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How to Become an IAS Officer: Step By Step Process of Becoming an IAS in India

By BYJU'S Exam Prep

Updated on: November 14th, 2023

How to Become an IAS Officer is one of the foremost questions in a student’s mind when he/she decides to sit for the UPSC Examination. The Civil Services Examination is conducted by the UPSC and is arguably the toughest exam in India. The commission examines a three-level exam consisting of Prelims, Mains, and Interviews.

IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services, along with the Indian Police Service and the Indian Forest Service. The IAS is a part of India’s permanent bureaucracy and an inseparable part of the Executive. This article will focus on answering How to Become an IAS Officer, along with a step-by-step preparation strategy.

How to Become IAS Officer?

To become an IAS Officer, one needs to clear the UPSC Exam. The UPSC CSE Exam consists of three stages, UPSC Prelims, Mains, and Interview. The service allocation to the IAS is done based on category reservations allocated during the specified year.

To become an IAS Officer, one must first go through the UPSC Syllabus in detail and understand it. The Prelims Syllabus and the UPSC Mains Syllabus, though integrated into nature, require a separate approach while preparing.

How to Become an IAS Officer After 12th?

The preparation for becoming an IAS Officer after the 12th starts with the basic necessary reading of the NCERT Books for UPSC. The NCERT books form the basis of most subjects’ preparation in the UPSC Preparation Strategy. To read the NCERTs for the UPSC exam, always move from class 6th level to 12th level.

The NCERT Books do not cover the entire civil service syllabus, but it does cover most of the fundamentals.

Once an aspiring candidate passes the intermediate level or class 12th, decide your area of interest in terms of an optional subject. Go through the List of Optional Subjects for UPSC, and pursue your graduation in that subject. Even if you do not choose an Arts background during graduation, you can still develop a habit of reading books related to Optional Subjects during your grad days.

How to Become an IAS Officer: Step-by-Step Strategy

To become an IAS Officer, one needs sheer determination, perseverance, and a desire to do hard work, even in extreme circumstances. The IAS Exam teaches one patience and the importance of hard work, coupled with smart work.

A robust UPSC Preparation Strategy helps in preparation for becoming an IAS Officer. Below we will discuss the steps that a serious aspiring candidate should adopt to achieve success. These step-by-step processes include:

Clear your Basics

  • As an aspiring IAS Officer, one must be clear with the basics and the syllabus. It is always advised to get a hand with the detailed UPSC Syllabus before starting the preparation.
  • Limited resources with exhaustive revision play a crucial role in the IAS Exam.
  • One should pay detailed attention to the Prelims Syllabus, Mains Syllabus, and the CSAT Syllabus to understand the UPSC Exam Pattern in a better way

Read NCERTs and Choose Basic Books

  • Once accustomed to the syllabus, move forward with the books.
  • An aspiring candidate needs to go through the NCERT Books for UPSC and revise them thoroughly at least 3-to 4 times before the exam.
  • Post completing the NCERT Books, pick up the standard recommended UPSC Books for all the subjects mentioned in the syllabus.

One should always use and make notes when studying, as it helps in easy revision at the last moment.

Practice UPSC Question Papers

  • By solving the UPSC Previous Year Question Papers, one gets conceptual clarity about the IAS Exam and the level of difficulty.
  • Solving PYQs also helps in time management and allows a candidate to get an idea of what areas to focus on to clear the UPSC Exam.

Focus on Current Affairs

  • Current Affairs is an integral part of the Civil Service Examination.
  • The relevance of current affairs in the UPSC Exam can be accessed from the fact that it is an indispensable part of the preparation.
  • To score well, one needs to have a basic understanding and conceptual clarity of news events nationally and internationally.
  • One should always prefer quality over quantity; for that, a candidate can consider reading The Hindu or The Indian Express.

Attempt Mocks

  • Attempting timely IAS mock tests helps in accessing the performance of the candidate preparing to become an IAS officer.
  • One should always attempt sectional, substantive, and full-length mocks from time to time.

Revise

  • Revision is the key to cracking the UPSC Exam in First Attempt. Keep your resources limited but revise them multiple times.
  • This helps in retaining the knowledge and understanding the subject or the topic in a much better way.
  • Micro-manage your study timetable accordingly and segregate weekly monthly, and quarterly targets.

How to Fill IAS Officer Form?

To become IAS Officer, the very first step is to fill out the application form released by the Commission every year. UPSC releases the application form for IAS every year, and the candidates interested in appearing for IAS 2023 can fill up the UPSC Application Form on the official website. It is advised for the candidates to go through all the necessary details before filling up the Prelims exam form online.

To fill out the IAS Officer Form online, follow these steps:

  • Visit the official website of UPSC
  • Then go to the CSE section
  • Click on the “Apply” option
  • Fill in all the required information and upload your latest photo and signature.
  • Check your application preview and Submit it

Selection Procedure of an IAS Officer

To qualify as an IAS Officer, one must sit for the UPSC Exam. The UPSC Exam consists of three stages, Prelims, Mains, and Interview. Failure, even at any stage, leads back to ground zero. The UPSC Prelims consist of two objective MCQs paper-set (General Studies and CSAT) with a maximum score of 400 points (200 each). The CSE Prelims are for screening purposes only; scores obtained in the exam are not considered for determining the candidate’s final rank.

The number of candidates admitted to the UPSC Mains Exam is approximately twelve to thirteen times the number of vacancies estimated to be filled during the notification year. Only applicants declared qualified by the Commission for the Prelims are admitted to the UPSC Mains examination.

For the UPSC Interview, only two to three times the allotted number of vacancies notified that year are called. The commission has the right to choose how many vacancies it wants to fill, i.e., how many candidates it feels fit for joining the Central Group A and B services.

Training of an IAS Officer

After the UPSC Results are declared and the UPSC Cut off are out for the year, the selected candidates through are called in for training at various centers across the country. The foundation course training is the same for all the services, such as IAS, IPS, IFS, IRS, IFoS, etc., and is done at LBSNAA.

LBSNAA is the National Academy of Administration for the recruits of the IAS. The job-specific training, i.e., Phase 1 and Phase 2 of training of the IAS Officers, along with the Bharat Darshan, commences from LBSNAA.

Roles and Duties After Becoming an IAS Officer

The role and responsibilities of an IAS Officer in India include:

  • To collect revenue and function as court officials in matters of revenue and crime, to maintain law and order, to implement union and state government policies at the grass-roots level when posted to field positions as Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Additional District Magistrate, District Magistrate, and Divisional Commissioner, and to act as an agent of the government in the field, i.e., to act as an intermediary between the public and the government.
  • To handle the administration and daily proceedings of the government, including the formulation and implementation of policy in consultation with the minister-in-charge of a specific ministry or department.
  • To contribute to policy formulation and to make a final decision in certain matters, with the agreement of the minister concerned or the council of ministers, when posted at the higher level in the Government of India.
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