I think they want to check the seriousness & commitment of candidate for civil services.

Another link could be psychological, that have two main reasons.

1. If Psychologists have pointed out that candidate is under confidant then they ask this question, to judge that how much confidence candidate has on its attempt.

2. If one has low marks in written, then to check the self realization capacity.

@ viper
i was asked this question in my psychological interview. the reason for asking this question are definately those mentioned above by sarfraz shami.

Although it was the last day of interviews and my sharing of experience does not matter anymore but I think I owe this much to this forum. So here goes my experience of interview. It was my second appearance before the interview panel.

Time: 11.30 AM Date: 29-05-2012 Duration: 30 Minutes

Panel members: Rana Bhagwas Das, Saud Gauhar, Mian Ahmed

I entered the room. RBD asked me to sit down. Firstly, he briefly introduced me to the panel members and then he started questioning.

RBD:
You mentioned wrong in your psychological performa that your father is a retired government servant, you should have written a person’s name who is still in service. (Snubbed)
How can you generalise the fact that parents are not bonding with their children and have given them complete and unnecessary freedom? (Grilling session, perhaps a pressure tactic)
Where have you stayed in the last two years? At Islamabad or at your home town?
What was your preparation strategy?
Have you appeared in CSS 2012?
Pakistan’s GDP, Tax to GDP ratio, FDI figures, FBR target and collection, poverty rate, how many flood affectees to be expected in 2012? (Rapid Fire round)
Who is tawakkal karman?
Who is Robert Frisk?
Who is Christina Lamb?
What was ‘news of the world scandal’?
Which area of the world is called ‘sea zone’?
The role of Lord Mountbatten after Independence?
14 points of Quaid-e-azam?
Simon Commission, was Radcliffe award fair? If yes, why?
What is stock exchange and its functions?
Why China is depreciating its currency?

Saud Gauhar Sahb:
What will be the situation in Afghanistan after US withdrawal? (A long discussion)
What is the basic reason of Gulf crisis?
Determinants of Public policy? (Counter questioning)
Why the world is uni polar? If it is multi polar, give me any example of a group or country? (Again counter questioning)
Now he took most of the time prolonging his questions and every time cutting me short when I began to answer, don’t know why?

Mian Ahmed Sahb:
Why Pakistan’s private sector has been able to earn enough revenues in spite of such a dwindling economy?
Consumerism and stock exchange relationship?
Europe elections and its impact on Europe’s economy?
What is competition commission of Pakistan? Its role in banking sector?

I have forgotten some of the questions. Every single candidate on the last day was grilled by RBD sahb and most of the interview was focused on economics.
Please pray for my allocation and best of luck to all.
Regards.

__________________
Alhamdulillah !!!

I want to ask a question regarding interview. Kindly if anybody knows the answer, then reply.
If the interview panel ask a candidate some random questions from any of the optional's, e.g. journalism or sociology, does it mean that he/she has got weak marks in it or do they ask question from a particular subject just to check the knowledge?

__________________
Alhamdulillah !!!

That means good marks in that subject.

__________________
Don't wait, feel happiness right at the moment as wait will never end.

My Interview CSS 2011

Date April 30, 2012
Karachi Centre
Interview Start Time: 11:25 AM, End Time: 11:57 AM
It was a really hot day in Karachi, I was 5th to enter the interview room!
My Optionals: Arabic, Punjabi, Sociology, Journalism, IR

Rana Bhagwan Das

Asked about my previous attempts and why did I fail in CSS 2010
Asked about my job nature and responsibilities in SBP
Lashkar e Jhangvi; why it is present only in Jhang, why not other cities
My Favourite Book (It was; 'Pakistan, a dream gone sour by Roeded Khan.' Both RBD and Mian Ahmad asked different question from this)
Supreme Court and Current Govt; contempt of court case: I wonder why I supported govt
SBP Monetary Policy Stance, was it justified?
Why SBP's monetray policy has been unsuccessful
If SBP is autonomous why It does not pursue independent policies and denies excess loans to govt.
Tell me any ordinance / act passed by parliament for increasing autonomy of SBP
Geographical Importance of Eiffel Tower (I told the reason, he asked for another, then I told another, he again asked for another.... go on... and i said sorry after 4th one!)
Mr. Usman, You have been living in Sindh for almost 3 years, so let me ask you something from Sindh! Then he asked two or three question related to Sindh:
Largest fort in World (It is Ranikot situated in Sindh)
In which district of Sindh (I didn't know that so said sorry)
Place in sindh where snow fall happened? (snowfall!!! in Sindh.... Surprise and smile was the answer from my side!)
What is AFP
What is ABC
What is PID
What is Defamation?
Any remedy against defamation (I said that there is a defamation act in Pakistan... but he started a counter speech saying that no no gentleman there is no such act... but this act infact exists!)
What changes have been taking place in terms of political and social awareness in youth
Why media is not playing positive role
Gentleman you also had arabic as your optional so translate these verses:
Then he narrated two arabic verses for translation.

Saud Gohar

Audit Para / Advance Para
Working of Public Accounts Committee
How to manage complaints resolution in DMG
Iran nuclear issue...Why Iran is not allowing IAEA Inspectors to inspect their nuclear facilities (Long debate followed...)
Afghanistan Policy
Bipolar vs Multipolar world
Which is better? Bipolar or Multipolar? World is moving towards which one?
Give me some reasons / examples to justify that Multipolar system is better

Muhammad Ahmad Mian

Asked about my book; whether author has done justice in describing history in the book
How many newspapers are working under ABC (I said sorry, he said any idear, I said 'No Idea Sir!')
Circular 29 of writing off loans
Was this circular justified?
What were the contents of circular (I only had a rough idea about circular, didn't know details so said sorry!)
World Bank/IMF new developments

I dropped 4 questions to Rana Bhagwan Das, 1 to Saud Gohar and 2 to Muhammad Ahmad Mian.

Some other question asked in interview which I forgot to mention:

Rana Bhagwan Das
You have written in your performa that 'I don't believe in building castles in the air', explain this.
What are achievements of present government
Why is Mynmaar in media now a days
Why president visited Mynmaar

Muhammad Ahmad Mian
What is PPO
When was it promulgated
Tell me some of its provisions

__________________
Best end of life is not knowledge but action.
Don't limit yourself to what you think people are expecting!

What about your result?

__________________
Struggle itself is an achievement

Viva
I entered the room and after greeting sat down on the chair.
Mr.Bhagwandas after going through my profile and reading everything out loud asked the first question.
Question: Ahmer all your answers in the psychological pro forma are very brief, why?
Answer: Sir, the purpose of any answer is to convey the sense and if you think I have been able to do that then there is nothing wrong with my answers. He smiled lightly and moved to the next question.

I have done O& A- Levels so there were a couple of questions about them such as who runs the operations for them in Pak, what is their board called and so on. Then he asked me who had financed my education and about my scholarship amount at the university.

He asked a couple of MCQs from Journalism such as embedded journalism, difference b/w slander and libel and so on. I correctly answered all of them but one and he corrected me on that and we moved onto the next question.

Question: How can one claim damages for defamation?
Answer: One can always sue the other party and get reparation through the court. He interrupts me and says is there any other way. I start thinking just for a second and he starts talking that courts are not there for such petty matters. These can be settled out of court and that is a better way. I move my head in affirmative.

Question: Tell me the latest development in Tunisia?
I told him about the post election scenario at that time and while I was speaking he interrupted to ask me the name of the ruling party. I told him that.

Question: Tell me the latest development in Syria?
I told him all about it.

I should mention that Mr. Gauhar was very kind to me for repeating at least two of Mr. Bhagwands’ questions to me as I could not understand him due to his thick accent.

Saud Gauhar
Question: Why is police your first preference?
Answer: It’s a noble profession and the responsibilities with which the policemen are entrusted with i.e. to protect the life, liberty and property of the citizens make it even nobler.

Mr. Bhagwandas interrupts and asks me that do you really think it’s a noble profession. According to a recent report it’s the second most corrupt institute in our country and asks me about the top most corrupt institute. I tell him its Revenue department. Then he asks me again why you think it’s a noble profession.

Answer: well Sir no doubt it has been declared the second most corrupt institute but that does not make the job of a policeman ignoble. That yet remains noble and I would love to be a part of the force which has been entrusted with such responsibility.

Bhagwandas question: How can you bring change unless you have a team of your own choice, which is almost impossible with the present state of resources?
Answer: well Sir, I am aware that there is a shortage of resources in our country but I would like to quote Dalai Lama. He once said: “if you think you are too small to make a difference try sleeping with a mosquito.” So if a mosquito can ruin one’s sleep, imagine what a man with purpose could do.

All the panelists laughed and Bhagwandas quoted Churchill but I could not understand what he said. It was something about civil servants being slaves of the system.

Question S.G: Tell me what is the importance of South China Sea?
I told him about the trade that takes place and the strategic importance for China as well as the US Japan and others. Then I mentioned the importance of its mineral resources and so on. He asked me what minerals are found there. I did not know it and so I told him. He replied: of course its oil and I said probably yes.

Bhagwandas smiled and said he says probably so you are not sure about it. I said I don’t know about its resources so yes he might or might not be right.

The S.G asked a question on Kashmir and MFN status
Question: Do you think India is trapping us through MFN status to get Kashmir?
Answer: Sir, I don’t think India is trying to trap us through MFN status because it has nothing to do with Kashmir. Both issues are separate. Moreover, I believe we have lost the Kashmir cause and we cannot fight India for it.

S.G asks another question
Question: So what steps do you think should be taken to strengthen our stand on Kashmir?
Answer: I think we should compare our self with India and see what is it that we do not have and she does and then we will come to find that it’s a well educated and strong middle class that is politicized. I mean just a few months earlier an Indian parliamentarian gave a statement that Kashmir should get its right to self-determination and his effigies were burnt all over India. This is the level of awareness amongst the Indians that they consider Kashmir an integral part of India. So I think if we don’t have such powerful public opinion for Kashmir we should not even talk about it.

Mr. Bhagwandas interrupts and says it will take decades to achieve that goal what should we do in the meantime?
I tell him that I think Kashmir is a lost case for us so we should forget about it- the sooner the better- and focus on more important domestic issues such as economy and terrorism.

S.G. Question: What is CCP (Competition Commission Pakistan) and what has it done so far?
A friend of mine had related to me his case against CCP a while back so I told him about that.
Then Bhagwandas again interrupted me and asked about the procedure if the company in question refuses to pay the fine to CCP?
I didn’t know it and he explained it to me.
Then while they were all silent and looking at some papers I asked them that a week back I read in the newspaper that the government is thinking of disbanding CCP, is it true?
Bhagwandas looked at me through his spectacles in a rather surprised way and said no, that is not true. Who told you that, I said I read it in a newspaper. He said it might be about something else. I said no sir it was about CCP, I am sure. He said I did not read or hear about it. I did not want to argue with him on that so I just let it go.

S.G. Question: What do you know about the anti-money laundering laws? And he went on explaining about their role in the question and when he finished the question he had related everything that I knew about it. So when I started my answer he said, this is what I told you in the question. I said well Sir, I know only this much. He again asked me another related question that what have the Ministry of Finance and State Bank of Pakistan done about money laundering?
I said what have they done? Mr. B interrupts and says that he has asked you a question so answer it without asking a question. I tell him that Sir I have already told Mr. G. that I do not know much about the anti-money laundering laws.

Then Mrs. Junejo starts her questions with a broad and welcome smile. Most of her questions were related to my degree and stay in Canada.

Question: So Ahmer how did you cope with the harsh weather of Canada?
Answer: They have central heating systems installed everywhere therefore, one does not really feel the harshness of the weather. Moreover, they have excellent weather forecasting system so one knows about the weather conditions of the entire day and can prepare accordingly.

Question: How do they melt the snow in Canada?
Answer: Well, as I mentioned earlier that they have excellent weather forecasting system so they know in advance when it is going to snow or rain. So they sprinkle salt on the roads and in the streets which causes the snow to melt immediately.

Question: What else is mixed with salt?
Answer: This was a very good question I thought, I did not know it so I plainly said I know that they mix something black with it but I don’t know what it is so she told me that it is sand and last year Europe imported a lot of sand from Egypt. I said thanks that’s an addition to my information.

Question: Where did you use to live; I mean on-campus or off-campus?
Answer: I lived on-campus for the first year and then I had to move off-campus for the rest of the time of my stay.

Question: why did you have to live off-campus after the first year?
Answer: They have this policy that only the freshmen could stay on-campus and the seniors would stay off-campus.

Question: Is this the general norm in all Canadian universities or just your university?
Answer: As far as the other universities are concerned, I don’t know about them but it’s a rule in my university.
I think she is an American graduate so she started explaining about the residence system in American universities so I kept listening to her. Anyway, then came the next question.

Question: Do you have Canadian nationality?
Answer: No

Question: What do you know about the dual nationality laws in Pakistan?
Answer: There was a debate going on this topic in those days in the parliament and so I told her all I knew about it. Then she told me that a civil servant cannot have dual nationality. I said yes, I know it.

Question: As you are a student of British History please tell us what was the immediate cause of the WWII?
Answer: I don’t know that Madam because I haven’t been able to revise history. She says so do you want me to tell you. I say yes please go on and she tells me that it was Germany’s attack on Poland.

Question: what is the name of Hitler’s book and what does it mean?
Answer: Mein Kampf, and it means my struggle.
Then she says thank you Ahmer we are done with you. I was surprised at that because it seemed to me that it had only been 15-20 minutes so I said: no more questions. They all looked at me and Mr. S.G. said no, you can go now. I turned back and left the room after thanking them and wishing them a good day. After coming out I checked the time and the duration of the interview was exactly half hour.

That’s all I can remember. I hope it helps!

Nice Viva. Ahmer Bhatti, as the result has been declared long ago, would you mind telling your score in this interview?

__________________
Sang-e-Giran' hain Raah main Hayil to kya hua
Manzil chupee hui to meray Hoslon' main hai . .

Sir, I got 215 marks in this viva.