A Career in Civil Services

Dr. Praveen Kumar (class of 1998)

Dr. Praveen Kumar gave a talk on the career prospects in civil services where he provided a brief overview of how the career of an individual unfolds once they join the civil services. He started with pointing out the challenging journey of an UPSC aspirant and the amount of time, energy, and motivation it takes to prepare for the exam. He also listed as being focussed and getting away from distractions is key to acing these exams. After that he moved on to show the career trajectory and how the IAS is the most sought after cadre. The talk also mentioned how the career trajectory of an officer unfolds over the 30-35 year period after an individual joins one of the cadres. 

Dr. Kumar also listed the four pillars of civil services which are the four Es of character building: Ethos, Ethics, Equity, and Efficiency. Having established that, he went on to list out the actual jobs which civil servants do. He also pointed out how civil servants go on to work in think tanks like NITI Aayog where they make meaningful contributions towards policy making which has wide ranging implications for the lives of communities affected by those interventions. He also went on to point out his own career trajectory and how that has unfolded over the years.

It was a very interesting talk and was well received by the audience given a large number of participants with UPSC aspirations. The speaker was thanked on behalf of the praktani for his time and his desire to help the younger praktani members towards the challenges that await them once they get into the civil services.