The final interview (viva voce) carries 300 marks and one must take it very seriously. This can make a huge difference in the candidate’s overall standing in the final merit and can prove decisive in one’s allocation into the group/service of choice.

The interview schedule is announced on the FPSC website and it is also individually communicated to you through your psych/interview call letter which you receive some two weeks before the psych exam. The interview panel usually consists of the chairman and a couple of members of the commission. Usually, their tone is welcoming, their attitude comforting and their behaviour encouraging. The panel spends with you around 20 to 40 minutes and during this period they try to evaluate your personality and grade you accordingly. They have in front of them your detailed psychological profile and report prepared by the psychological panel. Generally, this report plays a vital role in your interview.
There is a difference of opinion among the experienced candidates on the matter that whether or not your written score is present in front of the chairman while you are interviewed; I think it is present.

Preparation for Interview:

The areas that you should prepare for the interview include (but are not limmited to) the following:

1- Your introduction
2- National Current Affairs
3- International Current Affairs
4- Your optional subjects
5- History of Pakistan / Pakistan Movement
6- Your preferred groups/services
7- Social/ Political/ Economic issues of Pakistan etc.
8- Your psychological profile (the details you mentioned in your psychological tests e.g. events of national/ international importance, your favourite books/ personalities etc.)
9- Geography (Pakistan and the whole world)
10- You should build a logical approach related to all major issues of national/ international level (e.g. War on terror and Pakistan's role, NRO, Palestine Issue and Pak's relations with Israel, NFC, Pak's foreign policy and its positive and negative aspects etc.)
On such issues you should have clear point of view and you should be able to defend your stance with sound arguments.

Try to have a good night sleep before the viva day. You should be formally dressed for this mega event. Try to reach the venue before time. Be relaxed and feel confident. It's always good to read the newspaper's headlines of that day.

You should enter the room with a confidently smiling face after seeking permission. Say 'Assalamu Alaikum' facing all the panel members and then ask their permission to have a seat.


Introduction:

In many cases, the panel's first question is like, "Please introduce yourself'. You should make a 2 to 3 minutes' introduction covering your family background, qualification, achievements in life, professional experience, hobbies and interests, aims and inspirations in life etc.
The introduction is considered by some people as a comforting strategy by the panel. This way you can get used to the environment inside the interview room and catch up on your natural pace and tempo to face the upcoming difficult questions. Some people even consider the introduction a much more significant question. They say that it is a question where you can try to leave a good impression about your personality (as if you are doing 'self marketing'). Some say that you can use the introduction as a tool for inviting questions on already prepared areas e.g. someone saying "I was doing a job where an incident changed my whole life and I decided to go for CSS" and then going on with the remaining part of introduction, not mentioning that incident in detail. Here the first question that the panel is likely to ask you (after you completeyour introduction,as they don't usually interrupt you during your interview) is about 'what was the incident that changed your life and how?' Thus you get a chance of telling them your favourite story and you can buy some time on that. This really happened with a friend of mine. Also, once I was told about a person who prepared his intorduction like: "My name is ... I studied at... I worked at... My aim in life is... and "I love Democracy". This ending line worked for him and the very next question was about democracy and then he had a 10 minutes discussion about democracy and Pakistan and all related stuff which he had already prepared. Saying this I mean to emphasize the importance of intorduction and the part it can play. You should practice your introduction a few times to feel confident about it.

Some Important Common Questions:

There are a few important questions that one should prepare. Such questions include:

Why do you wish to go for CSS?
What are the three major charms of a this job in your mind?
Don't you think you are depriving you country of a professional (If you are an engineer/doctor/lawyer etc.)?
Why do you prefer to go for __ group?
If we give you some other group, what would you do?
If you fail to get any group in CSS, what would you do then?
There is so much corruption in bureaucracy, what woud you do there?
If you work under a strict but corrupt officer who asks you to do unlawful things, what would you do? (If you reply that I will not do that) Then how will you survive?

You should think over different questions of this type and prepare your answers. There is no problem if they argue with you more and more. You should keep your stance and not leave it easily if you think it is right. A friend of mine had an argument with the chairman and he continued to defend his position for a quite long time. He told me he was thinking in his mind that his answers have not been able to convince the panel but he kept his nerves cool. Finally, his score was excellent in the interview.
Giving logic and reasons is must but at the same time listening to their counterarguments and replying them is also a tact. If sometime you find yourself cornered and their arguments seem much stronger and realistic, then have no hesitation in accepting this fact. You can say, 'Sir, your points are valid and I sure will review my stance'. If they give you an opinion on an issue which you completely disagree, refuse it politely. For instance you can say, 'Sir I respect this opinion but I have a quite different viewpoint'.

Sometimes the panel asks you, 'Which topic would you like to talk about?' or 'What is your area of interest?' For such questions you should prepare a topic (e.g. 'Economic challenges of Pakistan' or 'War on terror' or 'Future of democracy in Pakistan' or 'US foreign policy' or 'Global food crisis'...) with special care so that you can talk on all the dimensions of that issue.
Another example of questions is like 'What is the most important issue of Pakistan?' or 'Which is the biggest threat to Pakistan?' You should be able to give sound logic and reasons for your choice in such cases and you should have a solution for that in your mind as well.

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Long Live my Homeland

Dear Arif,
thts so nice of u caring for ur juniors.ALLAH will definately bless u for this sincere effort.
Dear,
i ve selected as my favourite personality a local educationist from my home town who really did a great service for education in our district.Now the question is, can we select someone who is not well known or not known beyond the limit of a district?
waiting for ur reply
Regards

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FSP ( 38TH COMMONS)

Arif Bhai
we are really grateful to you for your great endeavors.It has helped everybody in the forum a lot. Thank you again.
I wanted to know about the medium of viva/interview and if they allow/encourage urdu as a medium during the course of viva/interview. I have also a query regarding medical test I,ve heard that a candidate has to undergo strip search during the medical examination, is that true or just a rumor?

@Moon Child
There is no issue in choosing someone not commonly known or famous as your favorite personality.

@abeerseh
The medium is generally mix i.e. English and Urdu both, I think one should answer in the same language as that of the questions. I did this in my interview. And regarding the medical thing, yes that's true.

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Long Live my Homeland

@Arif Rao.
Brother you are doing a fantastic job...Thank you sooooo much for your time.
And by the way Strip search in what sense???? Is it same as done in army recruitment??????

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Whatever mind can conceive,it can achieve - W.Clement Stone

Arif Bhai:
I want to choose "Raja Gidh" as one of my favorite book.
There is an opinion that its a bit controversial and risky book due to its subject matter.
What is your opinion?
Kindly, Guide me

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I can, I will.

although i was nt asked to reply but after reading ur post i am forced to reply.
what is controversial in this book ? main idea of this book is "halal" and "haram" which coud be justified in moral and religious values (as there is concept of HARAM and HALAL in islam also.
If you dont know why BANOO APPA wrote this book, read her interview,in which she has described whole story and u can describe it also while defending this book.

I think you should avoid opting a book as your favorite if it is already in the syllabus of CSS.

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Knowledge speaks, wisdom listens......

I want to opt THE SPIRIT OF ISLAM BY SAYYID AMEER ALI as my favourite book. Dear Arif bhaye and others please comment on my choice,