• It’s true that you can take the BCS exam multiple times. But the greater truth is this: the punishment for not passing it in one go is having to endure all this tedious, exhausting study material once more. For me, this fear worked as motivation. You can take your SSC and HSC exams four times too. If someone had told you back then, “Let the first time be for experience, do better the next time”—wouldn’t that have made you angry?
• Who says first attempts don’t yield good results? I became a cadre on my first try. There are countless such examples. Think of Pather Panchali (both Bibhuti and Satyajit), Nagarik, The 400 Blows, or Wuthering Heights, The Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Kite Runner. Doesn’t the thought of having to sit through such a tedious exam as the BCS once more frighten you? That fear alone should be reason enough to study. Why should you, like everyone else, have to take the BCS repeatedly? Though I must say, luck does play a part here. Those who become cadres are both worthy and fortunate.
• For questions that seem difficult, read them multiple times. If that doesn’t help, skip them. Let me share a fact: some difficult questions refuse to stick in memory no matter how often you read them. Stop trying to memorize those. One such troublesome question can push several easier ones out of your head. Remember: difficult questions carry one mark, easy questions carry one mark too.
• In the BCS written exam, for subjects like Science & Technology, Bangladesh Affairs, and International Affairs—draw the necessary diagrams and maps. Include relevant data, tables, charts, and references where appropriate. Show something in your answer sheet that sets it apart from others.
• Identify which segments candidates generally score poorly in but where high marks are possible, and prepare yourself well in those areas to enter the competition. Study short questions, notes, summaries, essence, amplifications, translations, grammar, and such thoroughly. Take translation, for example—there are others like it.
• Read written exam guidebooks with a highlighter. At least 3-4 sets if possible. But beware—guidebooks contain many errors. This is natural. You’ll need to correct them as you read.
• There’s no special need to take notes while studying. You won’t have that much time. Instead, note which source you’re reading each question from. It’ll help during revision. Keep regular track of Bangladesh’s constitutional commentary, various organizations’ official websites, Wikipedia, Banglapedia, the National Web Portal, and some international publications. Collect data and information. Reference them appropriately in your exam papers when needed. (Just because you take notes with creativity doesn’t mean you’ll write with creativity. And if what you’re noting doesn’t appear in the exam, it’s a complete loss. I didn’t take notes for a single question. There’s no guarantee that writing the best answer will get you the best marks.)
• Read newspapers regularly for BCS preparation. At least 5-6 if possible. You can read them online. During this period, instead of reading entire papers, focus only on sections relevant to the exam. Quickly scan through and save what you need for BCS in word files if necessary. How will you know what you need? Study more and more questions. Question-mapping will reduce your effort.
• You must read various references, texts, and authoritative books. Many BCS questions don’t have common answers. Having read these books makes answering easier. When answering questions, if you quote from various authors’ writings, newspaper columns and editorials, internet sources, official websites of organizations, relevant constitutional articles, and various references, your marks will increase. Use blue ink for these sections so they catch the examiner’s eye easily. Try to include at least one quotation, data, table, chart, or reference on every page. I know you can’t remember so many quotations. So how do you manage? I’ll tell you the techniques I followed. Many of them are quite clever tricks. Whether the cat is black or white doesn’t matter—what matters is whether it can catch mice. Good news: there’s absolutely no need to memorize the entire constitution. I didn’t.
• Beautiful handwriting is good, but not having it isn’t a problem. You have to write very fast in the written exam. Practice writing one page every 3-5 minutes. Make sure your writing is legible. Good presentation increases marks. Writing in the BCS exam is extremely taxing. Sometimes I felt like my finger joints would give way any moment. I thought, “I’ve got to really perform when I’m performing!” I got through the written exam just thinking about my parents and Tendulkar. Let me share a story—about a 16-year-old boy’s “Main Khelega” attitude. A story of not giving up. The best attitude I learned in life. In my opinion, to become great in life, you need a habitual ‘selfish’ weakness for greatness. Looking down on great people doesn’t diminish them at all. Seeing Humayun Ahmed as Shaon’s husband rather than as a writer is our own mental illness. For your own benefit, try to replicate the qualities of those who are successful in their respective fields. Whatever goal you want to reach, maintain profound respect for it. Otherwise, your preparation lacks proper sincerity. Allah honors the humble.
• Never leave any question unanswered. If you don’t know the answer, write something based on your understanding. If you have no understanding, write from imagination. If nothing comes to imagination, force yourself to imagine if necessary! You leaving questions blank isn’t the problem. The problem is someone else is answering them. Create your own suggestions. Don’t follow anyone else’s suggestions. Don’t listen to false assurances like “this question will definitely come.” I prepared at least 4 sets of suggestions. And keep this in mind: you won’t get more than 40-50% common questions in the written exam. (Even getting that much is a lot!)
• Sometimes practice writing non-stop on various topics. Develop the habit of reading about different subjects. This will make your writing more refined. There’s no need to memorize any answer. Instead, read repeatedly from various sources. Develop the habit of writing from understanding. No one becomes a cadre by writing everything perfectly. Everyone makes things up in the written exam. That’s not a problem! Rather, making things up properly is also an art. I can’t explain how much I invented and wrote incorrectly to become a cadre! (I’m actually among the extremely fortunate!)
• In which language should I write answers in the BCS exam? English? Or Bengali? Many people ask this question. I wrote in Bengali and topped the exam. In this language, you can flow smoothly saying ‘I know’… what a wonderful mystery! Right? However, you can also write in English. Fluency and clarity are key here. You have to write a lot, and the examiner might not have time to read it all carefully—keep this in mind.
• Many will say, “I’ve finished reading such and such questions!” Take it easy. Just because someone finishes their work before you doesn’t mean they’ll have the last laugh. And if someone studies more than you, that’s not your fault. When I started preparing for the BCS exam, I saw that many had finished reading many things. You’ve watched 3 Idiots. A friend’s bad result makes you sad, but a friend’s good result makes you feel worse. When I saw I knew practically nothing compared to others, I did two things. One: I tried to understand whether what they knew was actually necessary. Two: I stopped comparing myself with them and started comparing today’s me with yesterday’s me.
• Sometimes you won’t feel like studying—I didn’t either. Wanting to study all the time isn’t a sign of mental health. Why so serious? Job for Life, not Life for Job. You don’t have to become a BCS cadre! Your sustenance is already predetermined. There’s so much else to do! So take breaks, give your studies a holiday. Every now and then. Close your room’s doors and windows, play music at full volume, shake off all worries and dance! Scream your heart out! What else is there in life! Don’t waste two more days feeling bad about not studying for two days—that makes no sense. Who has learned anything without making mistakes? Where’s the time for regret? You haven’t committed the world’s greatest mistake! You’re not the world’s saddest person either!
• How necessary is group study? It depends on your habits. I didn’t have this habit. I didn’t do group study for two reasons. One: When I saw everyone knew so much that I didn’t know at all, my mood would sour. I don’t like thinking I can’t do something. Remember the dialogue from The Pursuit of Happyness? What’s the point of hearing and understanding from everyone that you can’t do it? If everyone says it, you won’t suddenly start being able to do more—rather, your desire to do more might decrease. Two: Studying with everyone made me want to chat more, and I’d feel that what they were doing was right and mine was wrong. I don’t like blind imitation.

Viva: the art of selling yourself ::
 BCS + IBA

• Actually, there’s no fixed pattern for viva exams. Viva marks do matter, and I’ve sat through this kind of viva in two places so far—IBA viva and BCS viva. I was in the IBA viva board for 18-20 minutes, and in BCS for 4-5 minutes. How long they keep you there, what they ask, what you manage to answer, what you can’t—these aren’t as crucial as people think. All’s well that ends well.
• It seems to me that viva is much more subjective than it is objective. What does our experience tell us? Some people you meet, you have to calculate every word before speaking. Others make you want to give them a good slap or two. If you can’t deliver that slap, you feel somehow restless. Keep in mind during your viva that no one is obligated to give you a job. You’re not indispensable either. For doing well in vivas, preparedness matters more than preparation. Everyone practices, yet the century goes to Tendulkar’s account. Whether that day belongs to you is largely determined by your luck.
• What impression I form about your knowledge matters far more than what you actually know. Generally, within the first 20 seconds of seeing a person, an impression forms about them—it can be positive or negative. Use this to your advantage. You will never get a second chance to make the first impression. You can’t tell everyone everything, nor do you feel like it. Some people make you want to ask how the Taj Mahal continues to bear witness to love; others make you want to ask about the number of bricks in the Taj Mahal. Some people’s appearance and attitude make you want to ask about the length of the Padma River, while others make you want to hear stories of floating in a boat on the Padma’s breast, touching the moonlight. Or stories of walking hand in hand with a lover along the Padma’s banks. Or something else entirely—things that require no special knowledge to tell, yet can convey everything quite easily. Sell yourself. Convince them why giving you the job instead of someone else would be better. Wipro’s example. Two examples from BCS Foreign Affairs viva.
• Those who sit on viva boards are truly much more experienced and expert. They understand very well what you’re saying and what you’re hiding. Cheating is an art. Catch me if you can! A clever man knows how to cheat, an intelligent man knows how to make others let him cheat. I was asked questions about literature! Why?
• Experience says there are at least a hundred techniques for doing well in vivas, none of which actually work. What you accumulate will serve you less than what you already have in store. Present yourself as you are, but beautifully. Don’t listen to or do anything that breaks your confidence or prevents you from being yourself. Be yourself. Be natural.
• In civil service, there’s only one rule: Obey or Leave! In other jobs too, what is, is the rule; not what should be. You won’t be hired to stage a revolution. Whatever your mindset, prove that you can adapt to the institution’s needs. Those who sit on the viva board are your bosses for that time. You are in no way smarter than your boss. You cannot afford any kind of ego clash with your boss. Save all your ego battles for your beloved.
• The things that I think are observed in viva boards—
• Positive Attitude
• Body Language
• Mental Maturity
• Ready Wit
• Thought Clarity
• Decent Appearance
• Etiquette
• Commonsense
• Cool Temperament
• English Fluency
• Situation Handling Capability
• Analytical Skill

• You won’t be without nervousness—that’s impossible. You will be nervous. Leave some responsibility for handling that to the situation itself. In my case, nervousness actually helped me get good marks. Let me tell the story. Another incident from BCS Police viva. A knife kills. Well, a knife saves too!
• If you’re treated badly in the viva board, don’t take it personally. Whatever is done here has the purpose of judging you. The BCS Admin viva incident.
• Maintain eye contact during the viva. Looking elsewhere while speaking serves no purpose. Besides, it’s important for knowing the immediate expressions of the officers.
• There’s no rule that if BCS Foreign Affairs is your first choice, the viva will necessarily be in English. Many in Foreign Affairs became cadres after giving more than 50% of their viva in Bengali. My first choice was Customs, yet 85% of my viva was in English.
• It’s better not to study for the viva while going to give it or just before entering. This increases nervousness. After giving the viva, the biggest difference between those who become cadres and those who don’t is—luck!
• Talk to those who have given vivas before, get a fair idea about what types of questions are asked. Instead of answering the way everyone does, arrange your response a bit differently within yourself. Presentation matters! Try to read the mind of the interviewer. More important than what you want to say is whether you can say what they want to hear. It’s not what you said that matters, but how you said it. Hiding is an art. Learn euphemisms. For instance, if you’re asked to tell about a weak aspect of yourself, answer in such a way that it doesn’t reveal anything too negative about you. (I was asked this at IBA) Or, when asked about Bangladesh’s problems, try to mention things for which solutions are already being undertaken. Try to speak positively about your family, previous job, career prospects, etc. If you suddenly lose track, pause and answer slowly and thoughtfully. Don’t move your hands, neck, or eyes in a distracting manner while speaking.
• If someone else asks a question while you’re answering another, you must take permission from the first questioner before answering the second question.
• You can occasionally listen to Ted Talks, job interviews available on YouTube and other sites. You can listen to BTV’s 10 PM English news. Listen to CNN, Al Jazeera. Watch American accent movies with subtitles on. You can practice English conversation with a friend sometimes. But never do this with some pedant who only points out mistakes.
• Keep a regular eye on newspapers for the week before your viva date. Have good knowledge about current affairs, the Liberation War, and yourself.
• Sometimes not showing smartness is smartness itself. The pattern of your viva depends greatly on the first impression formed after seeing you. Present yourself as a gentleman/lady.
• Don’t argue about any topic in the viva board. Boss is always right! Who’s greater—Manik or Bankim? My own story. The story of cleverly losing to the boss at tennis.
• In any viva exam, there are two types of questions: # Informative # Non-informative. Usually, the officers emphasize more on the style of answering the second type. There’s no system in vivas like ‘if I answer this much, I’ll get this many marks’—there’s no segmented marking; rather, marks are given based on overall performance. Just because you answer many questions doesn’t mean you’ll get many marks.
• When answering in English, if you notice any mistake in your words, don’t stop to correct it. Words are like arrows—once shot, trying to stop them will make your hands bleed. Perhaps the officers didn’t even notice your mistake. Why tell them yourself? People make more mistakes from the fear of not being able to speak English than from actually not knowing English. As much as possible, avoid regionalism in speech.
• Have a fair idea about civil service, your subject, and first and second choices of cadre. Keep ready the answer to why you want this job. For IBA, keep ready the answer to why you want to do an MBA. Giving the answer correctly is more important than giving the correct answer.
• Don’t worry too much about what you don’t know. Maybe you won’t even be asked that. And if they do ask and you can’t answer, so what? If more marks were allocated for answering questions in vivas, many parrot-type people would get jobs.
• Show yourself as an enthusiastic listener. Bring a gentle expression to your face that makes it painful to scold you. This really works.
• Don’t forget to greet with a smile when entering and to thank and bid farewell with a smile when leaving. Impressions about you form when meeting you and when you take leave. You can prepare for non-informative questions on the internet. Such as: Imagine You… Inquiries About Your Personal Life… Sometimes try answering as if you’re someone else. Imagine yourself as that person you’ve always dreamt of being.

Let the chat end with stories……

First story:

A crow was sitting idly on a high branch of a tree, doing nothing. Just then, a rabbit was passing by that path. The rabbit asked the crow, “Brother, can I also sit under this tree doing nothing like you?” The crow said, “Certainly you can!” So the rabbit did just that.

A little later, a fox was passing by that path. Seeing the rabbit sitting there, the fox quickly grabbed and ate it.

What’s the lesson of this story? The lesson is: when you’re sitting so high that no one can touch you, then you can sit with your hands and feet tucked in. But before that, you must work hard to earn the qualification to sit in that position. Think about which position you’re currently sitting in.

Second story:

A small bird was fleeing Siberia to escape the harsh grip of winter. Suddenly the bird froze solid and fell to the ground like a chunk of ice with a thud. Some time later, a cow was walking down that same path and relieved itself right on top of the bird. After a while, the warmth of the dung melted all the ice from the bird’s body. The bird then began to sing joyfully. A cat sitting nearby heard the song, pulled the bird out of the dung, and ate it up.

What are the lessons of this story?

# The first lesson is: Not everyone who drops shit on you is your enemy. This means that those who heap dirt on us—that is, those who scold and rebuke us—are not all our enemies; many of them actually wish us well. This group includes our parents, seniors, and teachers.

# The second lesson is: Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend. This means there are many who extend a helping hand claiming to rescue us from trouble, only to plunge us into even greater danger. This group includes those wise pundits around us who say, “What’s the point of taking the BCS exam? Do something else instead.” Or who say, “You’ll never pass the BCS.” I believe, If you cannot help a person to do something, you have no right to demoralize him/her saying that he/she cannot do it.

# I think the third lesson is the most important. It is: When you are in the shit, always keep your mouth shut!! This means when you’re in trouble, always keep your mouth closed. Success talks the loudest. Success can buy silence. Your success can silence everyone. So throw down the challenge to yourself, not to others.

no easy day, the only easy day was yesterday

 Good Luck!

 Question and Answer Session

Sushanta Pal

CSE (CUET) ’02 batch, MBA (IBA, DU) 45th batch, MDS (DU) 9th batch

Assistant Director

Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate

sushanta.customs@gmail.com

01716 08 69 21

“Through the ages, human perseverance

seems like another’s opportunity.

……………………………………………………….

Yet by human hands, humans are being tormented;

there is no pure job on earth.”~ Jibanananda Das ‘On the Shore of Creation.’

Nobody will ever remember you after your retirement!

‘Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.’~ Forrest Gump

“Don’t ever let someone tell you, you can’t do something. Not even me. You got a dream, you got to protect it. People can’t do something themselves, they want to tell you you can’t do it. You want something, go get it. Period.”  ~ Will Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness, Film)

“The Story of My Life

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—. I took the one less traveled by,. And that has made all the difference.” ~ Robert Frost ‘ The Road Not Taken’