Joining the civil services

[maneesh]

hello friends,
I find a lot of great ideas in the post of all of you.
Krish, i will confine to your question i.e. Shift in career.

I believe we all are motivated / fired by following in a profession
(a) Security of Job
(b) Variety in Job
(c) Significance / Importance (You can sustitute this with Power)
(d) Satisfaction / Connect (You can substitute this with Job enrichment)

Before you decide to make a switch i suggest you evaluate your current job on a scale of 1 - 10.

As far as Civil Services are considered, Firstly there are a number of services and in many one may not be directly solving the problem of the poor / feeding the hungry. One will be a part of the giant machinery where definetly one can leave a mark but it may not be as visible as solving the problems.
So lets take it only as career option where one can contribute significantly to society.

I having crossed the bridge would give my assessment of Civil Services on the above 4 factors.
(a) Security - 9 (Though the pension plan is modified after 2002 batch I believe CS rank high in security)
(b) Variety - 9 (One got excellent potential to do a variety of job, It all depends how much you are willing to explore)
(C) Significance - 10 (I guess this is one of the top reason why people come to the CS. The thought of public good also eminent from this. As this vest a lot of discretionary power in the hands of the officer. And one can exercise this power of own good or for the goods of the public at large. This choice is made once you are in the service for say 5 years or so and face challenges of staying away from family, taking decision for which only you will stand by.
(d) Satisfaction (Job Enrichment) : 5 I would rate this low.
Reason: Seemingly low salary vis a via Pvt. Sector (Through in analysis you may find some other side of the story)
Unable to execute what you believe a lot of time
A number of feedback mechanism in the system where you have to keep guessing what reaction this action of you results.


I guess the choices in the four categories are personal and depends on the individual.

All said and done I would say CS is a excellent career option.

[krishh02]

hi maneesh...that was a great write...and has all the ingredients to say that CS is a reasonably good career option...lets hope that the society benefits from the service ( it does even today...but hoping for more )...

[sivaharimani]

hey hrishh,
you are analytical in answering and using proper words. i enjoyed your post.

[krishh02]

... A competent leader can get efficient service from poor troops, while on the contrary an incapable leader can demoralize the best of troops...

Long live the sacrifice of those who made us free...I bow to thee...

Vande Mataram...Jai hind

[chanda_s]

krishh02 i guess you have to answer your own questions. not to us, but to yourself. there is nothing in the world like a perfect career. and that is simply because there isn't a perfect individual that would fit into a perfect career even if it existed.

so try and learn things about yourself; what you really want and what you can do. making a difference is not an end in itself. making a point is also not an end in itself. unless one realises this one always ends up missing the bigger picture. there is no point trying to assume a larger role than what is necessary.

just remember this, everyone in this society has a role to play- whether an officer or otherwise. i always suggest civil service aspirants not to entertain haughty and impractical ideas that one would be able to make a difference, would be able to change the lives of people etc.

iam reminded of a couple of lines by latha ramesh in one of her posts in this very forumboard, "If I am not successful, all this effort wouldnt go waste. I can get connected to an NGO, help bureaucrats, guide my children better and make them good patriotic citizens" hasn't she beautifully conveyed the essence of a good social life! it is the will to serve that is important. one may serve as a soldier, one may serve as a teacher, another may serve as a safaiwala, another as a minister and some other as a responsible parent. what ultimately matters is if we are doing our roles properly.

and when you do your role properly, you are not just helping others; more importantly you are helping yourself by taking your soul to a higher level and by becoming a better human being.

if civilservices are a vehicle for some to attain that state of mind, yes why not civilservices?

i would also recommend that you read the thread "why civil services". it is available in the forum "new to civil services".

[Balaji Allam]

Dear Krishh,

Greetings! I am very glad to see a fellow IT professional aspiring to become and Indian Civil Service officer. I am EXACTLY in the same boat as you are and I heartfully suggest you pursue your dream. I would definitely agree with all your views as well as others whoever replied in the thread here, but my perspective of the issue here is that, given a choice between your dream and your career, I would vote for your dream as long as you are hell-bent on realizing it! As for your career, I would definitely not say you jeopardize it by giving up, but sparing your time accordingly would be a good start. I mean, since this is going to be your first attempt at the exam, why not you do it simultaneously (more like a part-time). I am saying this because there are no hard and fast rules as to how to prepare for an exam, FOR ANY EXAM for that matter. As long as you are working your buns off, it sure pays!! Well, given my situation, I've been living in the US for the past 5 years but I would still want attempt it. I am not saying that I would definitely succeed (many of my friends say that it's near impossible, wrong time, wrong place) but I would still want to give it a go. For me, I think trying to succeed an attempt like this gives oneself organizing skills, knowledge and most importantly confidence in yourself!!

I hope I did not wander off from the discussion. I would definitely like to see everyone's response! Thanks for your time!!

[ashuabs]

Fellow IT professionals aspiring 4 civil services...count me in 2!!!

so gud 2 c ppl of my breed hre

really hope n pray tht v can rock the boat of nrms a little bit hre

[kushal]

@Ashuabs,
I have merged your three simultaneous bumped posts

Here I am quoting Para 10 of our Forum rules:

No "Bumping" (Your threads/posts): Please do not repeatedly bump your threads to try and get attention. Most members of the site are not online 24 hours a day and so will not see your post the instant it is made. Do not bump a thread within 24 hours, and not more than twice a week.

Also may I request you to kindly use full English here, so that we make this a better place.

Thank You!

[Ankur.Goel]

Hi Siva,

Really like your honest ideas and views.

I am myself from IT field and in the same dilemma that my fellow IT people
are experiencing.

To prepare for Civil services with job is a big toss, as in IT field , for your jobs to be intact you must equip and update your knowledge base and always have to be on your toes.

Though i am trying this option but its very tough guys... :-)

I might also leave my job in near future,just waiting for the right time to strike and strike hard.


And just to match Siva's words, i do understand Krish's words that whether after becoming
an IAS we can do all that Siva mentioned, The simple answer to that is NO, but the bigger picture is , we will do a lot of it and serve the nation and make it better to some extent. I believe we always have two choices in INDIA, either to crib the way the Government works or to go in the system with some authority and power and try to eradicate the cause of that cribbing, for others.

Apart from that seeing IAS as a career option only , might not help, as there are more than 4 lac people competing for these esteemed services. And atleast half ( if not more ! ) are very serious about it and prepare very hard , but what wins in the end is the intention, because many of them fail because they just wanted it for power and money,many of them wanted it for just fame,many of them just wanted it to prove to their parents,relatives and friends, but believe me it is the intention what wins in the end and separates the hard workers with that thin line of INTENTION as extra point.

Because i believe if someone says to me what can you do in civil services, more than 80 percent people might turn out to be corrupt,with only 20 percent honest, then my answer is my aim is that with my induction in civil services i will make sure that the honest percentage does not become 19.9999 , it only becomes 20.999999 . Thats my way to feel and keep myself inspired.

Thanks,
Ankur

[sivaharimani]

Apart from that seeing IAS as a career option only , might not help, as there are more than 4 lac people competing for these esteemed services. And atleast half ( if not more ! ) are very serious about it and prepare very hard , but what wins in the end is the intention, because many of them fail because they just wanted it for power and money,many of them wanted it for just fame,many of them just wanted it to prove to their parents,relatives and friends, but believe me it is the intention what wins in the end and separates the hard workers with that thin line of INTENTION as extra point.

Yes thats true Ankur. Thanks for the Good words. Finally the Intention behind the actions only matters and the Intention at any cost will be brought out to the world by out come of the actions either it can be sincere or material.