, that was in the South China Sea where ONGC Videsh Ltd won an oil block put at auction by the government of Vietnam, and China has been objecting to these projects since the beginning. 

Member 2: What is China’s argument in this? 
Me: Sir, China asserts that the South China Sea is a disputed region, and India should refrain from carrying out economic activities in such a region. 

Member 2: Is it disputed between Vietnam and China?
Me: Yes, sir, but there are other states involved as well. 

Member 2: Can you name a few? 
Me: Sir, Taiwan, the Philippines, Cambodia, Malaysia, etc. 

Member 2: What has India’s stand been on this? 
Me: Sir, India went ahead with the project, saying it has acquired it through a lawful process by a sovereign country. India also objected to China on the same grounds, holding that China should also not carry out economic activities in the region of POK illegally occupied by Pakistan. China, in retaliation, created hindrances in the navigation of Indian ships through the region, which could not deter India.

Member 2: Ashok, why is gasoline considered a better eco-friendly fuel compared to diesel? 
Me: Sir, because one molecule of diesel has more carbon atoms than those in one molecule of gasoline, so upon combustion diesel produces more CO2 as compared to gasoline.

Round 5

Member 2: asks why diesel is used in large vehicles, to which the interviewee explains that diesel is denser than petrol, which means that more mass of diesel can be accommodated in a limited capacity fuel tank, providing effectively more calories of energy despite petrol having a higher calorific value.

Member 3: then asks why the interviewee chose history as an optional subject, to which the interviewee explains that they felt comfortable in history and believed that it was a safe subject. They also believed that history provided an edge in General Studies papers and essays.

Member 3: then asks why India, which had sufficient resources and was a prosperous country in the past, is now way behind the developed world. The interviewee explains that in their opinion, the two most significant reasons are the two centuries-long colonial rule in India and the drastic increase in population.

Round 6

Member 3: asks the interviewee to explain both reasons in detail, and the interviewee explains the economic policies of the British and their deliberate ruin of cottage industries in India. The interviewee also clarifies that the British only developed industries that fulfilled their colonial interests.

Member 3: then asks how crude oil is refined, to which the interviewee explains that it is carried out through a process called fractional distillation.

Member 3: then asks why different oil products have different prices despite having the same input cost. The interviewee explains that the most important criteria for pricing fuel is its calorific value, which is different for different products of refining. The government also plays an important role in pricing to make essential fuels available to citizens and to promote eco-friendly fuels like CNG.

Round 7

Member 4: asks if India has a federal structure, to which the interviewee answers yes, but union would be more appropriate as it has features of both federal and unitary structures.

Member 4: then asks which provision separates the jurisdictions of the Union and the states, to which the interviewee answers that it is the seventh schedule, which has separate lists of subjects over which the union, the states, and both can legislate.

Member 4: then asks what happens when contradictions arise in the legislation of the Union and states over the subjects of concurrent list. The interviewee pauses and admits that they are not particularly aware, but they believe there must be something.

Member 4: then asks about the third tier of the government, to which the interviewee answers that it is local self-governance. They explain that local self-governance was introduced statutorily in the constitution by two amendments in the 1990s, one for rural and one for urban areas.

Member 4: then asks how these institutions function and where they get funds from, to which the interviewee answers that funds are devolved to them based on the recommendations of state finance commissions.

Member 4: then asks if they are getting enough funds, to which the interviewee answers no and states that they need a larger share.

Member 4: then asks why they are not getting enough funds, to which the interviewee explains that these institutions are still maturing and state governments are waiting for the right time. They are increasing devolution in a phased manner, but much needs to be done.

The interview concludes with the interviewer thanking the interviewee.