The last stage to clear before you can call yourselves IAS officers is the UPSC Board Interview stage (also known as the UPSC Personality Test). In this stage, you will face the UPSC board. Here, you will be tested on various aspects of knowledge, aptitude, personality, attributes, leadership qualities, the ability to handle situations, etc. Apart from the IAS studies that you do, you must also groom yourselves for the interview. Having a well-rounded personality is a must if you want to sail through this final stage. This article gives you a few personality development tips for UPSC board interview. The personality test of the UPSC examination process is arguably the most interesting part of the entire journey. It does not have a defined ‘syllabus’. There are no set questions posed to each candidate. Every candidate's interview is different from that of the others. It is, truly, the test of whether a candidate’s personality is suitable for a career in the civil services or not.
What is personality?
Personality is what makes someone tick. Some people are honest, some people are deceptive, some people are sharp-witted, and some people are simply great fun to be around. Everybody has their own recipe for what makes them tick and if you dig into it you will find that there is a lot more to it than what meets the eye. Just as there are physical attributes that make a person look one way and another, there are also intangible characteristics or habits that can be just as important as those physical attributes. Personality is made up of the way you think, feel, react, and solve problems. Such characteristics as emotional stability, persistence, altruism, and intelligence are part of personality. If you study the history of mankind you will find out that it has been ever since humans started to separate themselves from one another that they have sought out those people who would help them fulfill their individual needs rather than letting themselves be dominated by others.
Each person is born with their own set of personality traits and these traits remain unchanged throughout life even if the person changes jobs or even starts a new one. Personality is often misunderstood or misapplied. It is often looked at as simply being how someone acts and talks, but this is only one aspect of personality. Another aspect is whether you choose to accept or reject help from others. That means being able to recognize people who have a lot of potential but are not using it because they are selfish or self-centered.
A person with high self-confidence can easily be mistrusted because they may appear to be arrogant. Remember this is not necessarily how they would act if they were in the real world. Personality can be both positive and negative. Positive personality attributes include confidence, calmness, adaptability and passion. Negative personality attributes include obsession and other distortions that impair decision-making and cause failure in life. It changes rapidly throughout life as you acquire new knowledge, experience new relationships and develop philosophical & religious beliefs which can affect personality development.
Why personality development for UPSC?
Personality may not seem like something that affects our day to day lives but when taken to the extreme it can affect how we conduct ourselves in business. Introverts may not go into meetings or conferences without a favorite book or magazine just among them. They are quiet and introspective except when they need to be. Their reservation and fear of personal interaction hides their greater awareness of social cues and the ability to read others. Social Intelligence is more than knowing how other people feel or thinking you look. It's realizing what is needed in order to get what you want from others and yourself so that you can be more successful and efficient in completing your tasks each day.
Improve your communication skills • Clarity of speech
• Confidence-building
• Better representation of answers
Develop Confidence • Scope of better performance
• Less stress and panic
• Calm composure
Mind your body language • Reflects confidence
• Eliminates fear
• Personality doesn’t look lethargic or bored
Dress appropriately • Boost confidence
• Mark an impression on interviewers
• Provides comfort
Be passionate about your work • Reflects dedication
• Reflects good intentions and will
Listen carefully to the interviewers • Reflects patience
• Scope to understand the core of the question increases
Improve Social Skills • Easy to settle down during the interview
• Eliminates fear of judgements even before starting of the interview
• Provides comfort
Build leadership skills • Reflects promising personality
Be positive
•Changes outlook
•Scope to perform better
Instill Good Qualities
•Reflects empathy
•Honest and accountable personality
Maintain Physical Health • Improves performance during the interview
• Works to impress
• Reflects strength and stamina

You don’t have to have a model’s body to develop a good personality. But since personality depends on a lot on perception, it helps to have a healthy physique. It is also beneficial to your health.

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