IAS Interview Experience

Interview Date ­ 10.03.2016
Board­ Arvind Saxena
Profile ­ Production Engineer in PSU
From ­ Haryana
Hobbies ­ trekking, workout in the gym, sketching  

Round 1

Chairman: You did this, then this, then teaching for a brief period, now ­­­­­­­­( present psu ). Interesting…..
Tell me your exact profile
Me:­ Explained. Final product work.

Chairman: This means you see the final products and you must be proud of serving the country by providing your service
Me: ­ yes sir

Chairman: What are the Challenges for ur organization today
Me:­ Imports from China, the sluggish market, and future expansion of the solar sector will also be a challenge for my organization because it is having expertise in the thermal sector.

Chairman: ­ What do you see the future of your organization?
Me:­ Sir, not bright

Chairman: ­ Not bright, why ??
Me: ­ Yes sir not bright if an organization fails to diversify itself, maintain quality levels, and follow the delivery schedules.

Chairman: ­ Where should your organization diversify then,
Me: ­ sir there are many options and the solar sector is one of them. It is trying to increase its presence as can be seen in Rajasthan solar project and it is presently having some presence in the solar sector but the pace with which it is diversifying is not satisfactory and needs to be enhanced.

Chairman:­ Isn’t it the downfall of your organization that you want to come here?
Me: ­ No sir, it’s not the condition of my organization that is pushing me, but the attractiveness of civil services that I am coming here .because it will provide me: huge responsibilities, authority, and opportunity to serve the public at ground level. 

Round 2
Chairman: ­ ­ What are your views regarding trade unions?
Me: ­ sir I have seen their working, where on one side contract labor is not provided enough security permanent workers are properly supported by trade unions. But sometimes I feel that trade unions go heavy-handed and hamper work.

Chairman: ­ you mean to say they are not doing anything good.
Me:­ No sir, it’s not like they are not doing anything, they are doing well for the welfare of workers and when management holds discussions with them, they even help in meeting production targets. But still, i feel that sometimes they cause problems. Not always but sometimes .so need some devolution of powers.

Chairman: ­ devolution?? U mean dilution?
Me:­ Yes sir sorry for my words, some dilution is needed.

Member1:  So, you like trekking
Me­: Yes sir, I am on the beginning level.

Member1: ­ Tell me which treks you have covered
Me:­ named 3­4 treks

Member1: How many days are required for each trek
Me:­ told

Member 1: ­ Ok, today we are having top cars like Mercedes that run above 200km/hr very easily and we are having aircraft like Tejas flying at a speed of 120 miles per hour approx 200 kmph , why do aircraft fly and the car does not. You can use paper and pencil to explain.
Me:­ I used paper and pencil and explained the aerodynamic profile of the wings of aircraft where the difference of the profile above and below causes lift in layman’s terms. 

ROUND3
Member 1:  But what is the principle behind it +??
Me:­ Sir, Bernoulli’s theorem.

Member 1:  Ok, today we are having mechanical brakes. what are other types of brakes?
Me­: Hydraulic, pneumatic

Member 1:   what is the difference between hydraulic and pneumatic
Me­: Difference of fluid used, where one uses liquid, other uses primarily air for applying  required force

Member 1:   Any other difference? Suppose if we change the fluid of hydraulic to air will it become pneumatic
Me:­ That will require a change of parameters of design too sir.

Member 1:  Ok I see you had home science as one of your subjects in 12 th, what did you use to do in that?
Me:­ Sir food preservation, prevention from communicable diseases, homemaking, cloth care stitching, etc.

Member 1:  Ok, now u are a mechanical engineer, how will you see those things now ???
Me:­ Sir as a mechanical engineer, I will see if entered in the home science lab that if given cooking, I will see how can I improve the cooking stove, if given a sewing machine, I will try to understand its mechanical working and for its improvement, etc.

Member 2: Ok you told Neelkantha. Which were rocks seen by you sideways.
Me­: Sir sedimentary

Member 2:  Vegetation there changes or not
Me:­ No sir, because there is not much height variation.

Member 2:  Good, how is the locality of your Psu.
Me:­ Sir, it’s a nice place

Member 2:­ Which are trees predominantly present there
Me­: I was trying to think, he told by himself

Member 2: animals entering the company
Me: ­ Told

Member 2::­ suppose you are SDM in such a place and there are cases of men­ animal conflict. what will be your action towards it.
Me:­ Sir my first step will be to create awareness among people, that there is a problem of such kind. As my organization does. Then I will try to ensure some security cameras for capturing their movement. A contact in emergency for people and a quick response team.

Member 2: What if Hathi comes?
Me­: gave a thought but was not able to think about elephant corridors, so said that sir almost same.

Member 2: Ok, tell me sports persons from your district
Me:­ Saina nehwal ,chandagi ram

Member 2: boxer vijender???
Me:­ Sir I thought you are asking about Hisar, he is from Bhiwani and that is my birthplace.

Member 2:have you read yesterday’s newspaper? He gave some statements about the knockout.do you know??
Me: ­ sorry sir

Member 2: You are an engineer, why don’t you want to go to IES, there is good scope in the future because of bullet trains, etc.
Me:­ Sir I am ready to serve in that profile too and I have given ese too, but my final aim is cse because of its diversity.

Member 2: eans you have written ese?
Me: Yes sir

Member 2::Asked some questions about private-sector education. (not clear so asked to repeat)

Member 2:you have seen mushrooming of private engineering colleges in recent years what are your views on that
Me­: Yes sir it was about when I entered my graduation that I saw the large-scale mushrooming of private colleges, but I have seen some colleges and I have worked in one too, and I can say that they do not have the required infrastructure, quality teachers, labs, etc.All that they are creating are non­employable engineers, which I don’t think is good for our country. So it is required to have strict guidelines for that and in fact, we are having but require proper implementation of these guidelines.

Member 2:You listen to poetry?
Me:­ no sir

Member 3: Is any Indian poet writing in both English and Hindi?
Me:­ Sry sir

Member 3: Means not interested in poetry. Ok do you listen to songs
Me­: Sometimes

Member 3: Any writer, can you name?
Me :­ sry sir

Member 3: ­Ok, what is this ­­­­­­­­­­ stand for ( asked about my clg ) Told
Member 3:  Is it a minority institution
Me:­ No sir

Member 3: : what is the difference between normal and minority institutes?
Me:­ sir autonomy

Member 3: Specify
Me: ­ sir I think regarding curricula and management.

Member 3: I don’t think
Me:­ Sir regarding religious instructions

Member 3: no
Me­: sry sir, not clear over that

Member 3: three problems of Haryana agro
Me:­ water table, landholdings, marketing

Member 3: solution for the water table and landholding
Me­; sir that requires a switch from water-intensive to less water-intensive crops and that requires awareness changes in government procurement policies to promote other crops etc.

Member 3: What can be other crops you can see in place of rice and sugarcane?
Me: ­ Sir I see the potential of Haryana in horticulture due to the presence of ncr region as a good market

Member 3: Do you think Delhi is having unmet demand? Can you name the deficit of fruits in Delhi
Sorry sir cant name but require to see the demands of Delhi what is in surplus or deficit and then we can plan for
Haryana.

ROUND4
Member 4: You studied your whole schooling at Holy Child, right?
Me: No, sir. After 9th class only.

Member 4: But you have written in your DAF.(The chairman comes closer and checks, then says…)
Chairman: He was at Holy Child during 10th grade, that’s why he wrote that.
Member 4: Okay, tell me, which Christian church is associated with Holy Child?
Me: I’m sorry, sir, I have no idea.

Member 4: Alright, you mentioned that you like trekking. You must be aware that Pakistan used to conduct trekking campaigns on its side of Siachen, but not India. Don’t you think we were late and woke up late?
Me: Sir, I believe we were not late, but rather right on time, as we successfully militarized that area.

Member 4: Okay, we have lost many lives there continuously. What can be the solution?
Me: Sir, it is a matter of trust, and currently, there is a lack of trust between India and Pakistan, both in the present and future. Therefore, I think we cannot demilitarize Siachen at present due to its strategic location.

Member 4: How strategic is it?
Me: I apologize, sir. I am unable to recall its exact location at the moment.

Member 4: What about China?
Me: Yes, sir, China is a factor.

Member 4: You go to the gym. What can the state do to promote health? Should the state promote health?
Me: Yes, sir, the state should take responsibility for promoting health. However, I would recommend promoting sports instead of gyms for two reasons: the promotion of health and the development of sports personalities.

Member 4: Is football a people’s game or not?
Me: No, sir, it has not experienced significant growth as a people’s game.

Member 4: Why?
Me: Sir, there is a lack of promotion by the state, which has hindered the growth of football as a people’s game.
Member 4: What about sponsorship?
Me: Yes, sir, there is also a lack of sponsorship, which further affects the development of football.
Member 4: You mentioned the informal sector. Is it doing enough or not?
Me: No, sir, the informal sector is not doing enough to address the requirements and needs.
Member 4: What about ESIC?
Me: Sir, the issue with ESIC lies in the matter of quality. There are concerns regarding the quality of services provided.
Member 4: Does it include the informal sector?
Me: I’m not sure, sir.
Member 4: What about AT&C losses?
Me: I provided the information about AT&C losses.
Member 4: What about T&D losses?
Me: I also provided the information about T&D losses.
Member 4: How much can we tolerate?
(I misunderstood the question and thought it was asking which losses, so I responded…)
Me: T&D losses, sir.
Member 4: No, no. What percentage?
Me: Currently, it is 24%.
(Interrupted and said…)
Me: Okay, last question.
Member 4: About the Middle East, what pattern? Why?
Me: I’m sorry, sir, I have no idea.
(There was also a question about Marshal coming in between the interview by a member, and I failed to satisfy them.)
Interview over.
The interview was conducted in a cordial manner, but there were no expressions of satisfaction on the faces of the board members, especially the chairman, who appeared quite reserved.