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CSP General Studies Paper II: Syllabus Analysis & Strategy

CSAT or General Studies Paper II, what should we call this thing?

The term CSAT ( Civil Service Aptitude Test) is coined by major league coaching classes and not officially recognized by the UPSC. Not even used in the notifications. But ever since UPSC changed the Civil Service Preliminary Examination structure in 2011, General Studies Paper-II is popularly known as CSAT, if not both of the CSP General Studies papers. But to be precise, the name of Civil Services Preliminary Exam is still intact, even though from 2013 onwards therell be a common screening test i.e. CSP for both Civil Services (Main) Examination and IFoS (Main) Examination. Names of the papers would still be printed in UPSC test booklets General Studies Paper I and General Studies Paper II.
Interpersonal skills including communication skills Interpersonal Skills are also known by the names soft skills or people skills. These are skills which you need while you deal with people, for better and healthy results. A master of interpersonal skills knows how to deal with different people during different situations. Basic Interpersonal skills can be briefed as below Communication Skills Listening Skills Stress Management Assertiveness Decision Making Problem Solving Verbal Communication Non-Verbal Communication

Interpersonal skills including communication skills and UPSC Those who expected Sentence Correction, Fill up the blank grammar/language questions or Para-jumbles as there is a term called communication skill in syllabus were disappointed by UPSC, by not asking any questions from these areas at all. There were no questions in Interpersonal skills section, but questions came coupled with decision making and problem solving as you can see these two are also inseparable part of Interpersonal skills. Having said that, it doesnt mean UPSC will stick to the same type of questions in future too. They can go for language skill testing questions, but that may put students from rural background at a disadvantage, and thats probably the main reason why UPSC has not tried those areas directly in question paper. As of now for solving the Decision making and problem solving section, best answer is often derived by using the interpersonal skills too, and thats what UPSC expects from future Civil Servants.

2 Decision-making and problem-solving Decision Making and Problem Solving is an important section for CSAT ( Civil Services Preliminary Exam Paper 2). Having said that, those who are wondering what this section is all about they can refer 2011 and 2012 CSAT question paper and see those 7 or 8 questions at the end without negative marking. Decision Making Putting you in the shoes of an IAS officer Decision Making skills are not separate from Interpersonal Skills they are very well related. In civil service exam, question will be asked placing you in the shoes of a collector or a police officer. You are expected to think and take decisions like an officer. Decision Making and Problem Solving Questions for CSAT There can be different types of questions testing your decision making skills or problem solving skills. The most common type of question asked is situation analysis type. Possible Questions from Decision Making and Problem Solving Apart from the situation analysis question judging your instant reactions or response, there can also be decision making questions like selection of an individual or case study analysis which might include calculation.