The Engineering Services Examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is a tough examination. Year after year, it feeds the engineering cadres of the Central Government with engineers of the right quality.
The examination requires a thorough knowledge of the subject, and it tests that knowledge thoroughly. Yet if you ask officers in these cadres, they will tell you that the tough problems they solved for the examination rarely come up in their day-to-day work. Perhaps only in design are the concepts referred to again, with detailed calculations. Most of the job is about planning works, managing contracts, handling people and meeting deadlines.
Then why is it that those who qualify fit so well into the cadre, year after year?
The answer, I believe, is that the selection process, knowingly or unknowingly, evaluates two traits of an individual.
The first is sincerity. A candidate who clears this examination has generally been a good student throughout school and college. Doing well in studies, consistently over so many years, is not possible without sincerity, and by now it is ingrained in the person. The job demands sincerity, so that requirement is met.
The second is discipline. To prepare for an examination of this kind, a student has to plan the time, stick to the plan and keep at it for months. Their time management is well above average. This is exactly the trait an officer needs in working life, where several works, files and deadlines run at the same time.
So the selected candidates are, by default, sincere, disciplined and good managers of their time. This is what the job requires, and that is how the UPSC meets the requirement year after year. The technical knowledge matters, but in a sense the examination is as much a test of character as of engineering.
Sometimes, though, the examination also selects candidates who are not run of the mill: exceptionally bright, restless minds who want something new to solve every day. The work of a cadre officer is largely routine, and such officers soon become frustrated with it. Some leave the job. Others stay on, but as disgruntled members of the cadre. It is a loss both for them and for the service. Perhaps such officers could be given assignments in design, research or special projects, where their talent is put to better use.
For the young engineer preparing for this examination, there is a lesson here. The marks will get you in, but it is sincerity and discipline that will carry you through a career. And if you are the restless kind, who needs a fresh challenge every day, it is worth knowing what the job asks of you before you choose it.