Detailed strategy for cracking IAS examination for the beginners

23 May 2016

ow to begin, where to start?

That’s the million dollar question which everyone asks oneself when one first thinks of becoming a civil servant. How to go about preparation depends on how much time you have at your disposal. And you guys have lots of time in your hands.

Before coming to preparation let’s know our enemy better

It’s basically a 3 stage examination

(i) Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination (Objective type) for the selection of candidates for the Main Examination;

It consists of two papers,

• Paper 1 deals with general studies and contains 100 questions. Paper 2 is of aptitude test and contains 80 questions. Paper 2 is only of qualifying nature (67 marks for qualifying)
• Approximately 12 times the total number of vacancies qualify this exam to be eligible to appear in the next stage. Marks obtained in prelims are not counted for final merit.

(ii) Civil Services (Main) Examination (Written and Interview) for the selection of candidates for the various Services and posts noted above. Approximately 2.6 times the total vacancies are qualified to appear in personality test. Marks of written plus interview combined decide the merit list.

Let’s settle a few issues

#1. Is this a sprint or marathon?

Notion of sprint suggests 6 months of super fast study while marathon suggests 5 year planning (Sprinters would claim 6 months proper study and you are done, marathon runners would have you planned for next 5 years).

I don’t know what it is. Nobody used such metaphors when we were preparing for JEE or PMT or CAT or CLAT or even board exams. Civil Services examination is like any other decently competitive examination which demands rigorous preparation, only difference being the subjective pattern, which makes it more unpredictable.

In our view, this exam needs 12 months of decent preparation for already well aware candidates and 18 months,  i.e roughly 12 months before prelims for those who are not so well aware.

#2. Is it a purely luck based exam? A gamble!

Well, luck certainly matters but luck is randomly distributed. So if you are well prepared, chances are, if not in 1st, in 2nd or (3rd or 4th attempt), you will make it to the list.

But one thing is certain, if you are not decently well prepared, there’s no way, you are gonna make it to that sacred list of rank holders.

Like every exam, it has certain demands and certain ways of achieving success. For instance, some people say, that guy scored so well in essay, ethics and optional and he is through. Well, that’s one type of strategy but not without risk. What if for some reason, you are not able to score well in one of the papers, well you are doomed.

Like finance, the best way is to diversify your portfolio, hedge your bets. You should prepare every paper decent enough, so decent that you don’t get butchered in that paper. Say 50 marks in essay or one optional paper. Nobody can save you in that case. It requires spending proportionate time on every subject, not keep on studying culture and world history from every other book or farras available in the karol bagh market.

Well these were some general fundas but we haven’t answered how should you begin your preparation yet.

Prelims still 16 months away for those writing in 2017?

If you are in college and your optional subject is gonna be your graduation subject, download the UPSC syllabus from the official notification- click here and previous year question papers- click here and master the subject with emphasis on UPSC syllabus (both paper 1 and paper 2).

Even otherwise, don’t take college very lightly, college ka kaam sabse pahle.

After that decide, if you are gonna take exam as you complete your studies or you are gonna take a break and prepare full time. Say for instance degree in may and prelims in august (proxy for time you can dedicate for UPSC preparation).

If you are willing to give at least 9 months before prelims to full time UPSC preparation, don’t just start reading core books but cultivate the habit of reading newspapers, Indian express I would suggest.

Follow newscards regularly on the civilsdaily app (click here for the FREE app) and if you feel like reading, read interesting articles on the website, especially back to basics, series on landmark judgments but don’t take much load.

One thing which you all should do immediately is to buy map of India and world and put on your room’s wall. Also buy Orient Blackswan School Atlas. Locate every place you read in the news in the map on your wall and also look sideways to see what’s around these places. Within a few months, your map marking skills would be superb. Learn rivers and valleys and straits you read in the news.

Read these very interesting and enlightening books

1. An Uncertain Glory: India and it’s contradictions by Amartya Sen and Jean Dreaze
2. India’s tryst with destiny by Jagdish Bhagwati and Arvind Panghariya (Vice charperosn on NITI Ayog)
3. Breakout Nations by Ruchir Sharma
4. 10 judgements that changed India by Zia Mody
5. Pax indica: India and World of 21st century by Shashi Tharoor
6. India after Gandhi by Ram Guha
7. Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ by Daniel Goleman (must read not only for you but your friends, siblings and parents) Please do read it.

Watch some great videos over youtube to get your basics right

1. Crash course economics
2. Crash course world history (21st episode onward)
3. Justice with Michael Sanders (Very important)
4. Cultivate the habit of watching interesting Rajya Sabha TV (RSTV) and Lok Sabha TV (LSTV) discussions. Give about half an hour to one hour daily for these discussions. I would recommend India’ world (Weekly on RSTV), The Big Picture (Monday to Friday on RSTV)

Catch up on some of the best documentaries around

1. Heaven on Earth: Rise and Fall of Socialism (3 part pbs documentary total 160 min) It is heavily biased against socialism yet a must watch as public discourse in India is heavily loaded against free enterprise
2. India Untouched: Documentary on Caste based discrimination
3. Incurable India by PSBT (it gives you picture of very dismal state of health care in India)
4. Pradhanmantri series by ABP news
5. Mandate with destiny by Vir Singhavi: story of historic elections For our friends from southern and north eastern India who don’t understand Hindi,
6. Guns and Glory by Kabir Bedi on Headlines today (story of all post independence wars)
7. Samvidhan written by iconic Shyam Benegal for RSTV
8. Gandhi The Road to Freedom – British Propaganda – BBC Documentary
9. Nero’s guests by P. Sainath
10. Planet Earth by BBC
11. Story of India BBC documentary

Books are very interesting reads. Read them like novels. Don’t start taking notes from them. Enjoy them. These books, videos and documentaries will give you perspective from all sides- Left, right, centre. Embrace the exposure and try to assimilate the gyaan. At the same time major portion of your syllabus will be done.

Simultaneously start reading NCERTs from class 6 to 10. All the books but mathematics. Science background guys can skip science. Old NCERT ancient India, medieval India and modern India (11th std and 12th std), Macroeconomics (12th std), Geography (all 4 books must read).

Prelims 2016 has arrived

Solve the paper both paper 1 and 2 with whatever you have just read and calculate how many you get right. If you have done what you have been told so far, you will easily be able to score very decent marks for a beginner who will take exam after one year.

Less than 12 months in prelims-

It’s time to get serious

1st step would be to get syllabus print out and read it thoroughly and keep referring back; download past year question papers or buy compilations available in the market.

You can now join a coaching or a test series if you want

If you haven’t yet read NCERTs upto class 10, very quickly go through NCERTs. Geography, polity and world history part is not to be missed. Polity is very conceptual in NCERT. Please do not leave that (concepts such as social justice democracy etc) are very nicely explained.

You can leave the history part if you are feeling uncomfortable.

Standard 11, 12 NCERTs are to be read very carefully again. Sit tight with paper and pencil and take notes simultaneously. All 4 books of geography, macroeconomics, India’s economic development as well as society is to be read from cover to cover with notes.

Read polity book like a novel. Modern India can be left. For ancient and medieval India old NCERTs will be better.

Less than 9 months left

Join a test series if you haven’t already or buy photocopies available in market. Be regular here.Keep looking back at past year question papers to get  a sense of what’s important and what’s not.

Now very few must read standard books-

1. Indian Polity – M Laxmikant (read cover to cover)
2. Certificite Physical and Human Geography – Goh Cheng Leong
3. A Brief History of Modern India by Rajiv Ahir (cover to cover) plus Old NCERT modern India (1757 to 1947) or Plassey to Partition by Shekhar Bandyopadhyay
4. Lexicon for Ethics
5. Economic Survey plus NCERT economics cover to cover- after that you can read Sriram economics
6. Very selective reading of India since independence (You already know everything having already read India after gandhi and watched pradhanmantri and guns and glory)
7. Read NCERT biology std 12 ecology part from both old as well as new books for Environment and biodiversity. Good knowledge of maps and geography is essential hence the importance of map marking. If you ample time at your disposal, you can give a look to the Shankar coaching notes n the subject (but only after doing basics right)
8. Old NCERT std 12, 9th and 10th std books for world history
9. NCERT fine arts book + CCRT for art and culture, don’t forget to revise ancient India from old NCERT
10. Challenges to internal security of India by Ashok Kumar
11. Yojana magazine

For dispersed topics of mains like comparison of Indian constitution with other constitutions, Issues with PDS, SHGs, voluntary organizations etc, various caching notes will help you. As no direct questions are asked you only need to understand the basics and cover current affairs in detail.

Books which are not recommended-

1. India 2016/ 2017 (popularly known as India Year Book)
2. Reading India after Gandhi again
3. Ethics book by SubbaRao (very fat book, you should spend your time analyzing ethical problems, solving more and more case studies rather than doing PHD on theory of ethics

Now,the most important issue of time management

Leave aside the essay paper for the moment (not because it’s not important but rather it’s very very important).

Of the 1500 mains marks, 500 marks are contributed by optional i.e. 1/3rd. Common sense suggests ⅓ time should be devoted to optional i.e. if you read 9 hrs daily, approximately 3 hours daily for optional. But it is often seen that, aspirants don’t give even 20% of their time to the preparation of optional. It’s a very bad strategy. Avoid it all cost. Instead of ⅓ you can allot 30% or 28% if you are comfortable with optional but devoting only 20% time is asking for failure.

Similarly, all four general studies paper should be given more or less proportional time (of course you won’t study GS history, if you have history optional) but what is commonly observed is that aspirants spend majority of their time  especially September and October month immediately after prelims doing PHD on art and culture; world history and; International relations. Avoid this failing. Devote proportional time for all 4 papers and proportional among sub parts in the papers.

Importance of answer writing and solving prelims test papers

You should know something before you start writing. We don’t believe that you should just start writing even if you know nothing. Once you have gained decent enough knowledge (you will gain that by the time you are done with NCERTs and are regular with newspaper), start writing mains answers and solving prelims questions.

For prelims, rule of thumb is appearing in a test every week (available on photo state shops). Take at least 20 high quality tests before appearing in exam beside solving past 10 years question papers. For mains you need to again prioritize your time. For paper 1, paper 2 and paper 3, 80% of time should be spent on studying and 20% on writing answers(4 hr studying, 1 hr writing), for paper 4, 50% study, 50% writing ( 1 hr studying, 1 hr writing). Take time to evaluate your own answers even if you are writing in paid test series.

For essay, no special preparation is needed as whatever you read for IAS preparation will suffice. Take your time understanding different writing styles. Choose the one you are comfortable with and stick to that. Keep a separate notebook (or evernote) to write good quotes, points you come across. Important point is to write one essay every week (90 min) and then spending 60 minutes thinking how you could have written it better.

For Optionals -Answer writing depends on the nature of optional but ignore optional and answer writing at your own peril.

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How to create wifi hotspot in windows 8

20 Mar 2014

Creating Wi-Fi Hotspot in Windows 8 – Step by Step Guide:

Below is the step by step guide to create and share your laptop internet connection with other wifi devices.

Things which You Will need to share your internet with other Wi-Fi Devices:

•  A Working Internet Connection (Either Dial Up Connection or Else Lan Internet Connection)
• A Built In or External Wifi adapter which supports the sharing ability for internet connection
• A laptop surely and a brain!

Finding out: that whether your Wi-Fi card supports sharing:

Let’s find out that whether your wifi card supports sharing or not for this go to search and open up CMD in the administrator mod. For opening CMD in administrator mode you need to right click it and then open the cmd in “Administrator Mode“.

After you have opened cmd write the following command and look for the thing mentioned in the screen shot that whether it’s written yes or no. It it’s yes then you can go on “It means that you can enable the hotspot and can share your internet connection.”

Command to Check Sharing Compatibility of wifi network for windows 8:

netsh wlan show drivers

Now find the following , hope so that you will find a yes!

Creating The Wi-Fi Hotspot:

Don’t close the cmd as you are going to use cmd again. Following is the command line to create the hotspot, set the password and name it as you want too.

netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=nameOfwifiHotspot key=yourpassword

The above is the command to create the hotspot. Replace “nameOfwifiHotspot” with the desired network name and replace “yourpassword” with the desired password which will be used by the others to connect to the hotspot.

Press the enter and hotspot will be created.

Starting the Wi-Fi Created Hotspot in Windows 8:

Now you need to start the hotspot, again you are going to need the cmd and the cmd must run in the administrator mode. Write the following command in the cmd to start the above created hotspot.

netsh wlan start hostednetwork

Press enter and the hotspot will be created and will be discoverable by the other devices as well.

Sharing the working internet connection with the windows 8 Wi-Fi hotspot:

All Right, everything has been done and now you only need to give your laptop’s internet connection’s access to the created hotspot, so that any user connected to the hotspot will have the internet access also. For this reason you will need to open the windows networking and sharing center.

Open up the network and sharing center, and then go to “Change adapter settings” on the top left pane. Click that to open. Here you will see your created hotspot connection plus the connection which you want to be shared with the hotspot for the internet sharing. The created hotspot connection has the star with the name. You need to open the properties of the connection which you want to be shared with the hotspot.

Right click and open the properties of the connection which has the internet access and is the original internet connection of the laptop, whether it’s a dialup, local area network or anything like that. Go to the sharing tab in the properties and then tick the “Allow other network users to connect through this pc internet connection” and in the drop down below, select the hotspot connection which is “Local Area connection *21” in my case and then hit ok. Re-dial the connection or else reconnect the internet connection if needed.

That was it and you are done, the password to connect with the hotspot is the same which you used while setting up hotspot in the cmd. If you can’t still share the internet then reason are that firewall or an antivirus is causing the problem, try disabling the firewall if you trust the person with whom you are sharing the hotspot or else try adding an exception int he firewall or antivirus.

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how to install android apps on pc

16 Feb 2014

Bluestacks is an Android emulator which helps you to run Android games and applications on your Windows and Mac Powered Operating Systems. If you ever thought of having Android smartphone experience on your computer you should try Bluestacks. Bluestacks is available both for Windows and Mac. More than 5 million users have used Bluestacks and are running Android games and applications on their computer.

INSTALL BLUESTACKS ON WINDOWS, MACOnce you have downloaded and installed this app you are ready to have Android gaming and app experience on your computer. Open the app and there you will see a search bar. Enter the name of the app or game which you wish to download and use on your computer. Once the app is opened, install it. Also have a look at all the popular games and apps which are trending on the Google Play market.

Some of you might not be having an active internet connection, so you can try the offline installer and install Bluestacks on windows 7, 8 and Mac. Download Link for Bluestacks Offline Installer is HERE .

Once you have downloaded Bluestacks app player, install it using this step by step guide.

Open the MSI file which you downloaded above The Installation process will be started on your computer You will come across a couple on instructions on your screen. Follow these step by step instructions Once the installation has been completed you will see Bluestacks icon in your system tray.

If you are having any doubts related to offline installation of Bluestacks please feel free to ask them by using the comments section below.

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How to install Android on Window

16 Feb 2014

It’s a Simple Process

First, you’ll need to grab yourself a copy of VirtualBox. This powerful virtualization utility can be used to install a second operating system alongside your primary one, and while this usually means running a second copy of Windows or trying out Ubuntu, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able install a mobile operating system as well.

Android may have been designed for your phone and tablet , but that doesn’t mean it needs to stay there.

Once you have the virtualization software up and running, you’ll need to get hold of a copy of Jelly Bean to install. This does not mean that you need to obtain an illicit copy of the operating system from an untrustworthy website, or rip a copy of your phone’s ROM – it is actually freely available.

Step 1: Grab an Android ROM

There are various versions of Android available for download, but it makes sense to work with the most recent version – Jelly Bean. Head over to the Android-x86 website scroll down to the Android-x86-4.2-devel section and click the View link for the most up to date version (at time of writing this is 4.2 20130228).

There are several Android ROMs available to download including the latest version of Jelly Bean.

Weighing in at just under 200MB, the download will take a moment to transfer. Once you have the ISO file on your hard drive, you’re ready to set about the task of installing it in VirtualBox.

Step 2: Going Virtual

Pay a visit to the VirtualBox download page and click the link to download the software. Here, I’m working with Windows 8, but VirtualBox is compatible with older versions of Microsoft’s operating system, and there are also versions available for OS X and Linux.

VirtualBox can be used to install a second operating system on your computer, including Android.

Once downloaded, run through the installation of the program  – just accept all of the default options. Don’t be concerned when you’re asked to install a new network adaptor as this is part if the usual installation process.

A virtual network adaptor will be installed by VirtualBox to allow virtual machines to get online.

Once installation is complete, launch VirtualBox and you’re ready to move to the next stage.

Step 3: Create a Virtual Machine

You’ll need to start by creating a new virtual machine onto which you will install Android. Click the New button. Name the virtual machine whatever you like, and (as Android is based on Linux) select  Linux from the first drop down menu. From the Version menu select Other Linux and then click Next.

Android is a Linux-based operating system and it needs to be correctly identified in VirtualBox.

Move the memory slider to the right so that 512MB or more of RAM is set aside for VirtualBox and click Next. Make sure that the Create a virtual hard drive now option is selected and click Create. Select VDI, click Next and then select the Fixed size option before clicking Next.

You can then use the slider to choose how large a disk should be assigned to the virtual machine, and you can use the folder button to choose where it should be stored. Click Create when you’ve configured your settings — it might take a few minutes for the virtual disk to be created.

Your virtual Android device can be assigned a drive capacity of your choice — go wild!

Step 4: Install Android

Make sure that you have your newly created virtual machine selected and then click the Settings button in the toolbar. Click the Storage link to the left hand side of the dialog and then towards the center click the Empty entry in the Storage Tree section.

To the right of this, click the small disc button and select Choose a virtual CD/DVD disk file from the menu that appears. Navigate to the ISO file you have downloaded, select it and click Open followed by OK.

The ISO files you’ve downloaded can be used as a virtual CD to install Android.

Power up your virtual machine by clicking the Start button in the VirtualBox toolbar.

If this is the first time you’ve used the program you may see a message letting you know about mouse capturing. When you move the mouse cursor inside the virtual machine window you’ll find that you cannot move it back out to control Windows as you normally would – just remember to press the right hand Ctrl key to free up the mouse when you need to.

Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to scroll down to the Installation option and press Enter.

Android can be run without installation, but opting to install provides a better, faster experience.

Now you will need to configure the virtual hard drive so that there is somewhere to install Android to. Select the Create/Modify Partition option and press Enter.

Select New at the bottom of the screen and press Enter, and then select the Primary option before pressing Enter again. Press Enter to create a partition that occupies your entire virtual drive.

Configuring hard drives for Android may seem complex, but it takes just a few moments.

Now select the Bootable option and press Enter, select Write and press Enter, and then type the word yes before pressing Enter once again. Select Quit, choose the partition you’ve just created and press Enter.

When prompted, select the option to use the ext3 file system and select Yes to confirm your choice. The GRUB bootloader takes care of launching Android, so select Yes to install it and then select Yes again to make the /system directory writeable.

The correct drive format must be selected for Android to work properly, so take care during configuration.

It won’t be long before Android boots, and at this point you should remove the virtual CD from the drive. Click the Devices menu and select CD/DVD Devices followed by Remove disk from virtual drive.

It’s a slightly time-consuming process, but getting Android on your PC is very rewarding.

Step 5: Almost There!

You might find that Android takes a little while to boot up — at least the first time around — and you’ll then have to run through the initial configuration just like you did the first time you switched on your phone or tablet.

Should you find that your mouse does not work and you are unable to click within Android, click the Machine menu in Virtual Box and then click Disable Mouse Integration. You may also find it useful to click View followed by Switch to Scale Mode if you find the mouse acts erratically — you can switch back to regular mode by pressing the right Ctrl key and C at the same time.

The first time you run Android you’ll have to set it up just like you did on your phone or tablet.

You can ignore any steps related to connecting to a wireless network as VirtualBox will just make use of your computer connection without the need for additional configuration.

Running Android within Windows can feel strange to start with, but it’s also great fun!

Now it’s time to pay a visit to Google Play and start downloading apps! Let us know how you get on, particularly if you think up any interesting uses for a virtualized copy of Android.

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Connect laptop using Desktop Switch

12 Oct 2013

1) Power up the switch. Connect all the PCs to the switch with standard network cables.
2) Put all the computers in the same workgroup:
- On each PC, right-click "My Computer"
- Click "Properties"
- Go to the "Computer Name" tab
- Click "Change" at the bottom
- Under "Member of" put a tick next to "Workgroup"
- Type in a name for the workgroup (use this name of each PC)

3) Give all the computers IP address in the same subnet.
Example:

PC 1:
- IP: 192.168.0.10
- Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0

PC 2:
- IP: 192.168.0.11
- Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0

PC 3:
- IP: 192.168.0.12
- Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0

PC 4:
- IP: 192.168.0.13
- Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0

To do this, on each computer:
- Open Start > Control Panel > Network Connections
- Right-click "Local Area Connection"
- Under "This connection uses the following items" select "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" and click the "Properties" button
- Put a tick next to "Use the following IP Address" and type in the IP and subnet mask from above.
- There is no default gateway because your workgroup is not connected to a router. You also do not have a DNS server, so you will have to browse the workgroup by IP addresses and not by computer names.

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Connect two laptops using LAN cable

12 Oct 2013

st step:Install lan driver in both laptops from there own methere bord cd.
2nd step:Connect both laptop vis lan wire.
3rd step:Goto startmenu--->Control Panel--->Network Connections.there is a item whose name Local Area Connection
4th step: Right click on Local Area Connection.select properties from menu.
5th step:select General tab,see there is a level name by "The connection uses the following item :".scroll and select Iternet protocol (TCP/IP) and press properties button
6th step:Select Use the following IP address,put ther IP address.its like 192.168.0.1(IP address) and subnet mask is 255.255.255.0 and press ok.after thene press close button.

i think after that work,
but note that ip address are diffrent in both lapto.

st step:Install lan driver in both laptops from there own methere bord cd.
2nd step:Connect both laptop vis lan wire.
3rd step:Goto startmenu--->Control Panel--->Network Connections.there is a item whose name Local Area Connection
4th step: Right click on Local Area Connection.select properties from menu.
5th step:select General tab,see there is a level name by "The connection uses the following item :".scroll and select Iternet protocol (TCP/IP) and press properties button
6th step:Select Use the following IP address,put ther IP address.its like 192.168.0.1(IP address) and subnet mask is 255.255.255.0 and press ok.after thene press close button.

i think after that work,
but note that ip address are diffrent in both lapto.

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How to connect two laptops using LAN cable

12 Oct 2013

Step-by-step on how to connect two PC's via cable

This describes the proccedure to connect a PC with a laptop, which enablesa user to use Remote desktop feature and internet connection on both computers.

Schematics:

PC ---------------------------- LAPTOP -> wireless connection to internet
cross-over cable


Configuring LAPTOP:

1. Go to Control Panel -> Network connections
2. Right-click on Wireless network connection and select Properties
3. Select Advanced tab and put a thick in the box "Allow other network users to connect to this computer's Internet connection"
(You can also put a thick in the other box if you wish)
4. Confirm with the OK button and find yourself back in the Network connections window
5. Next, in Network connections Right-click on your LAN adapter, under General tab select Internet protocol (TCP/IP) and click Properties
6. Assign IP manually (192.168.0.1 - this is also the default if you use Network connection Wizard) and Subnet mask (255.255.255.0 - also default)
7. Next you must assing (one or) both DNS servers (I used the one ISP provided) - the most important thing to do is to use the same DNS when you configure the other computer!!!
8. Confirm everything and this computer is done...

Configuring PC (if you don't want to set-up Remote desktop, where PC is the host computer, start at 4.):

1. Go to Control Panel -> System -> Remote tab
2. Put a thick in the "Allow users to connect remotely to this computer"
3. Confirm with OK
4. Go to Control Panel -> Network connections
5. Right-click on your LAN adapter, under General tab select Internet protocol (TCP/IP) and click Properties
6. Assign IP manually (for example 192.168.0.2 - has to be in the same range as the IP on the other computer, but different!) and Subnet mask (the same as on the other computer - 255.255.255.0)
7. Assign Default Gateway (which is the assigned IP of the other computer, in this case 192.168.0.1)
8. Assign the same DNS as on the first computer
9. Confirm everything...

Everything should work now. Remember you have to use CROSS-OVER CABLE. If you are having problems with the connections try "playing" with the Firewall settings (under Exceptions and Advanced tab).

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SSC CGL POST DESCRIPTION

26 Aug 2013

[Job Profile] SSC-CGL: desk jobs, field jobs, CSS, Assistant, auditors, inspectors: income tax, excise, preventive officer: promotion, posting, job profiles

1. Prologue
2. Desk job or Field job?
   1. Assistants
      1. Assistants: Promotion opportunities
      2. CSS (Assistant in Central Secretariat Service)
      3. Assistant (CSS): Work Profile
      4. Work diversity: CSS vs Other assistants
      5. CSS vs Inspectors (Income Tax, Excise etc)
      6. Assistant in MEA: Work Profile
      7. MEA: General vs Cypher Assistant (Difference)
      8. Assistant in Railways
      9. Assistants: remaining
   2. Divisional Accountant
   3. Auditor & Accountants (Non-Interview)
   4. CGDA vs C&AG
   5. CGDA (defence) posting
   6. Auditor:Promotion (CGDA)
   7. Tax Assistants (TA)
   8. Tax Assistant: Posting and Promotion
   9. Upper Division clerk
3. Field jobs: (Inspectors)
   1. Tax authorities: CBDT vs CBEC
      1. Inspectors: Income Tax, Excise, Customs, Examiner
         1. ACR (Annual Confidential reports)
         2. Income Tax Inspector:Work Profile
         3. Income Tax inspector: Good or bad?
      2. Physical requirements (Indirect Taxes)
      3. Excise inspector vs Preventive Officer: Work Profile
      4. Preventive Officer vs Examiner: Work profile
      5. Assistant Enforcement Officer (AEO)
   2. CBI Sub-Inspector
   3. CBI: Physical requirement
   4. CBI Subinspector: Work profile
   5. Narcotics inspector/Subins.
   6. Postal inspector
4. By the way how to prepare SSC CGL exam?

Prologue

• Many aspirants have doubts regarding what to fill up in “Preference order” for the SSC-CGL job application?
• So, following information should help you get some idea.
• Please note: I’ve not written this article all by myself. Most of this stuff is copypasted from the inputs given by some serving officers and pagalguy members, including csl180, prince1 and others.
• If you want to add update /correction / elaboration regarding these jobs, please do post your inputs in comments at the bottom of this article.

First thing you must decide: Do you want a…

Desk job or Field job?

Desk job	Field job
Assistants, Auditors, Accountants, Tax-assistants, upper division clerks.	Inspectors (income tax, excise, preventive officers, examiners), CBI, narcotics etc.
No physical standard (height, chest, weight)	In some of these jobs: Physical standards required. (given on page 20 of notification) click me to see SSC CGL 2013-notification.
The working hours of desk job are “fixed”. (in most cases, except Assistant (cypher). It’s like office to home, home to office. So if your ultimate aim is preparing for some other exam (UPSC/CAT etc) then these are the “right” jobs because of the “City –posting” (Delhi or some State HQ).	Field jobs involve travelling, carrying out raids, inspections, surveillance etc. Sometimes you might need to work in non-office hours or even Sundays.
Less than field job (at the initial level).	Social status, nuisance power of field job is higher compared of desk job. I mean, in terms of impressing your parents, siblings, friends, college-batchmates, relatives in your village and girlfriend and her parents.
Peace of mind. Office-to-home, home-to-office. Hardly any transfers. (except MEA assistant) comfortable for family and social life.	(some of these) Jobs involve stress, dealing with informants, power-brokers, pressure-tactics, backstabbing bastards (within your department). Almost all of these jobs involve transfer from one city to another. Therefore family/social life=little bit of trouble.
No uniform No weapons. No adventure.	Includes uniform (some jobs), weapons training Some adventure (raids etc) although nothing very “dangerous”. (For Dangerous stuff you’ve to apply for CDS or CAPF).

• So first decide-what do you want: Desk job or Field job?
• Second Question: do you want to permanently shift to Delhi or not? Because If you don’t want to shift to Delhi, then job of Assistant in CSS and various Central Ministries=useless for you.
• Similarly, if you don’t want to leave India, then MEA assistant =useless.

Now, we’ll see the Desk jobs, and in the later part of the article, we’ll see the Field jobs.

Assistants

They’re of two types

Central Secretariat services (CSS)

Other than CSS (e.g. Assistant in railways, Election Commission, coast guard etc.)

Assistants: Promotion opportunities

1. Assistant (you join here)
2. Section Officer (Group B Gazetted). To become SO, you have to pass departmental test, conducted by UPSC. If you don’t pass exam, you get promotion very late (after 10-12 years).
3. Under Secretary
4. Deputy Secretary
5. Joint Secretary.

CSS (Assistant in Central Secretariat Service)

Job code	Name	Salary
A	Assistant in Central Secretariat Service (CSS)	Pay Band –II f 9300-34800GP 4600

Assistant (CSS): Work Profile

• Work=files, files and files and then more files.
• But 3 hrs of work daily: from answering RTI of people to Cabinet note making to answering parliament questions to working on daily receipts
• It is like you’re given the project, and you made the dealing hand. Now report the problem in short about the project and tell your recommendations on what can be done.
• If your seniors like they will accept it or else they will tell their own decisions etc=this is CSS work.

Promotion speed: CSS vs other Assistants

• In CSS, the promotion from Assistant to Section Officer, you have vacancies like 200 , 250 etc
• In other places like MEA or railways you’ll have 5 ,10 etc.so promotions are faster in CSS.

Work diversity: CSS vs Other assistants

• If you become Assistant in say Railways, then you’re stuck in Railways forever.
• But CSS offers you wider variety of postings like in Ministry of consumer affairs, home, finance, education, civil aviation, law etc.
• Therefore, your scope and work-diversity is huge. (just like an IAS officer).

CSS vs Inspectors (Income Tax, Excise etc)

CSS (Desk Job)	Income Tax/Excise inspectors
Desk job	Field job.
Low	Work Pressure / stress is high
Good for preparing UPSC (because you’re in Delhi, the Mecca of UPSC preparation)	Less.
Low	You can earn more (via bribes), provided that you know your job, duties well, otherwise people (your own colleges and bosses) will stab you in the back and you’ll be suspended hahaha.
For those who want to enjoy family and social life, peace of mind, and are not obsessed with money.	Promotion, name, fame, money (but comes at the cost of social life)
Permanent posting in Delhi until you retire.	Transfers, deputation, field posting.
Once you get promoted to Under Secretary, you get free air-tickets during travel.	Not applicable. But you get free petrol, free mobile card etc in some jobs.

• So it should be clear to you that in Desk job: first preference = CSS (Job application code “A”).

Assistant in MEA: Work Profile

• It is one of the most sought Assistant post under SSC-CGL.
• Why? Because charm of foreign posting and many other lucrative facilities like children’s education, accommodation etc and a very handsome salary of more than 1 lakh per month (perhaps upto Rs 1,25,000).
• But here is the problem: in the foreign countries, the cost of living, is also high!
• For example $1500 is big amount when converted in Indian Rupees, but inside America, you can buy very few things.
• And one can be posted in countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Irak, Libya too.
• but nothing to fear on this count as while sending one to an other country on posting he is given a few choices for the needed postings and he is posted according to those choices preferably. If one chooses any of the countries mentioned he is given 50% more salary and his tenure there is counted as DOUBLE; means he has to serve there for one and a half year which is counted equal to three years.
• Let’s do comparison of these two assistants under MEA (Ministery of External affairs)

MEA: General vs Cypher Assistant (Difference)

MEA Assistant (General)	MEA Assistant (Cypher)
SSC-CGL-2013 job Application code “E”	Code “F”
General filing-reporting type work.	They have to do the task of coding and decoding in addition of some highly confidential language.
Less	Cypher Asst got more foreign posting than general Asst
Assistant (General) is supposed to be posted generally 3 years in India and 3 years in foreign; and like this throughout his tenure of service	whereas an Assistant (Cypher) is posted 3 years in India and 6 years in foreign; and like this
promotional avenues are better in General Asst. You can go upto level of Under Secretary.	Less chance.
No night shifts.	Cypher has night shifts because of time-zone difference between India and foreign country And it’s like u have to work for 6 days and then 2 days off. And 2 days will be night shift.

• One can get his first promotion after about 15-17 years if he will not clear departmental examination and after clearing departmental examination, it will take around 8 odd years.
• Verdict: if you originally wanted to be an IFS officer, but it did not work out, then perhaps this is the job you should try for.
• If you want to permanently stay in India, then don’t tick these job-codes (application code “E and F”)

Assistant in Railways

• Job Code is “D”
• Assistant in railways: good job ,you’ll get 1 pass for family ( to and fro) anywhere in India free and 3 passes for family (to and fro) in which u pay 1/3rd of amount
• all this for tier 2 AC ticket..then railway has its own railway homes all over India ..so you can stay there at a very cheap rate, if you using railway passes!

Railways	CSS
Always in Railways.	Posting in variety of department and ministries= life is not monotonous.
Posting in various cities/regional HQ for example Lucknow.	Always in Delhi till he retires.

Assistants: remaining

Job code	Name
B	Assistant Central Vigilance Commission
C	Assistant Intelligence Bureau
G	Armed forces Headquarters
H	Other Ministries/ Departments/Organisations (Grade pay 4600)
I	Other Ministries/ Departments/Organisations but gradepay is 4200.

• Please note: these may or may not involve Permanent Delhi posting.
• For example,Other organization >>Election Commission =always in Delhi.
• But other organization >>Coast guard=sometimes in Chennai (Eastern command) and sometimes Kolkata (North Eastern Command).
• To sumup, if you want “assistant” job, select A to I job codes first. But Internal choice (A,E,F… or E,F,A.. or whatever) that is as per your career-interest.

Moving to other desk jobs: Auditors and accountants

Divisional Accountant

Job Code	Name	Salary
Q	Divisional accountant (under CAG)	Group “C” Pay Band –II f 9300-34800. Grade Pay 4200

• Interview=yes
• Physical=no.
• Posting: Once you join as Divisional Accountant in a state, there is no chance of moving outside the state.
• They’ve have direct engagements with contractors, so they earn (bribes).
• Divisional Accountant works in Public works departments offices (PWDs) which is a state govt office.
• Though his payroll comes from State govt, he is always a central govt employee.
• PWDs need not necessarily be in cities, so you might get posted to any district in a state.
• Regarding the work, he basically acts as an auditor for all expenses and receipts that go through the PWD, meaning he has to sign off each and every voucher.
• Since he is Central govt representative in state dept he enjoys great power and respect in the office and works independently, doesn’t need to report to anyone but himself.
• In terms of pure salary: Divisional accountant is better than Auditors, jr.accountants.

Auditor & Accountants (Non-Interview)

• Interview is not done for these jobs. (but their salary is also lower compared to Divisional accountant.)
• Pay Band -I: f 5200-20200, Grade Pay 2800.
• Posting will be according to your state preference (+depending on merit)
• through SSC one can become auditor/accountant in two depts, CGDA & C&AG
• Abbreviations

C&AG	Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG)
CGDA	Controller General of Defence Accounts
CGA	Controller General of Accounts.

Job codes for Auditors and Accountants

T	Auditor	C&AG
U	Auditor	CGDA
V	Auditor	C&AG
W	Accountant/Jr.Accountant	C&AG
X	Accountant/Jr.Accountant	CGA& Others
T	Auditor	C&AG

CGDA vs C&AG

CGDA	C&AG
deals with audit works of defence forces (in various offices around India).	central audit dept dealing with state govt audits
It comes under CAG so It also has posting in Delhi	Has offices in all states as well as Delhi
Salary (approx.): 27,000 Although salary of DA is less than Income Tax inspector.	Approx 21,000

• The selected candidates for the post of Auditors were allocated departments of C&AG and CGDA in round robin manner of first candidates going to C&AG,
• second to CGDA, third to C&AG and so on, until the vacancies of the department
• in the respective category are utilized.
• The rest of the candidates in that category have been assigned the department with left over vacancies.
• The same criteria have been used to allocate department of C&AG and CGA to the candidates selected for Jr. Accountants/Accountants.

CGDA (defence) posting

They get posting in only in these cities: click me to see the list of CGDA offices

Experience (of a serving officer in CGDA)

(I’m just copy-pasting this).

• Auditor is the best amongst all non-interview post.
• I have been working as a Senior auditor in dad dept.(min. of defence) since 5 years.
• Auditors are recruited under CAG and CGDA dept. although most vacancies are in CGDA
• in CGDA you will be appointed as an auditor in defence acctts.

Work profile of Auditor (CGDA)

• Initially u will get army/navy/airforce/ordnance factory command.
• You have to do the manual work like passing of bills,auditing pay bills of Staffs, accounting the factory production in factory command.
• it’s a very good post. You have to work 8 hours(officially) but u can manage.s
• Saturday-sunday off days.
• You will get ample time to spent with your family.
• if bachelor maximum time u can utilize for your higher preparation. (UPSC)
• salary wise it is a very good post. initially you will get minimum 21 thousand in A class cities including HRA

Auditor:Promotion (CGDA)

• You will get automatically promoted to Senior Auditor (grade pay 4200) in 3 years .
• You will get a chance to sit for deptmental SAS exam for the ppst of AAO (Gazette post) after completion of 2 years.
• Promotion wise its a good dept. over all i have enjoyed thoroughly as an Auditor.
• so i will recommend each and every one(those who got selected in non interview post category) to give auditor as his first preference.

(end of copy paste).
Ok so far we saw Desk Jobs>>Assistant, Auditors, Accountants.
Now next Desk Job

Tax Assistants (TA)

Job code	Tax assistant in
Z	CBDT (Direct tax)
@	CBEC (Excise and Customs)

• Both are Group “C” Pay Band -I: f 5200-20200 (grade pay: 2400)
• Interview=no
• physical=no
• Data-entry test=yes.

Tax Assistant: Posting and Promotion

• Promotion : after promotion you rise to inspector level, and then to officer level.
• The inspector level is the same as the one people get through CGL (direct inspect in Income tax or Excise department)
• So joining as TA, you begin at one step lower.
• Promotion wise, CBDT (direct tax) is far better than CBEC.
• Both of these are transferable jobs. when you become a senior, you are automatically transferred to your home town for convenience.

Upper Division clerk

Y

Upper division clerkCentral Govt. Offices/Ministries other than CSCS cadres

Pay Band -I: f 5200-20200

• (Mostly) Delhi posting. He gets transferred from one ministry to another.
• Promotion : Upper Division clerk-> Assistant (generally after 5-7 years)
• Assistant>to>Section officer.

Ok this concludes discussion on “Desk Jobs”.
Now moving to Field jobs: Inspectors in Income Tax, Excise, CBI, Narcotics etc.

Field jobs: (Inspectors)

• I classify them under : Tax and Non-Tax
• Tax means Direct (Income tax) and indirect tax.(customs and Excise)
• Non tax means: CBI, narcotics and postal Department.

Let’s start with Tax inspectors

Tax authorities: CBDT vs CBEC

First understand the difference

Direct tax	Levied on your income and property. Income tax, corporate tax, capital gains tax are examples of Direct tax. Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) deals with it.
Indirect tax	Levied on goods and services. Service tax, custom-excise are examples of Indirect tax. Central Board of Excise duty (CBEC) deals with it. Note: Sales tax is also an indirect tax, but State Governments look after it.

Inspectors: Income Tax, Excise, Customs, Examiner

Organization	Direct tax (CBDT)	Indirect Tax (CBEC)
Inspector	Income Tax Inspector	Excise inspector	Preventive officer (Custom officer)	Examiner
Application Job code	J	K	L	M
Group	C	B	B	B
Salary	Pay Band –II f 9300-34800 GP: 4600
Physical test	NO	Yes	Yes	Yes
Uniform	No	Yes (Khakhi) but optional.	Yes (White) Always have to wear.	NO
First promotion:Group B Gazetted*	Income Tax officer (ITO)	Superintendent	Superintendent of Customs	Appraiser
2nd Promotion Group A*(IRS)	Assistant Commissioner	Assistant Commissioner	Assistant commissioner	Assistant commissioner
subsequent promotions:	Deputy Commissioner. then Joint Commissioner > Addl. Commissioner > Commissioner	Deputy Commissioner	Superintendent of Customs	Deputy Commissioner then Joint Commissioner > Addl. Commissioner > Commissioner

*notes on promotion

1. You’ve to pass departmental exam to get promotion but it is for “screening”, otherwise promotion is actually given based on your zonal seniority.
2. In Income Tax and Excise, initial years= you get posting only in the given zone. But once you get the “group-A” promotion that is Assistant Commissioner= you can be posted all india.
3. Because those Group A jobs are just same like direct recruitment via UPSC civil service exam.
4. According to All India Association of Central Excise Officers, the people joining in Income tax (CBDT) and Examiner (CBEC) get more promotions (6-7!) while Excise inspectors get barely 1-2 promotions, despite joining in the same year.
5. Qualification for an ITI to get promoted to ITO is 3 years, though seniority also plays a major role in promotions. So basically it takes atleast 4-6 years to get promoted to ITO(considering the fact that one clears departmental exam in time), depending on the zone. (input by Rahul, CGL 2010).

Now let’s check the work profile of individual inspectors under Tax authorities

Income Tax Inspector:Work Profile

He can be posted in one of the following two areas (transferable on cyclic basis)

Assessment of tax	Non assessment
He has to do assessment of income tax to be imposed on an individual, partnership firm, company etc; He has and refund of it in case someone has deposited in excess. He also has to see the work related to TAX DEDUCTION AT SOURCE (TDS) besides being accompanying a raid team.	An Income tax Inspector on non-assessment seat generally has to do do clerical work though he too could be asked to accompany a raid team.
He is part of the raiding party.	No.

• He is entitled for 30 liter of petrol if posted on assessment seat.
• He also gets a SIM from the department on which all STD calls on every type of BSNL/MTNL phone are free; and 400 minutes on other phones whether STD or LOCAL are free for every month.
• This SIM is provided to every ITI irrespective of the seat he is posted at.

Income Tax inspector: Good or bad?

Merit	Demerits
public dealing & regards good promotion opportunity to prove your talent good pay & other benefits good workplace and environment	vulnerable post involving risks of making enemies.. Post is under strict vigilance by CVC. Lots of departmental jealousy over coveted postings (=have to be alert of the backstabbing bastards) departmental complains from colleagues and public can get you in trouble very easily. too much hardwork & treachery to remain in importance.

Now let’s talk about the inspectors associated with indirect taxes viz. excise inspector, prevention officer and examiner.

Physical requirements (Indirect Taxes)

Following are the requirements for Central Excise/Examiner/Preventive Officer/Inspector & Sub-Inspector In Central Bureau of Narcotics.

Gender	Male	Female
Height	157.5cm	152 cms
Weight	NA	48kg minimum
Chest	81 cm fully expanded	NA
Walking	1600 metres in 15 minutes	1 Km. in 20 minutes
Cycling	8 Kms. In 30 minutes	3 km in 25 mins.

Height relaxation

In case of Garwalis, Assamese, Gorkhas and ST candidates.

Male	Female
Height relaxable by 5 cms.	Height relaxable by 2.5 cms.Weight by 2 Kgs.

Ok now let’s check the work profiles

Excise inspector vs Preventive Officer: Work Profile

Excise & Service Tax	Customs (Preventive Officer)
You have certain number of factory units or business entities under you. Your job is to scrutinize records to verify that the correct amount of the tax has been paid (according to production of particular goods). have some control over the production, money making capacity of community industrialist, business men, etc. your area of working is defined. Even in the Customs Intelligence Agency like DRI, the most of the personnel belong to Central Excise. Thus, the Central Excise category officers have multi-skilled expertise	for those wanting an adventurous jobs, area of work is very broadly defined. in special cases you can also go out of your area also to nab a culprit, which gives u some more power than CE excise, ServiceTax or an Income Tax Inspector. Its a kind of job of both collecting intelligence as well as prevention- be prepared to work day and night, far away from your home.
sometimes they conduct raids etc but not so adventurous or risky.	Customs always surrounded by enemies.: on one direction there are smugglers/culprits and on the other hand are unsatisfied colleagues trying to ruin your hardwork by intruding into your information, network and assignments.(=backstabbing bastards)

Preventive Officer vs Examiner: Work profile

	Preventive officer	Examiner
Uniform	white	No.
Work	It Is more about intelligence gathering and raids. Checking boats, cargos, containers coming from foreign ports. auction and disposal of confiscated goods. a preventive officer also acts as a facilitator of trade and commerce and tourism.	examine the goods imported or to be exported and assessing duty on that.

• These are all “Tax” officers.(direct or indirect).
• There is one more officer associated with taxation: Assistant Enforcement officer (AEO). But he doesn’t fall under CBDT or CBEC. He is under Directorate of Enforcement, Department of Revenue.
• Enforcement directorate basically looks into 1) Moneylaundering 2)FERA, FEMA (Foreign exchange)

Assistant Enforcement Officer (AEO)

• If posted in the field, he carries out regular inspector type of work, viz.

1. prevention of money laundering,
2. to conduct searches of suspected persons, conveyances and premises
3. seize incriminating materials (including Indian and foreign currencies involved),
4. to arrest and prosecute the person suspected to be involved in the act of money laundering, etc.

Assistant Enforcement Officer: Posting

10 zonal offices	11 sub-zonal offices
Headed by Joint Director	By Deputy director
Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Cochin, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow and Mumbai	Bhubaneswar, Calicut, Guwahati, Indore, Jaipur, Jalandhar, Madurai, Nagpur, Patna, Srinagar and Varanasi

Now let’s talk about non-tax inspectors.

CBI Sub-Inspector

Job code	Name	Pay
O	CBI sub-inspector (group C)	Pay Band –II f 9300-34800GP 4200

• interview=yes
• physical=yes

CBI: Physical requirement

Height	For men – 165 cms. For women – 150 cms. Height relaxable for Hillsmen and Tribals : 5 cms.
Chest	76 cms. with expansion (There shall be no such requirement in case of female candidates)
Vision	Eye-sight (with or without glasses) Distant vision : 6/6 in one and 6/9 in the other eye. Near vision 0.6 in one eye and 0.8 in other eye.

No physical test (like running, cycling carried out, unlike those indirect tax inspector jobs).

CBI Subinspector: Work profile

• Life in CBI is stressful due to heavy workload and deadlines there.
• Training duration is 32 weeks involving physical training and training on criminal and anti-corruption laws. During the training the daily physical activity includes 2 km run, PT, Drill in the morning and Games/Unarmed Combat Course in the evening.
• It is not a 24 x 7 job; but sometimes the work streches beyond the usual working hours i.e. sometimes one has to work till 8 or 9 pm. Usually on Saturdays, if the workload is more, the work goes on as usual; though Sundays are spared.
• Also in some branches like Special Crime etc, the job involves a fair bit of travelling especially in the starting years.
• The nature and hours of work also differs from branch to branch and place to place. Some branches have less workload and so the personnel can take it easy.
• No uniform required.
• Sub Inspectors in CBI or for that matter any rank in CBI does not possess revolver/pistol.
• In a very few cases, when a search is to be carried out in some dangerous places, weapons are issued to the staff.

Narcotics inspector/Subins.

Central Bureau of Narcotics=CBN

Job code	Name	Pay
S	Inspector	Pay Band –II f 9300-34800GP 4200
#	Subinspector	Pay Band -I: f 5200-20200, GP=2400.

• Mrunal edit: still searching for job profile, posting, promotion etc. if you’ve information, kindly post it in comments.

Postal inspector

• Well this doesn’t really count as “field job” because Field job=social status and nuisance power- unfortunately postal inspector gets neither.

Job code	Name	Pay
O	Inspector of Posts (group B)	Pay Band –II f 9300-34800, GP-4200

• Inspector of posts is there with every postal division.
• There must be 2 or more divisions in district.
• Presently the Postal inspector must go to canvass people for getting Postal Life Insurance and also they have to acquire a huge sum for the department.
• The Department of Posts has given instructions to all circles to enhance their growth by 20 percent- All such burden comes on Postal inspector.

By the way how to prepare SSC CGL exam?

Booklist, strategy, topicwise analysis of last three years, cutoffs everything given in following articles:

General Awareness Tier I	Click me
Maths / Quantitative Aptitude for Tier I and II	Click me
Reasoning / General Intelligence for Tier I	Click me
English Grammar, Vocabulary, Comprehension for Tier I and II	Click me
Cut off marks of 2011 and 2012	Click me

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URL to article: http://mrunal.org/2013/01/job-profile-ssc-cgl-desk-jobs-field-jobs-css-assistant-auditors-inspectors-income-tax-excise-preventive-officer-promotion-posting-job-profiles.html

Posted By On 22/01/2013 @ 20:22 In the category Tips

Click hereto print.

[Job Profile] SSC-CGL: desk jobs, field jobs, CSS, Assistant, auditors, inspectors: income tax, excise, preventive officer: promotion, posting, job profiles

1. Prologue
2. Desk job or Field job?
   1. Assistants
      1. Assistants: Promotion opportunities
      2. CSS (Assistant in Central Secretariat Service)
      3. Assistant (CSS): Work Profile
      4. Work diversity: CSS vs Other assistants
      5. CSS vs Inspectors (Income Tax, Excise etc)
      6. Assistant in MEA: Work Profile
      7. MEA: General vs Cypher Assistant (Difference)
      8. Assistant in Railways
      9. Assistants: remaining
   2. Divisional Accountant
   3. Auditor & Accountants (Non-Interview)
   4. CGDA vs C&AG
   5. CGDA (defence) posting
   6. Auditor:Promotion (CGDA)
   7. Tax Assistants (TA)
   8. Tax Assistant: Posting and Promotion
   9. Upper Division clerk
3. Field jobs: (Inspectors)
   1. Tax authorities: CBDT vs CBEC
      1. Inspectors: Income Tax, Excise, Customs, Examiner
         1. ACR (Annual Confidential reports)
         2. Income Tax Inspector:Work Profile
         3. Income Tax inspector: Good or bad?
      2. Physical requirements (Indirect Taxes)
      3. Excise inspector vs Preventive Officer: Work Profile
      4. Preventive Officer vs Examiner: Work profile
      5. Assistant Enforcement Officer (AEO)
   2. CBI Sub-Inspector
   3. CBI: Physical requirement
   4. CBI Subinspector: Work profile
   5. Narcotics inspector/Subins.
   6. Postal inspector
4. By the way how to prepare SSC CGL exam?

Prologue

• Many aspirants have doubts regarding what to fill up in “Preference order” for the SSC-CGL job application?
• So, following information should help you get some idea.
• Please note: I’ve not written this article all by myself. Most of this stuff is copypasted from the inputs given by some serving officers and pagalguy members, including csl180, prince1 and others.
• If you want to add update /correction / elaboration regarding these jobs, please do post your inputs in comments at the bottom of this article.

First thing you must decide: Do you want a…

Desk job or Field job?

Desk job	Field job
Assistants, Auditors, Accountants, Tax-assistants, upper division clerks.	Inspectors (income tax, excise, preventive officers, examiners), CBI, narcotics etc.
No physical standard (height, chest, weight)	In some of these jobs: Physical standards required. (given on page 20 of notification) click me to see SSC CGL 2013-notification.
The working hours of desk job are “fixed”. (in most cases, except Assistant (cypher). It’s like office to home, home to office. So if your ultimate aim is preparing for some other exam (UPSC/CAT etc) then these are the “right” jobs because of the “City –posting” (Delhi or some State HQ).	Field jobs involve travelling, carrying out raids, inspections, surveillance etc. Sometimes you might need to work in non-office hours or even Sundays.
Less than field job (at the initial level).	Social status, nuisance power of field job is higher compared of desk job. I mean, in terms of impressing your parents, siblings, friends, college-batchmates, relatives in your village and girlfriend and her parents.
Peace of mind. Office-to-home, home-to-office. Hardly any transfers. (except MEA assistant) comfortable for family and social life.	(some of these) Jobs involve stress, dealing with informants, power-brokers, pressure-tactics, backstabbing bastards (within your department). Almost all of these jobs involve transfer from one city to another. Therefore family/social life=little bit of trouble.
No uniform No weapons. No adventure.	Includes uniform (some jobs), weapons training Some adventure (raids etc) although nothing very “dangerous”. (For Dangerous stuff you’ve to apply for CDS or CAPF).

• So first decide-what do you want: Desk job or Field job?
• Second Question: do you want to permanently shift to Delhi or not? Because If you don’t want to shift to Delhi, then job of Assistant in CSS and various Central Ministries=useless for you.
• Similarly, if you don’t want to leave India, then MEA assistant =useless.

Now, we’ll see the Desk jobs, and in the later part of the article, we’ll see the Field jobs.

Assistants

They’re of two types

Central Secretariat services (CSS)

Other than CSS (e.g. Assistant in railways, Election Commission, coast guard etc.)

Assistants: Promotion opportunities

1. Assistant (you join here)
2. Section Officer (Group B Gazetted). To become SO, you have to pass departmental test, conducted by UPSC. If you don’t pass exam, you get promotion very late (after 10-12 years).
3. Under Secretary
4. Deputy Secretary
5. Joint Secretary.

CSS (Assistant in Central Secretariat Service)

Job code	Name	Salary
A	Assistant in Central Secretariat Service (CSS)	Pay Band –II f 9300-34800GP 4600

Assistant (CSS): Work Profile

• Work=files, files and files and then more files.
• But 3 hrs of work daily: from answering RTI of people to Cabinet note making to answering parliament questions to working on daily receipts
• It is like you’re given the project, and you made the dealing hand. Now report the problem in short about the project and tell your recommendations on what can be done.
• If your seniors like they will accept it or else they will tell their own decisions etc=this is CSS work.

Promotion speed: CSS vs other Assistants

• In CSS, the promotion from Assistant to Section Officer, you have vacancies like 200 , 250 etc
• In other places like MEA or railways you’ll have 5 ,10 etc.so promotions are faster in CSS.

Work diversity: CSS vs Other assistants

• If you become Assistant in say Railways, then you’re stuck in Railways forever.
• But CSS offers you wider variety of postings like in Ministry of consumer affairs, home, finance, education, civil aviation, law etc.
• Therefore, your scope and work-diversity is huge. (just like an IAS officer).

CSS vs Inspectors (Income Tax, Excise etc)

CSS (Desk Job)	Income Tax/Excise inspectors
Desk job	Field job.
Low	Work Pressure / stress is high
Good for preparing UPSC (because you’re in Delhi, the Mecca of UPSC preparation)	Less.
Low	You can earn more (via bribes), provided that you know your job, duties well, otherwise people (your own colleges and bosses) will stab you in the back and you’ll be suspended hahaha.
For those who want to enjoy family and social life, peace of mind, and are not obsessed with money.	Promotion, name, fame, money (but comes at the cost of social life)
Permanent posting in Delhi until you retire.	Transfers, deputation, field posting.
Once you get promoted to Under Secretary, you get free air-tickets during travel.	Not applicable. But you get free petrol, free mobile card etc in some jobs.

• So it should be clear to you that in Desk job: first preference = CSS (Job application code “A”).

Assistant in MEA: Work Profile

• It is one of the most sought Assistant post under SSC-CGL.
• Why? Because charm of foreign posting and many other lucrative facilities like children’s education, accommodation etc and a very handsome salary of more than 1 lakh per month (perhaps upto Rs 1,25,000).
• But here is the problem: in the foreign countries, the cost of living, is also high!
• For example $1500 is big amount when converted in Indian Rupees, but inside America, you can buy very few things.
• And one can be posted in countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Irak, Libya too.
• but nothing to fear on this count as while sending one to an other country on posting he is given a few choices for the needed postings and he is posted according to those choices preferably. If one chooses any of the countries mentioned he is given 50% more salary and his tenure there is counted as DOUBLE; means he has to serve there for one and a half year which is counted equal to three years.
• Let’s do comparison of these two assistants under MEA (Ministery of External affairs)

MEA: General vs Cypher Assistant (Difference)

MEA Assistant (General)	MEA Assistant (Cypher)
SSC-CGL-2013 job Application code “E”	Code “F”
General filing-reporting type work.	They have to do the task of coding and decoding in addition of some highly confidential language.
Less	Cypher Asst got more foreign posting than general Asst
Assistant (General) is supposed to be posted generally 3 years in India and 3 years in foreign; and like this throughout his tenure of service	whereas an Assistant (Cypher) is posted 3 years in India and 6 years in foreign; and like this
promotional avenues are better in General Asst. You can go upto level of Under Secretary.	Less chance.
No night shifts.	Cypher has night shifts because of time-zone difference between India and foreign country And it’s like u have to work for 6 days and then 2 days off. And 2 days will be night shift.

• One can get his first promotion after about 15-17 years if he will not clear departmental examination and after clearing departmental examination, it will take around 8 odd years.
• Verdict: if you originally wanted to be an IFS officer, but it did not work out, then perhaps this is the job you should try for.
• If you want to permanently stay in India, then don’t tick these job-codes (application code “E and F”)

Assistant in Railways

• Job Code is “D”
• Assistant in railways: good job ,you’ll get 1 pass for family ( to and fro) anywhere in India free and 3 passes for family (to and fro) in which u pay 1/3rd of amount
• all this for tier 2 AC ticket..then railway has its own railway homes all over India ..so you can stay there at a very cheap rate, if you using railway passes!

Railways	CSS
Always in Railways.	Posting in variety of department and ministries= life is not monotonous.
Posting in various cities/regional HQ for example Lucknow.	Always in Delhi till he retires.

Assistants: remaining

Job code	Name
B	Assistant Central Vigilance Commission
C	Assistant Intelligence Bureau
G	Armed forces Headquarters
H	Other Ministries/ Departments/Organisations (Grade pay 4600)
I	Other Ministries/ Departments/Organisations but gradepay is 4200.

• Please note: these may or may not involve Permanent Delhi posting.
• For example,Other organization >>Election Commission =always in Delhi.
• But other organization >>Coast guard=sometimes in Chennai (Eastern command) and sometimes Kolkata (North Eastern Command).
• To sumup, if you want “assistant” job, select A to I job codes first. But Internal choice (A,E,F… or E,F,A.. or whatever) that is as per your career-interest.

Moving to other desk jobs: Auditors and accountants

Divisional Accountant

Job Code	Name	Salary
Q	Divisional accountant (under CAG)	Group “C” Pay Band –II f 9300-34800. Grade Pay 4200

• Interview=yes
• Physical=no.
• Posting: Once you join as Divisional Accountant in a state, there is no chance of moving outside the state.
• They’ve have direct engagements with contractors, so they earn (bribes).
• Divisional Accountant works in Public works departments offices (PWDs) which is a state govt office.
• Though his payroll comes from State govt, he is always a central govt employee.
• PWDs need not necessarily be in cities, so you might get posted to any district in a state.
• Regarding the work, he basically acts as an auditor for all expenses and receipts that go through the PWD, meaning he has to sign off each and every voucher.
• Since he is Central govt representative in state dept he enjoys great power and respect in the office and works independently, doesn’t need to report to anyone but himself.
• In terms of pure salary: Divisional accountant is better than Auditors, jr.accountants.

Auditor & Accountants (Non-Interview)

• Interview is not done for these jobs. (but their salary is also lower compared to Divisional accountant.)
• Pay Band -I: f 5200-20200, Grade Pay 2800.
• Posting will be according to your state preference (+depending on merit)
• through SSC one can become auditor/accountant in two depts, CGDA & C&AG
• Abbreviations

C&AG	Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG)
CGDA	Controller General of Defence Accounts
CGA	Controller General of Accounts.

Job codes for Auditors and Accountants

T	Auditor	C&AG
U	Auditor	CGDA
V	Auditor	C&AG
W	Accountant/Jr.Accountant	C&AG
X	Accountant/Jr.Accountant	CGA& Others
T	Auditor	C&AG

CGDA vs C&AG

CGDA	C&AG
deals with audit works of defence forces (in various offices around India).	central audit dept dealing with state govt audits
It comes under CAG so It also has posting in Delhi	Has offices in all states as well as Delhi
Salary (approx.): 27,000 Although salary of DA is less than Income Tax inspector.	Approx 21,000

• The selected candidates for the post of Auditors were allocated departments of C&AG and CGDA in round robin manner of first candidates going to C&AG,
• second to CGDA, third to C&AG and so on, until the vacancies of the department
• in the respective category are utilized.
• The rest of the candidates in that category have been assigned the department with left over vacancies.
• The same criteria have been used to allocate department of C&AG and CGA to the candidates selected for Jr. Accountants/Accountants.

CGDA (defence) posting

They get posting in only in these cities: click me to see the list of CGDA offices

Experience (of a serving officer in CGDA)

(I’m just copy-pasting this).

• Auditor is the best amongst all non-interview post.
• I have been working as a Senior auditor in dad dept.(min. of defence) since 5 years.
• Auditors are recruited under CAG and CGDA dept. although most vacancies are in CGDA
• in CGDA you will be appointed as an auditor in defence acctts.

Work profile of Auditor (CGDA)

• Initially u will get army/navy/airforce/ordnance factory command.
• You have to do the manual work like passing of bills,auditing pay bills of Staffs, accounting the factory production in factory command.
• it’s a very good post. You have to work 8 hours(officially) but u can manage.s
• Saturday-sunday off days.
• You will get ample time to spent with your family.
• if bachelor maximum time u can utilize for your higher preparation. (UPSC)
• salary wise it is a very good post. initially you will get minimum 21 thousand in A class cities including HRA

Auditor:Promotion (CGDA)

• You will get automatically promoted to Senior Auditor (grade pay 4200) in 3 years .
• You will get a chance to sit for deptmental SAS exam for the ppst of AAO (Gazette post) after completion of 2 years.
• Promotion wise its a good dept. over all i have enjoyed thoroughly as an Auditor.
• so i will recommend each and every one(those who got selected in non interview post category) to give auditor as his first preference.

(end of copy paste).
Ok so far we saw Desk Jobs>>Assistant, Auditors, Accountants.
Now next Desk Job

Tax Assistants (TA)

Job code	Tax assistant in
Z	CBDT (Direct tax)
@	CBEC (Excise and Customs)

• Both are Group “C” Pay Band -I: f 5200-20200 (grade pay: 2400)
• Interview=no
• physical=no
• Data-entry test=yes.

Tax Assistant: Posting and Promotion

• Promotion : after promotion you rise to inspector level, and then to officer level.
• The inspector level is the same as the one people get through CGL (direct inspect in Income tax or Excise department)
• So joining as TA, you begin at one step lower.
• Promotion wise, CBDT (direct tax) is far better than CBEC.
• Both of these are transferable jobs. when you become a senior, you are automatically transferred to your home town for convenience.

Upper Division clerk

Y

Upper division clerkCentral Govt. Offices/Ministries other than CSCS cadres

Pay Band -I: f 5200-20200

• (Mostly) Delhi posting. He gets transferred from one ministry to another.
• Promotion : Upper Division clerk-> Assistant (generally after 5-7 years)
• Assistant>to>Section officer.

Ok this concludes discussion on “Desk Jobs”.
Now moving to Field jobs: Inspectors in Income Tax, Excise, CBI, Narcotics etc.

Field jobs: (Inspectors)

• I classify them under : Tax and Non-Tax
• Tax means Direct (Income tax) and indirect tax.(customs and Excise)
• Non tax means: CBI, narcotics and postal Department.

Let’s start with Tax inspectors

Tax authorities: CBDT vs CBEC

First understand the difference

Direct tax	Levied on your income and property. Income tax, corporate tax, capital gains tax are examples of Direct tax. Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) deals with it.
Indirect tax	Levied on goods and services. Service tax, custom-excise are examples of Indirect tax. Central Board of Excise duty (CBEC) deals with it. Note: Sales tax is also an indirect tax, but State Governments look after it.

Inspectors: Income Tax, Excise, Customs, Examiner

Organization	Direct tax (CBDT)	Indirect Tax (CBEC)
Inspector	Income Tax Inspector	Excise inspector	Preventive officer (Custom officer)	Examiner
Application Job code	J	K	L	M
Group	C	B	B	B
Salary	Pay Band –II f 9300-34800 GP: 4600
Physical test	NO	Yes	Yes	Yes
Uniform	No	Yes (Khakhi) but optional.	Yes (White) Always have to wear.	NO
First promotion:Group B Gazetted*	Income Tax officer (ITO)	Superintendent	Superintendent of Customs	Appraiser
2nd Promotion Group A*(IRS)	Assistant Commissioner	Assistant Commissioner	Assistant commissioner	Assistant commissioner
subsequent promotions:	Deputy Commissioner. then Joint Commissioner > Addl. Commissioner > Commissioner	Deputy Commissioner	Superintendent of Customs	Deputy Commissioner then Joint Commissioner > Addl. Commissioner > Commissioner

*notes on promotion

1. You’ve to pass departmental exam to get promotion but it is for “screening”, otherwise promotion is actually given based on your zonal seniority.
2. In Income Tax and Excise, initial years= you get posting only in the given zone. But once you get the “group-A” promotion that is Assistant Commissioner= you can be posted all india.
3. Because those Group A jobs are just same like direct recruitment via UPSC civil service exam.
4. According to All India Association of Central Excise Officers, the people joining in Income tax (CBDT) and Examiner (CBEC) get more promotions (6-7!) while Excise inspectors get barely 1-2 promotions, despite joining in the same year.
5. Qualification for an ITI to get promoted to ITO is 3 years, though seniority also plays a major role in promotions. So basically it takes atleast 4-6 years to get promoted to ITO(considering the fact that one clears departmental exam in time), depending on the zone. (input by Rahul, CGL 2010).

Now let’s check the work profile of individual inspectors under Tax authorities

Income Tax Inspector:Work Profile

He can be posted in one of the following two areas (transferable on cyclic basis)

Assessment of tax	Non assessment
He has to do assessment of income tax to be imposed on an individual, partnership firm, company etc; He has and refund of it in case someone has deposited in excess. He also has to see the work related to TAX DEDUCTION AT SOURCE (TDS) besides being accompanying a raid team.	An Income tax Inspector on non-assessment seat generally has to do do clerical work though he too could be asked to accompany a raid team.
He is part of the raiding party.	No.

• He is entitled for 30 liter of petrol if posted on assessment seat.
• He also gets a SIM from the department on which all STD calls on every type of BSNL/MTNL phone are free; and 400 minutes on other phones whether STD or LOCAL are free for every month.
• This SIM is provided to every ITI irrespective of the seat he is posted at.

Income Tax inspector: Good or bad?

Merit	Demerits
public dealing & regards good promotion opportunity to prove your talent good pay & other benefits good workplace and environment	vulnerable post involving risks of making enemies.. Post is under strict vigilance by CVC. Lots of departmental jealousy over coveted postings (=have to be alert of the backstabbing bastards) departmental complains from colleagues and public can get you in trouble very easily. too much hardwork & treachery to remain in importance.

Now let’s talk about the inspectors associated with indirect taxes viz. excise inspector, prevention officer and examiner.

Physical requirements (Indirect Taxes)

Following are the requirements for Central Excise/Examiner/Preventive Officer/Inspector & Sub-Inspector In Central Bureau of Narcotics.

Gender	Male	Female
Height	157.5cm	152 cms
Weight	NA	48kg minimum
Chest	81 cm fully expanded	NA
Walking	1600 metres in 15 minutes	1 Km. in 20 minutes
Cycling	8 Kms. In 30 minutes	3 km in 25 mins.

Height relaxation

In case of Garwalis, Assamese, Gorkhas and ST candidates.

Male	Female
Height relaxable by 5 cms.	Height relaxable by 2.5 cms.Weight by 2 Kgs.

Ok now let’s check the work profiles

Excise inspector vs Preventive Officer: Work Profile

Excise & Service Tax	Customs (Preventive Officer)
You have certain number of factory units or business entities under you. Your job is to scrutinize records to verify that the correct amount of the tax has been paid (according to production of particular goods). have some control over the production, money making capacity of community industrialist, business men, etc. your area of working is defined. Even in the Customs Intelligence Agency like DRI, the most of the personnel belong to Central Excise. Thus, the Central Excise category officers have multi-skilled expertise	for those wanting an adventurous jobs, area of work is very broadly defined. in special cases you can also go out of your area also to nab a culprit, which gives u some more power than CE excise, ServiceTax or an Income Tax Inspector. Its a kind of job of both collecting intelligence as well as prevention- be prepared to work day and night, far away from your home.
sometimes they conduct raids etc but not so adventurous or risky.	Customs always surrounded by enemies.: on one direction there are smugglers/culprits and on the other hand are unsatisfied colleagues trying to ruin your hardwork by intruding into your information, network and assignments.(=backstabbing bastards)

Preventive Officer vs Examiner: Work profile

	Preventive officer	Examiner
Uniform	white	No.
Work	It Is more about intelligence gathering and raids. Checking boats, cargos, containers coming from foreign ports. auction and disposal of confiscated goods. a preventive officer also acts as a facilitator of trade and commerce and tourism.	examine the goods imported or to be exported and assessing duty on that.

• These are all “Tax” officers.(direct or indirect).
• There is one more officer associated with taxation: Assistant Enforcement officer (AEO). But he doesn’t fall under CBDT or CBEC. He is under Directorate of Enforcement, Department of Revenue.
• Enforcement directorate basically looks into 1) Moneylaundering 2)FERA, FEMA (Foreign exchange)

Assistant Enforcement Officer (AEO)

• If posted in the field, he carries out regular inspector type of work, viz.

1. prevention of money laundering,
2. to conduct searches of suspected persons, conveyances and premises
3. seize incriminating materials (including Indian and foreign currencies involved),
4. to arrest and prosecute the person suspected to be involved in the act of money laundering, etc.

Assistant Enforcement Officer: Posting

10 zonal offices	11 sub-zonal offices
Headed by Joint Director	By Deputy director
Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Cochin, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow and Mumbai	Bhubaneswar, Calicut, Guwahati, Indore, Jaipur, Jalandhar, Madurai, Nagpur, Patna, Srinagar and Varanasi

Now let’s talk about non-tax inspectors.

CBI Sub-Inspector

Job code	Name	Pay
O	CBI sub-inspector (group C)	Pay Band –II f 9300-34800GP 4200

• interview=yes
• physical=yes

CBI: Physical requirement

Height	For men – 165 cms. For women – 150 cms. Height relaxable for Hillsmen and Tribals : 5 cms.
Chest	76 cms. with expansion (There shall be no such requirement in case of female candidates)
Vision	Eye-sight (with or without glasses) Distant vision : 6/6 in one and 6/9 in the other eye. Near vision 0.6 in one eye and 0.8 in other eye.

No physical test (like running, cycling carried out, unlike those indirect tax inspector jobs).

CBI Subinspector: Work profile

• Life in CBI is stressful due to heavy workload and deadlines there.
• Training duration is 32 weeks involving physical training and training on criminal and anti-corruption laws. During the training the daily physical activity includes 2 km run, PT, Drill in the morning and Games/Unarmed Combat Course in the evening.
• It is not a 24 x 7 job; but sometimes the work streches beyond the usual working hours i.e. sometimes one has to work till 8 or 9 pm. Usually on Saturdays, if the workload is more, the work goes on as usual; though Sundays are spared.
• Also in some branches like Special Crime etc, the job involves a fair bit of travelling especially in the starting years.
• The nature and hours of work also differs from branch to branch and place to place. Some branches have less workload and so the personnel can take it easy.
• No uniform required.
• Sub Inspectors in CBI or for that matter any rank in CBI does not possess revolver/pistol.
• In a very few cases, when a search is to be carried out in some dangerous places, weapons are issued to the staff.

Narcotics inspector/Subins.

Central Bureau of Narcotics=CBN

Job code	Name	Pay
S	Inspector	Pay Band –II f 9300-34800GP 4200
#	Subinspector	Pay Band -I: f 5200-20200, GP=2400.

• Mrunal edit: still searching for job profile, posting, promotion etc. if you’ve information, kindly post it in comments.

Postal inspector

• Well this doesn’t really count as “field job” because Field job=social status and nuisance power- unfortunately postal inspector gets neither.

Job code	Name	Pay
O	Inspector of Posts (group B)	Pay Band –II f 9300-34800, GP-4200

• Inspector of posts is there with every postal division.
• There must be 2 or more divisions in district.
• Presently the Postal inspector must go to canvass people for getting Postal Life Insurance and also they have to acquire a huge sum for the department.
• The Department of Posts has given instructions to all circles to enhance their growth by 20 percent- All such burden comes on Postal inspector.

By the way how to prepare SSC CGL exam?

Booklist, strategy, topicwise analysis of last three years, cutoffs everything given in following articles:

General Awareness Tier I	Click me
Maths / Quantitative Aptitude for Tier I and II	Click me
Reasoning / General Intelligence for Tier I	Click me
English Grammar, Vocabulary, Comprehension for Tier I and II	Click me
Cut off marks of 2011 and 2012	Click me

---

URL to article: http://mrunal.org/2013/01/job-profile-ssc-cgl-desk-jobs-field-jobs-css-assistant-auditors-inspectors-income-tax-excise-preventive-officer-promotion-posting-job-profiles.html

Posted By On 22/01/2013 @ 20:22 In the category Tips

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SSC CGL JOB PROFILE

26 Aug 2013

    Prologue
    Desk job or Field job?
        Assistants
            Assistants: Promotion opportunities
            CSS (Assistant in Central Secretariat Service)
            Assistant (CSS): Work Profile
            Work diversity: CSS vs Other assistants
            CSS vs Inspectors (Income Tax, Excise etc)
            Assistant in MEA: Work Profile
            MEA: General vs Cypher Assistant (Difference)
            Assistant in Railways
            Assistants: remaining
        Divisional Accountant
        Auditor & Accountants (Non-Interview)
        CGDA vs C&AG
        CGDA (defence) posting
        Auditor:Promotion (CGDA)
        Tax Assistants (TA)
        Tax Assistant: Posting and Promotion
        Upper Division clerk
    Field jobs: (Inspectors)
        Tax authorities: CBDT vs CBEC
            Inspectors: Income Tax, Excise, Customs, Examiner
                ACR (Annual Confidential reports)
                Income Tax Inspector:Work Profile
                Income Tax inspector: Good or bad?
            Physical requirements (Indirect Taxes)
            Excise inspector vs Preventive Officer: Work Profile
            Preventive Officer vs Examiner: Work profile
            Assistant Enforcement Officer (AEO)
        CBI Sub-Inspector
        CBI: Physical requirement
        CBI Subinspector: Work profile
        Narcotics inspector/Subins.
        Postal inspector
    By the way how to prepare SSC CGL exam?

Prologue

• Many aspirants have doubts regarding what to fill up in “Preference order” for the SSC-CGL job application?
• So, following information should help you get some idea.
• Please note: I’ve not written this article all by myself. Most of this stuff is copypasted from the inputs given by some serving officers and pagalguy members, including csl180, prince1 and others.
• If you want to add update /correction / elaboration regarding these jobs, please do post your inputs in comments at the bottom of this article.

Desk job or Field job?

• So first decide-what do you want: Desk job or Field job?
• Second Question: do you want to permanently shift to Delhi or not? Because If you don’t want to shift to Delhi, then job of Assistant in CSS and various Central Ministries=useless for you.
• Similarly, if you don’t want to leave India, then MEA assistant =useless.

Now, we’ll see the Desk jobs, and in the later part of the article, we’ll see the Field jobs.

Assistants

They’re of two types

Assistants: Promotion opportunities

1. Assistant (you join here)
2. Section Officer (Group B Gazetted). To become SO, you have to pass departmental test, conducted by UPSC. If you don’t pass exam, you get promotion very late (after 10-12 years).
3. Under Secretary
4. Deputy Secretary
5. Joint Secretary.

CSS (Assistant in Central Secretariat Service)

Assistant (CSS): Work Profile

• Work=files, files and files and then more files.
• But 3 hrs of work daily: from answering RTI of people to Cabinet note making to answering parliament questions to working on daily receipts
• It is like you’re given the project, and you made the dealing hand. Now report the problem in short about the project and tell your recommendations on what can be done.
• If your seniors like they will accept it or else they will tell their own decisions etc=this is CSS work.

Promotion speed: CSS vs other Assistants

• In CSS, the promotion from Assistant to Section Officer, you have vacancies like 200 , 250 etc
• In other places like MEA or railways you’ll have 5 ,10 etc.so promotions are faster in CSS.

Work diversity: CSS vs Other assistants

• If you become Assistant in say Railways, then you’re stuck in Railways forever.
• But CSS offers you wider variety of postings like in Ministry of consumer affairs, home, finance, education, civil aviation, law etc.
• Therefore, your scope and work-diversity is huge. (just like an IAS officer).

CSS vs Inspectors (Income Tax, Excise etc)

• So it should be clear to you that in Desk job: first preference = CSS (Job application code “A”).

Assistant in MEA: Work Profile

• It is one of the most sought Assistant post under SSC-CGL.
• Why? Because charm of foreign posting and many other lucrative facilities like children’s education, accommodation etc and a very handsome salary of more than 1 lakh per month (perhaps upto Rs 1,25,000).
• But here is the problem: in the foreign countries, the cost of living, is also high!
• For example $1500 is big amount when converted in Indian Rupees, but inside America, you can buy very few things.
• And one can be posted in countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Irak, Libya too.
• but nothing to fear on this count as while sending one to an other country on posting he is given a few choices for the needed postings and he is posted according to those choices preferably. If one chooses any of the countries mentioned he is given 50% more salary and his tenure there is counted as DOUBLE; means he has to serve there for one and a half year which is counted equal to three years.
• Let’s do comparison of these two assistants under MEA (Ministery of External affairs)

MEA: General vs Cypher Assistant (Difference)

• One can get his first promotion after about 15-17 years if he will not clear departmental examination and after clearing departmental examination, it will take around 8 odd years.
• Verdict: if you originally wanted to be an IFS officer, but it did not work out, then perhaps this is the job you should try for.
• If you want to permanently stay in India, then don’t tick these job-codes (application code “E and F”)

Assistant in Railways

• Job Code is “D”
• Assistant in railways: good job ,you’ll get 1 pass for family ( to and fro) anywhere in India free and 3 passes for family (to and fro) in which u pay 1/3rd of amount
• all this for tier 2 AC ticket..then railway has its own railway homes all over India ..so you can stay there at a very cheap rate, if you using railway passes!

Assistants: remaining

• Please note: these may or may not involve Permanent Delhi posting.
• For example,Other organization >>Election Commission =always in Delhi.
• But other organization >>Coast guard=sometimes in Chennai (Eastern command) and sometimes Kolkata (North Eastern Command).
• To sumup, if you want “assistant” job, select A to I job codes first. But Internal choice (A,E,F… or E,F,A.. or whatever) that is as per your career-interest.

Moving to other desk jobs: Auditors and accountants

Divisional Accountant

• Interview=yes
• Physical=no.
• Posting: Once you join as Divisional Accountant in a state, there is no chance of moving outside the state.
• They’ve have direct engagements with contractors, so they earn (bribes).
• Divisional Accountant works in Public works departments offices (PWDs) which is a state govt office.
• Though his payroll comes from State govt, he is always a central govt employee.
• PWDs need not necessarily be in cities, so you might get posted to any district in a state.
• Regarding the work, he basically acts as an auditor for all expenses and receipts that go through the PWD, meaning he has to sign off each and every voucher.
• Since he is Central govt representative in state dept he enjoys great power and respect in the office and works independently, doesn’t need to report to anyone but himself.
• In terms of pure salary: Divisional accountant is better than Auditors, jr.accountants.

Auditor & Accountants (Non-Interview)

• Interview is not done for these jobs. (but their salary is also lower compared to Divisional accountant.)
• Pay Band -I: f 5200-20200, Grade Pay 2800.
• Posting will be according to your state preference (+depending on merit)
• through SSC one can become auditor/accountant in two depts, CGDA & C&AG
• Abbreviations

Job codes for Auditors and Accountants

CGDA vs C&AG

• The selected candidates for the post of Auditors were allocated departments of C&AG and CGDA in round robin manner of first candidates going to C&AG,
• second to CGDA, third to C&AG and so on, until the vacancies of the department
• in the respective category are utilized.
• The rest of the candidates in that category have been assigned the department with left over vacancies.
• The same criteria have been used to allocate department of C&AG and CGA to the candidates selected for Jr. Accountants/Accountants.

CGDA (defence) posting

They get posting in only in these cities: click me to see the list of CGDA offices

Experience (of a serving officer in CGDA)

(I’m just copy-pasting this).

• Auditor is the best amongst all non-interview post.
• I have been working as a Senior auditor in dad dept.(min. of defence) since 5 years.
• Auditors are recruited under CAG and CGDA dept. although most vacancies are in CGDA
• in CGDA you will be appointed as an auditor in defence acctts.

Work profile of Auditor (CGDA)

• Initially u will get army/navy/airforce/ordnance factory command.
• You have to do the manual work like passing of bills,auditing pay bills of Staffs, accounting the factory production in factory command.
• it’s a very good post. You have to work 8 hours(officially) but u can manage.s
• Saturday-sunday off days.
• You will get ample time to spent with your family.
• if bachelor maximum time u can utilize for your higher preparation. (UPSC)
• salary wise it is a very good post. initially you will get minimum 21 thousand in A class cities including HRA

Auditor:Promotion (CGDA)

• You will get automatically promoted to Senior Auditor (grade pay 4200) in 3 years .
• You will get a chance to sit for deptmental SAS exam for the ppst of AAO (Gazette post) after completion of 2 years.
• Promotion wise its a good dept. over all i have enjoyed thoroughly as an Auditor.
• so i will recommend each and every one(those who got selected in non interview post category) to give auditor as his first preference.

(end of copy paste).
Ok so far we saw Desk Jobs>>Assistant, Auditors, Accountants.
Now next Desk Job

Tax Assistants (TA)

• Both are Group “C” Pay Band -I: f 5200-20200 (grade pay: 2400)
• Interview=no
• physical=no
• Data-entry test=yes.

Tax Assistant: Posting and Promotion

• Promotion : after promotion you rise to inspector level, and then to officer level.
• The inspector level is the same as the one people get through CGL (direct inspect in Income tax or Excise department)
• So joining as TA, you begin at one step lower.
• Promotion wise, CBDT (direct tax) is far better than CBEC.
• Both of these are transferable jobs. when you become a senior, you are automatically transferred to your home town for convenience.

Upper Division clerk

• (Mostly) Delhi posting. He gets transferred from one ministry to another.
• Promotion : Upper Division clerk-> Assistant (generally after 5-7 years)
• Assistant>to>Section officer.

Ok this concludes discussion on “Desk Jobs”.
Now moving to Field jobs: Inspectors in Income Tax, Excise, CBI, Narcotics etc.

Field jobs: (Inspectors)

• I classify them under : Tax and Non-Tax
• Tax means Direct (Income tax) and indirect tax.(customs and Excise)
• Non tax means: CBI, narcotics and postal Department.

Let’s start with Tax inspectors

Tax authorities: CBDT vs CBEC

First understand the difference

Inspectors: Income Tax, Excise, Customs, Examiner

*notes on promotion

1. You’ve to pass departmental exam to get promotion but it is for “screening”, otherwise promotion is actually given based on your zonal seniority.
2. In Income Tax and Excise, initial years= you get posting only in the given zone. But once you get the “group-A” promotion that is Assistant Commissioner= you can be posted all india.
3. Because those Group A jobs are just same like direct recruitment via UPSC civil service exam.
4. According to All India Association of Central Excise Officers, the people joining in Income tax (CBDT) and Examiner (CBEC) get more promotions (6-7!) while Excise inspectors get barely 1-2 promotions, despite joining in the same year.
5. Qualification for an ITI to get promoted to ITO is 3 years, though seniority also plays a major role in promotions. So basically it takes atleast 4-6 years to get promoted to ITO(considering the fact that one clears departmental exam in time), depending on the zone. (input by Rahul, CGL 2010).

Now let’s check the work profile of individual inspectors under Tax authorities

Income Tax Inspector:Work Profile

He can be posted in one of the following two areas (transferable on cyclic basis)

• He is entitled for 30 liter of petrol if posted on assessment seat.
• He also gets a SIM from the department on which all STD calls on every type of BSNL/MTNL phone are free; and 400 minutes on other phones whether STD or LOCAL are free for every month.
• This SIM is provided to every ITI irrespective of the seat he is posted at.

Income Tax inspector: Good or bad?

Now let’s talk about the inspectors associated with indirect taxes viz. excise inspector, prevention officer and examiner.

Physical requirements (Indirect Taxes)

Following are the requirements for Central Excise/Examiner/Preventive Officer/Inspector & Sub-Inspector In Central Bureau of Narcotics.

Height relaxation

In case of Garwalis, Assamese, Gorkhas and ST candidates.

Ok now let’s check the work profiles

Excise inspector vs Preventive Officer: Work Profile

Preventive Officer vs Examiner: Work profile

• These are all “Tax” officers.(direct or indirect).
• There is one more officer associated with taxation: Assistant Enforcement officer (AEO). But he doesn’t fall under CBDT or CBEC. He is under Directorate of Enforcement, Department of Revenue.
• Enforcement directorate basically looks into 1) Moneylaundering 2)FERA, FEMA (Foreign exchange)

Assistant Enforcement Officer (AEO)

• If posted in the field, he carries out regular inspector type of work, viz.

1. prevention of money laundering,
2. to conduct searches of suspected persons, conveyances and premises
3. seize incriminating materials (including Indian and foreign currencies involved),
4. to arrest and prosecute the person suspected to be involved in the act of money laundering, etc.

Assistant Enforcement Officer: Posting

Now let’s talk about non-tax inspectors.

CBI Sub-Inspector

• interview=yes
• physical=yes

CBI: Physical requirement

No physical test (like running, cycling carried out, unlike those indirect tax inspector jobs).

CBI Subinspector: Work profile

• Life in CBI is stressful due to heavy workload and deadlines there.
• Training duration is 32 weeks involving physical training and training on criminal and anti-corruption laws. During the training the daily physical activity includes 2 km run, PT, Drill in the morning and Games/Unarmed Combat Course in the evening.
• It is not a 24 x 7 job; but sometimes the work streches beyond the usual working hours i.e. sometimes one has to work till 8 or 9 pm. Usually on Saturdays, if the workload is more, the work goes on as usual; though Sundays are spared.
• Also in some branches like Special Crime etc, the job involves a fair bit of travelling especially in the starting years.
• The nature and hours of work also differs from branch to branch and place to place. Some branches have less workload and so the personnel can take it easy.
• No uniform required.
• Sub Inspectors in CBI or for that matter any rank in CBI does not possess revolver/pistol.
• In a very few cases, when a search is to be carried out in some dangerous places, weapons are issued to the staff.

Narcotics inspector/Subins.

Central Bureau of Narcotics=CBN

• Mrunal edit: still searching for job profile, posting, promotion etc. if you’ve information, kindly post it in comments.

Postal inspector

• Well this doesn’t really count as “field job” because Field job=social status and nuisance power- unfortunately postal inspector gets neither.

• Inspector of posts is there with every postal division.
• There must be 2 or more divisions in district.
• Presently the Postal inspector must go to canvass people for getting Postal Life Insurance and also they have to acquire a huge sum for the department.
• The Department of Posts has given instructions to all circles to enhance their growth by 20 percent- All such burden comes on Postal inspector.

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Download TORRENT with IDM

16 Aug 2013

1. Zbigz  - Torrent to IDM downloader

How to download torrents using IDM

Zbigz is most widely used online site to download torrents using IDM, It provides both Free and Premium service. You can download files even by using free subscription but premium subscriptions will provide you few more facilities in addition. There is a downloading limit of 8 GB for the free users and for premium users it is almost unlimited. You can even download the files anonymously from anywhere. It don’t charge much for the premium users, its just 10 $ per account for subscription of a month. First you need to provide the torrent link or you can upload the torrent file. After that, it will take some time to convert it and then you can download it using IDM, if IDM is not installed you can even download it using your browsers default downloader. Downloading speed will be high when compared to the torrent as the IDM tries to get maximum downloading speed.

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How to connect two laptop using a,lan cable for playing multiplayer lan games?

16 Jul 2013

you will want to set up a network in order for the 2 to work together.

Instructions

1

Connect the first and second laptop by using a crossover Ethernet cable. Attach one end of the cable to the Local Area Network (LAN) port or the Ethernet port of the first computer and connect the other end of the cable to the LAN or Ethernet port of the second computer.


2

Make the two laptops belong to the same "workgroup" by clicking on "Start" and right clicking on "My Computer." Select "Properties" and click on the "Computer Name" tab. Select the "Change" option, which is beside "To rename a computer... ." Under "Workgroup," change the name of the workgroup to make the two computers belong to the same one, and click "OK" when you are finished.


3

Configure the IP addresses of the two computers by going to "Control Panel" and then to "Network Connections." Right click on "Local Area Connection" and select "Properties," then "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" and then click on "Properties" again.


4

Type in 192.168.1.1 under "IP address" for the first computer, and 192.168.1.2 for the second computer. For the "Subnet Mask" type 255.255.255.0 for both computers. Leave the "Default Gateway" blank and click on "OK." Restart the computer. Your computers are now linked.

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How to connect two laptops using LAN cable by Da Pafen

16 Jul 2013

To Connect Directly without any other devices

Firstly you need a network crossover cable. Available from most computer stores. This is a special type of cable (not a standard LAN cable)

Secondly Make sure both computers are on the same workgroup. TO do this Right click on My computer, Properties, go to the Computer Name Tab, See what is written in Workgroup. Change one computer by clicking on change and then type in the name of the other computer in the workgroup space down the bottom. Do not make the computer part of a domain. You want Workgroup.

This name change will require a computer reboot.

When both computers are on the same workgroup, we need to set IP Addresses.

In Control Panel, Open Network Settings.
Right click on Local Area Connections and select properties.

Under the heading "This connection uses the following items, Find Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
Highlight it, Make sure you don't untick the box, and click on properties
Under the heading Use the following IP Address ENter in the Following on ONE Computer.

IP Address 192.168.0.10
Subnet Mask 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway LEave Blank

Under the Heading Obtain DNS Serveraddress automatically
Set this to Automatic. Don't enter anything in.

On the second computer Make the IP Address 192.168.0.20
Everything else the same.

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How to connect two laptops using LAN cable by Da Pafen [Solved]

16 Jul 2013

To Connect Directly without any other devices

Firstly you need a network crossover cable. Available from most computer stores. This is a special type of cable (not a standard LAN cable)

Secondly Make sure both computers are on the same workgroup. TO do this Right click on My computer, Properties, go to the Computer Name Tab, See what is written in Workgroup. Change one computer by clicking on change and then type in the name of the other computer in the workgroup space down the bottom. Do not make the computer part of a domain. You want Workgroup.

This name change will require a computer reboot.

When both computers are on the same workgroup, we need to set IP Addresses.

In Control Panel, Open Network Settings.
Right click on Local Area Connections and select properties.

Under the heading "This connection uses the following items, Find Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
Highlight it, Make sure you don't untick the box, and click on properties
Under the heading Use the following IP Address ENter in the Following on ONE Computer.

IP Address 192.168.0.10
Subnet Mask 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway LEave Blank

Under the Heading Obtain DNS Serveraddress automatically
Set this to Automatic. Don't enter anything in.

On the second computer Make the IP Address 192.168.0.20
Everything else the same.

This should be all.

Da Pafen

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How to trasfer data between laptop using LAN cable by Da Pafen

16 Jul 2013

Step 1

Measure the distance between the two computers and write down the length. Purchase an Ethernet crossover cable that is slightly longer than the measured length (see Resources below).

Step 2

Power off both computers completely. Connect one end of the crossover cable to the Ethernet network port on the back of one of the computers. Run the cable across to the other computer, and connect the other end into the computer's Ethernet port.

Step 3

Turn both of the computers back on, and wait for their operating systems to finish loading. Click on the "Start" button on either of the computers and then choose the "Control Panel" option. Scroll down through the list of options, and click on the icon labeled as "System."

Step 4

Wait for a new window to pop up asking if you want to proceed, and click on the "Continue" button. Scroll down to the "Computer Name" heading, and write down the entry listed under "Workgroup."

Step 5

Go to the second computer, and access the System menu in the Control Panel. Scroll down to the Computer Name heading, and click on the "Change" button. Type in the work group name you wrote down earlier in the "Workgroup" text box. Click on the "Apply" button.

Step 6

Restart the computer to save the workgroup change. Navigate back to the Control Panel, and click on the "Network and Sharing Center" icon. Choose the "View Computers and Devices" option to gain access to the other computer's files and folders.

if it still doesn't work then use the following config :
on first comp
192.168.1.1
255.255.255.0
192.168.1.2

on other one use this
192.168.1.2
255.255.255.0
192.168.2.1

DA PAFEN

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How to lock drive in Windows

14 Jul 2013

STEPS TO LOCK DRIVE IN WINDOWS:

1. Go to Start menu and then to RUN and type "gpedit.msc" (without quotes) and Press Enter.

2. Now you will see a new dialog window , where you will see two things "Computer Configuration" and "User Configuration". Now click on "User Configuration".

3. There you will see three items. Now you have to Click on "Administrative Templates". Then go to "Windows Components".

4. There you will see a lot of Windows Components. Now Click on " Windows Explorer".

5. Now you will find something like this "Prevent Access To Drives From My Computers" , double click on it . It will open its properties. Now to lock a drive or drives click on "Enabled" radio button. Now from the drop down menu select the drive that you want to lock or block.

6. After that click on apply and restart your system. Now anyone will not been able to access the particular drive.

7. To unlock the drive again follow the similar procedure and just click on "Not configured" and apply the settings and restart your system.

BY - Da Pafen

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