How Interview Boards Work: Stages, Marks and What Is Assessed
Interview boards decide the final and most personal stage of many Indian recruitments, yet many candidates walk in without knowing how much the interview weighs or what the panel is measuring. This chapter maps the stage: which recruitments still interview, what the interview is worth in final merit, the qualities boards say they assess, and the answer structures used throughout the book. Chapters 2 to 7 then cover Q1 to Q50, one question per section.
KarmSakha preparation topics covered
- Which recruitments keep an interview, and which lost it under the DoPT order of 29 December 2015
- Interview marks and weightage in UPSC, IBPS, SBI, RBI and State PSC recruitment
- The qualities UPSC and ESE boards say they assess, and how each shows in a spoken answer
- Turning the application form into a one-page dossier with predicted probes
- Personality tests, psychometric tests and group exercises in bank recruitment
- Four answer structures: STAR, PREP, CODS and the 'I don't know' protocol
- Interview-day conduct and a 21-day mock-interview plan
Which Recruitments Still Interview You and Which Stopped in 2016
The rule that changed the landscape is DoPT Office Memorandum No. 39020/01/2013-Estt.(B)-Part, dated 29 December 2015. From 1 January 2016 it ended recruitment with an interview for Group 'C' posts, including posts reclassified as Group 'C', and for non-gazetted Group 'B' posts, across ministries, attached and subordinate offices, autonomous bodies and public sector undertakings. Skill and physical tests may continue, but only as qualifying tests with no marks. A ministry that wants an interview for a specific post needs a detailed proposal approved by the Minister. For central public sector enterprises, the OM points to a separate Department of Public Enterprises instruction of 14 December 2015, which asked the administrative ministries to have the enterprises under them drop interviews for junior-level posts.
In practice, the large SSC and RRB examinations select candidates without any personal interview. SSC CGL, CHSL and MTS, and RRB NTPC and Group D, rank candidates on written tiers and, for some posts, skill, typing or physical tests, so an interview guide will not improve your rank there. Officer-level recruitment is different: UPSC Civil Services, the IBPS and SBI probationary officer examinations and RBI Grade B all keep a personal interview or personality test, and this book is written for that level.
Check the selection-procedure section of your notice before you prepare. If it lists an interview, a personality test or a Phase III, this book applies to you. If it lists only written tiers, skill tests and document verification, it does not, and every hour spent rehearsing answers is an hour taken from the syllabus that decides your rank. The notice is the only binding source for your cycle, so check its date as well as its contents.
| Recruitment | Interview stage? | What replaces it |
|---|---|---|
| Central Group 'C' and non-gazetted Group 'B' (from 1 January 2016) | No, unless a Minister-approved exemption applies | Written test; skill or physical tests as qualifying only |
| SSC CGL, CHSL and MTS | No | Written tiers; skill or typing tests for some posts |
| RRB NTPC and RRB Group D | No | Computer-based tests; skill or physical tests where needed |
| UPSC CSE, ESE and CAPF (AC) | Yes: Personality Test | Written Main examination (CAPF adds physical and medical tests first) |
| IBPS PO and IBPS RRB Officer Scale I | Yes: interview | Online Main examination; for PO, a self-report personality test comes before the interview |
| SBI PO | Yes: Phase III | Psychometric test (no marks), group exercise, interview |
| RBI Grade B (General) | Yes: 75-mark interview | Phase II written papers |
| State PSC civil services | Usually yes, under state rules | Mains examination; rules vary by state |
How Much the Interview Weighs in Final Merit
The interview's weight is a share: interview marks divided by the total the notification uses for merit. The same 100-mark interview can be a fifth of the final score in one examination and a ninth in another. Keep two roles in view: the share tells you what one mark is worth, and any qualifying floor tells you where you can be eliminated outright regardless of your written score.
The UPSC Civil Services Examination is the clearest case. The written Main examination carries 1,750 marks (seven merit papers of 250 each) and the Personality Test 275, a total of 2,025, so the Personality Test is 275 ÷ 2,025, or 13.6 per cent. The scheme sets no minimum qualifying mark for it. Its score is simply added to the written marks, so a weak interview lowers your rank but does not by itself end the attempt, as a bank interview floor would.
Banks use a different architecture. For IBPS PO the final score is 80:20 Online Main and interview, with Preliminary as screening only. The interview carries 100 marks, with a floor of not less than 40 per cent (35 per cent for SC, ST, OBC and PwBD). For SBI PO 2026, Mains is normalised to 75 and Phase III to 25; Phase III's 50 raw marks are the group exercise (20) and interview (30). RBI Grade B's General stream adds a 75-mark interview to 300 marks of Phase II papers, a 20 per cent share.
State commissions set their own patterns, and they revise them often. Recent-cycle summaries put the RPSC RAS interview at 100 marks against 800 Mains marks, a share of 100 ÷ 900, or 11.1 per cent, and the MPPSC State Service interview at 175 against 1,400 Mains marks, 175 ÷ 1,575, also 11.1 per cent. UPPCS lists a 100-mark personality test and BPSC a 120-mark interview, but both states have recently restructured their Mains papers, so compute those shares from your own notification. Treat every State PSC figure here as a recent-cycle guide, not a rule.
| Recruitment | Interview marks | Total for merit | Interview share |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPSC CSE | 275 | 2,025 | 13.6% |
| UPSC ESE | 200 | 1,300 (Prelims 500 + Main 600 + PT 200) | 15.4% |
| UPSC CAPF (AC) | 150 | 600 | 25.0% |
| IBPS PO | 100 | Out of 100 (80:20) | 20% |
| IBPS RRB Officer Scale I | 100 | Out of 100 (80:20) | 20%; recent cycles |
| SBI PO 2026, Phase III | 30 of 50 raw | Out of 100 (Mains 75 + Phase III 25) | 15% if Phase III converts proportionally |
| RBI Grade B (General) | 75 | 375 (Phase II 300 + interview 75) | 20% |
| UPPCS personality test | 100 | Check your notification (Mains recently restructured) | Not calculated |
| BPSC CCE interview | 120 | Check your notification (Mains recently restructured) | Not calculated |
| RPSC RAS | 100 | 900 (Mains 800 + interview 100) | 11.1% |
| MPPSC State Service | 175 | 1,575 (Mains 1,400 + interview 175) | 11.1% |
What the Boards Say They Assess
The UPSC notification is the most detailed public statement of what a personality test is for. It describes the object as assessing 'the personal suitability of the candidate for a career in public service by a Board of competent and unbiased observers', and lists the qualities judged: mental alertness, critical powers of assimilation, clear and logical exposition, balance of judgement, variety and depth of interest, ability for social cohesion and leadership, and intellectual and moral integrity. The Board also has a record of your career before it, which is why Section 4 matters.
The notification calls the technique 'not that of a strict cross-examination but of a natural, though directed and purposive conversation'. 'Directed' means the Board steers toward areas it wants to explore; 'purposive' means each follow-up has a reason. The interview is not meant to re-test knowledge already examined in writing. The panel may change direction mid-answer, and the candidate who follows the new direction shows more of the listed qualities than one who returns to a rehearsed script.
The Engineering Services Examination uses different vocabulary: leadership, initiative and intellectual curiosity, tact and other social qualities, mental and physical energy, powers of practical application and integrity of character. Practical application suits an engineer who must explain how a plant or structure would be built, run and kept safe. The table converts each quality into an observable behaviour and the weakness it signals. Balance of judgement and integrity are the easiest to leave invisible, since both need the other side stated or a limit admitted.
| Quality | Observable in an answer | Weakness it signals |
|---|---|---|
| Mental alertness | Answers the follow-up actually asked | Reciting the prepared line |
| Clear and logical exposition | Point first, then reason and example | A long answer with no end |
| Balance of judgement | Names a credible counter-view first | Calling the other side simply wrong |
| Variety and depth of interest | Specific detail about a book or hobby | A list of interests with nothing behind it |
| Social cohesion and leadership | Says what you did and credits others accurately | 'We did everything' or 'I did it all' |
| Intellectual and moral integrity | Admits a limit; corrects your own error | Bluffing, or blaming others |
| Tact and social qualities (ESE) | Disagrees without humiliating the panel | Arguing to win the exchange |
| Integrity of character (ESE) | Cites the rule you would follow | Treating a personal connection as an argument |
Your Application Form Is the Question Paper
Many interview questions are written before you enter the room, by you, when you filled in the application form. A board that has your form can ask about any line on it. Bank and PSU panels also work from application details, so the UPSC notice's reference to a record of your career applies in spirit to them too. Every entry is an invitation to a follow-up, and you should plan the follow-up before you plan the opening answer.
This book's method is a one-page dossier for each field of the form: name, place, education, job, hobbies, achievements and preferences. On each page, write a one-line truthful description, the facts that support it, and five likely probes, meaning the questions a curious panel member would ask next. For a job, probes usually concern daily work, numbers and a problem you solved. For a hobby, they concern how you practised and what you learnt. Write an honest answer to every probe, even if you never say it aloud.
Two checks come before you submit. The first is defensibility: if you cannot answer a probe about an entry in two sentences, shorten the entry or drop it. The second is consistency across the form, any test you sit and the room itself. A hobby described as 'reading history' on the form and admitted as 'not a regular reader' across the table costs more than a modest, accurate entry would have. The seven fields to dossier are listed below.
- Name and spelling, exactly as on your documents
- Place of residence and home district, with one verified fact about it
- Education, including subjects, years and any backlog or gap
- Work: designation, type of employer and your own responsibilities
- Hobbies and reading, each with one specific detail
- Achievements, with the scale stated honestly
- Preferences: posts, services or postings you have genuinely considered
