This Is a Mock Interview Conducted between A PMS (Provincial Management Services) Candidate and CSPs, you can call it a training session before appearing the commission, and this kind of interview is conducted to check the preparation of candidates and their confidence. The similar type questions that are being asked are also part of these interviews,
This Interview Panel is comprised of four to five interviewers or panelists who are Retired Civil Servants, professionals, and experienced in conducting such interviews, It is just prepared like cross-questions environment and answer section between candidates and panelists as make it easy for all readers to get and feel them also into the same candidates’ situation, so I am sure this will be helpful for all competitive exams candidates who are getting into it.
Disclaimer:
This Mock interview was conducted before Dec 2021, so officials and their Posts mentioned during this question-answer session were holding their offices are might be changed or retired at the time when you are question-answer session holding any of govt offices are might be changed or retired at the time when you are reading this interview, so cross-check before appearing in any exam next future.
Candidate Welcome by Panelists:
Welcome hi please take your seat to take your time yes sir you can introduce yourself to all of us and we will interview you there
Candidate Introduction:
Sir, I belong to district Layyah, I have done my master of arts in English literature from Baha Bahauddin Zakariya University – BZU Multan, we are 7 siblings and I am the eldest of all. My father is a retired teacher and my mother is a housewife, after my degree, I joined the college sector, school sector and I have been working as a principal in a private school since 2014. As far as my hobbies are concerned, I like to play shooting, volleyball and in my leisure time, I like to read newspapers.
Interview Starts Here
Interviewer 1:
So you are associated with education?
Candidate:
Yes sir since for the last six to seven years.
Interviewer 1:
What is the strength of your student in that school? How many students are there in the school and how many teachers you have got there?
Candidate:
There are almost 500 students in my five-year school and we are 22 staff members.
Interviewer 1:
Normally what is the outcome of your school I mean percentage plasma especially in the matric, not other levels?
Candidate:
In the previous two to three years we are with 97 results and we are the toppers of all the schools last time my students got 1066 marks out of 1100.
Interviewer 1:
This is I think this is a good score if you’re getting those marks, could be after students for the last seven years the metric passed, have they been able to join any good medical or engineering?
Candidate:
Yes sir, some of my students are doing their engineering from UET Lahore and UET Texla and two of my students are doing MBBS from Allama Iqbal medical college and Nishter medical college Multan and some of the students are doing their BS program and some students already have fled to foreign as well.
Interviewer 1:
How do you thought to go for this competitive exam?
Candidate:
Sir after my degree I plan to go for CSS (Central Superior Service) and PMS (Provincial Management Service) but my father was going to retire in 2014 the same year in which I got my degree so I was forced to go to facilitate to support my family economically so I decided to establish a school and after establishing a school in two to three years I went for my dream which was a long-awaited dream since my we can say that childhood, my father always motivated me to go to the civil services.in 2017 I went for this and I started my preparation for PMS and CSS.
Interviewer 1:
Lucky you are that you have qualified for this written examination and what type of preparation you are making for your interview?
Candidate:
Sir, I am preparing my optional subjects for some aspects of my degree which is English literature and I am reading my newspapers daily and some current issues with the help of YouTube and other social media sites.
Interviewer 1:
Can you give me the profile of your district?
Candidate:
Yes, sir my district Layyah is situated in the southern part of Punjab, it has three tehsils, tehsil Chaubara, tehsil Layyah, and tehsil Karor Lal Esan. it is situated in the division DG khan, there are two types of land in our district one we can say barren land and one we can say that riverine land, river Indus flows on the west bank of my district and the wheat and sugar cane and gram are the major crops of our district.
Interviewer 1:
What is the population of your district?
Candidate:
The total population of our district according to the census of 2017 was 2.6 million.
Interviewer 1:
How many MNAs and MPAs are coming From Your district?
Candidate:
Sir, there are two MNAs and five MPAs are from our district.
Interviewer 1:
Currently, any special project which is being taken to your district?
Candidate:
Recently the government of Pakistan has initiated universal health coverage and DG khan is, fortunately, the first division which was selected for universal healthcare coverage, Universal sehat card, and another major project which was initiated which was introduced in the previous month when the Prime minister and Chief minister visited our district this was the mother and child hospital and there were some road projects and there is a university of Layyah and there are some colleges as well
Interviewer 1:
A bridge has been constructed connecting the Taunsa and Layyah.
Is it completed and functional?
Candidate:
No sir it is under construction.
Interviewer:
When it is expected to be completed?
Candidate:
Sir according to the NHA (National Highways Authority) reports it is going to be completed in august 2021 in this year.
Interviewer 1:
Are they working?
Candidate:
Yes sir they are working the work is on the way.
Interviewer 1:
That is a very good initiative now you are aspiring for a job in the government? What is your understanding of the Punjab government what is its political leadership political governance? What is administrative governance? What is the area? What is the population? What do you know about it?
Candidate:
Sir Punjab is the largest province of Pakistan and it consists of almost 56 percent population of the country and president-chief minister of Punjab is Usman Bazar and it is he is leading the coalition government of Pakistan and Pakistan Muslim league Q and the chief secretary of Punjab is the Jawad Rafiq Malik, Punjab IG Police Punjab is inaam Ghani and Punjab has been divided into 9 divisions and the total districts of Punjab are 36 and the total tehsils or subdivisions of Punjab are 145. The area of Punjab I’m not sure about that but it is almost 21 percent of the country if I am correct.
Interviewer 1:
Okay, you tell us to tell me about the salient features of the 1973 constitution?
Candidate:
Sir 1973 constitution is a constitution which provides the parliamentary system of the country and the parliament would consist of two houses the upper house senate and the lower house national assembly, in 1973 constitution proper autonomy has been given to provinces and there is power list you can say that the list of power which is divided between the center and between the provincial governments and 1973 constitutions has many Islamic provisions as well and the name of the country is considered in 1973 constitution as Islamic republic of Pakistan it has 280 articles and as far as now almost 27 amendments have been done in this constitution.
Interviewer 1:
What are your views about this movement of south Punjab they are creating a new province what has been done so far what do you think is a good thing?
Candidate:
sir as far as Punjab is concerned if we take Punjab as a separate country it would be the 12th largest country of the world so it is a huge province and to make the government more efficient and more people-oriented it should be divided into subparts and recently a secretariat has been established for south Punjab and a proposal has been given that three divisions of Punjab Multan division and Bahawalpur division and DG khan division and some districts of Sargodha division like Bhakkar or Mianwali should be the part of a separate province, so in my opinion for more efficient governance and to make the administration more strong and people-oriented larger provinces should be divided into smaller parts.
1st interview end-up here and 2nd has started,
Interviewer 2:
Bernard Shaw, what comes to your mind when I say this from the English literature point of view?
Candidate:
George Bernard Shaw is the dramatist of the 20th century.
Interviewer 2:
What about the dramas? What was his focus what was his main stress?
Candidate:
Sir I’m sorry at that moment I could not recall his dramas.
Interviewer 2:
You have done English literature from where?
Candidate:
Baha Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, the sub-campus of that university has been established in our district so I have done it from there.
Interviewer 2:
Reading newspapers is your hobby what is your focus while you are reading the newspaper which part of the newspaper do you try to mainly focus on?
Candidate:
Sir, mostly I read the front page of the newspaper and two international pages of the newspaper and editorial page of the newspaper and an editorial of news give us a highlight to the current issues and it also gives us an opinion of the editorial board and there are some famous columnists which have complete grip on economy international relations and other.
Interviewer 2:
How many newspapers do you do?
Candidate:
Sir I read two newspapers per day one Urdu and the second one is English
Interviewer 2:
Okay, 18th amendment has been a lot of controversy revolving around the 18th amendment why it is so and to what extent this 18th amendment has improved the governance levels of the government both at the federal and provincial level?
Candidate:
Sir 18th amendment was passed in 2010 and it was the largest amendment ever has been made in the constitution of Pakistan 1973?
Interviewer 2:
How many amendments comprised of it?
Candidate:
Sir 18th amendment tied almost 102 articles of the constitution and according to that amendment a lot of departments have been devolved to the provinces and the problem comes when there was a lacking infrastructure and lacking capacity among the provinces even some of the departments which were devolved to the provinces were not ready to accept those provinces, for example, higher education department which was devolved to the provinces it should be centralized department and we can say that education department and health department these were devolved to the provinces but they were not ready so after 18th amendment, there came some governance issues and these governance issues and you can say that tussle between the federal government and provincial governments came so this is the controversy which is about 18th amendment
Interviewer 2:
What was the tussle about what was the reason for that tussle between the federation and the provinces?
Candidate:
sir provinces are claiming more and more funds, according to the (NFC awards) a major chunk of resources has been devolved to the provinces but they are asking for more and as far as the federation is concerned federation claims that the resources are transferred to the provinces but they are unable to fulfill their duties and they are unable to uplift the social status of the people in the present budget more than 3 trillion 3400 billion funds are going to transfer to the provinces but according to the economic survey of Pakistan, provinces are not even able to spend their resources and they are surplus and the resources are going unspent so this is the major issue
Interviewer 2 Comment:
They don’t want to share it with the federation also they’re not able to spend it and still, they are not prepared too,
Candidate Continue his answer:
Federation is claiming that provinces should take part in foreign debt in paying foreign debts and in the merged areas of earlier FATA and GB but provinces are not ready.
Interviewer 2:
Okay, how can normalcy return to Afghanistan?
Candidate:
Sir the issue of Afghanistan is a very complex one, America has fought a war of almost two decades but still, they have made a peace agreement with the Afghan Taliban, and now they are pulling their forces without any settlement, as far as the solution of Afghanistan is concerned afghan problem can be solved with the consultation of all stakeholders and the peace process led by Afghan people and owned by Afghan people and with the help of all the regional powers like Pakistan, China, Russia, and the international institutions especially the USA and IMF like an institution, they should provide more and more funding to improve the infrastructure and the capacity of the afghan institution especially security institutions.
Interviewer 2:
How important it is for Pakistan?
Sir it is very much important for Pakistan as far as Pakistan is concerned Pakistan has the largest border with Afghanistan, Pakistan has been fencing the border but still, there are some villages there are people which are culturally connected and even some villages are divided between Pakistan and Afghanistan a peaceful Afghanistan can provide Pakistan lot of opportunities, for example, Pakistan has been establishing the Gawadar port and the Gawadar port can link the central Asian countries with the sea as central Asian countries are landlocked and this all scenario depends upon the peace in Afghanistan.
Interviewer 2:
What qualities do you think you have to become a good PMS Officer?
Candidate:
sir as far as my friends and my family is concerned they say that I am a consistent person, I never lose my temper and I can manage my time as well, I am also the hardworking person I have some leadership qualities as well as I am working in a school so these are the some of the qualities which can provide me an opportunity.
Interviewer 2:
But as an officer who has authority who has authority who can wield his authority at times you might as well have to lose your temper in controlling things?
Candidate:
Sir, I think I have control of my temper and in even worse situations I can handle the situation in a better way.
Interviewer 2:
You are saying take much to myself what do you mean by this weakness take much to myself?
Candidate:
so sometimes there are minor issues and when thought those minor issues as well I try to find my own mistake even there is not a mistake on my side but sometimes I feel you can say that guilty that it may be there is my fault on my side so this is my weakness that without my fault I take much on myself.
Interviewer 2:
Seven years experience as a principal in a private school? So can you share your seven years’ experience with us?
Candidate:
Yes, sir, I established my school in 2014, February 2014 and as for now alhamdulillah my school is the largest school of tehsil with respect to result in this is a very good school and in my school, there are 22 staff members and out of 15 they are working from day one with me and as far as the private sector is concerned people have to bear you can say the weight of books private books I established a book bank in my school and at the end of every session we collect the books from our students and we announce that whoever the students want to get the books can get the books from our school not 100 but 70 to 80 percent?
Interviewer 2:
How is it has helped you in building up yourself?
Candidate:
sir my school experience has provided me time management skills, leadership skills, teamwork skills, and consistency even there are sometimes there are problems but I ponder on the problem I find the reasons behind those problems and then I consult with all my staff members especially my coordinators and with the consultation of all I can solve.
2nd interview end up here
Interviewer 3:
You say that you read the newspaper but only a few pages of the newspaper does that include the part of the international affairs also because editorials are sometimes on the local issues and sometimes on international but do you follow international developments?
Candidate:
Yes I said that I read the newspaper front page two international pages and editorial pages, as far as the editorial page is concerned there is a complete discussion on the recent local and international issues and on international pages a glimpse of international relations and international affairs given and on the front sometimes there is a news which is very important internationally or locally so I follow that.
Interviewer 3:
So you have glimpses of international affairs we can say? Okay, so did you follow the news of the EU Disinformation lab? Can you tell me something about it?
Candidate:
ma’am, it was a news flash on the media that there was a lab there was a proper setup of disinformation led by Indian you can say that Indian TV channels or forums and they adopted the way to provide and to spread the disinformation about their enemies especially about Pakistan and the European Union, you can say that disclose this scandal.
Interviewer 3:
Do you think it enhanced India’s image or did it damage its image?
Candidate:
when this scandal was disclosed the Indian image was damaged as European union was you can say that institutions were trustworthy and when they disclosed such type of scandal that they are spreading disinformation about the country with which they have clashes and problems so it damage the Indian image?
Interviewer 3:
Tell me would you consider it as part of hybrid warfare?
Candidate:
We can say that because it is the age of fifth-generation warfare and now the war has been changed from traditional wall to even social media war, it can be part of the hybrid war so to provide disinformation about your enemy and to tell the world that this country is spreading the terrorism and other extremism so this is the part this can be the part of hybrid warfare.
Interviewer 3:
Are you following the news in Afghanistan? What are your views on what’s happening in Afghanistan and how would it affect Pakistan?
Candidate:
Yes as far as Afghanistan is concerned a historic peace deal was inked on February 29, 2020, according to that deal the foreign forces would withdraw first the deadline was May 31 but after the establishment of the new presidency Joe Biden they decided to withdraw all the forces by September 11 but after that peace deal there should have been an intra-Afghan dialogue with the Afghan government and Afghan Taliban but that dialogue has been deadlocked and the violence has been increased even recently news came that a strategic border crossing has been captured by Afghan Taliban border crossing with Tajikistan and have been captured by Afghan Taliban so the violence is on the increase and Intra-Afghan dialogue has been deadlocked so these are the issues which are not a good sign for upcoming days.
Interviewer 3:
How would it impact Pakistan?
Candidate:
It would have deep impacts on Pakistan, Pakistan has the largest border with Afghanistan and as far as Pakistan has been establishing China – Pakistan economic corridor and the larger plan is to link the Central Asian countries with Gawadar port and this all depends upon the peace in Afghanistan so this is the impact of this violence of Afghanistan on Pakistan.
Interviewer 3 Continued:
And it has nothing to do with internal security?
The candidate continue his answer:
There are problems Pakistan has been the coarse border but now Pakistan has been fencing the border but still, it is under construction now I’m not clear but I think the part with the KPK province has been completed now the part which is under construction is the part which links the Baluchistan province and there are infiltrations as security forces do not have any proper capacity to fight Taliban and other insurgent groups so they infiltrate to Pakistan so Pakistan has to face security issues recently there are some horrible incidents on Pakistani security institutions especially FC and Levies as well, so the security of Pakistan is deeply linked with the security of Afghanistan as well.
Thank you so much
End up here
Interviewer 4
If you wanted to explain to somebody else about structuralism and post-structuralism how you will explain briefly structuralism and post-structuralism?
Candidate:
Sir recently I’m not sure about that but structuralism and post-structuralism are two movements, two movements of English literature especially literature and as far as if I want to explain to other people, first of all, I will personally go through these movements and then I will explain to someone.
Interviewer 4 Continued:
You have been not going through, anyhow about brief political science because you have opted for political science? What is configuration?
Candidate:
Configuration is a system of government in which you can say the states or provinces have larger powers as compared to the central government so this is a combination of different independent groups which unite to maintain their public interest so this type of government is can be called configuration.
Interviewer 4:
Name any configuration or configuration in the world?
Candidate:
To some extent European Union can be said a configuration.
Interviewer 4:
Okay among political science have you read Montesquieu?
Candidate:
Montesquieu present the theory of separation of powers, according to Montesquieu point of view, there are three pillars of state Judiciary, legislature and executive, they have Separate power and should not interfere in each other domains and at the same time they should have a check and balance at each other as well, this concept or theory of Montesquieu of separation of powers can be seen in USA now.
Interviewer 4:
Okay being a student of political science you must have read constitution of different countries? Like develop states and underdeveloped states, in constitution of United States of America there were first ten amendments and we gave a name of those first ten amendments what were those first ten amendments?
Candidate:
Those first ten amendments are called the bill of rights so they protect the fundamental rights of the people.
Interviewer 4 Continued:
So you mean James Madison is the architect of the US constitution he forgot to incorporate the rights of the people in the constitution?
Candidate:
Sir, it cannot be said that he forgot in the constitution of all the countries have been evolving with the passage of time, the first American constitution is called the Articles of Confederation but soon they were annulled, and then another constitution came and it cannot be said that he forgot but with the passage of time they opted these amendments as well to protect the rights of the people of the country.
Interviewer 4:
Okay, have you read about the constitution of Iran?
Candidate:
Yes sir.
Interviewer 4:
Okay two questions but in a one-word answer? Do you think the constitution of Iran is a democratic constitution yes or no?
Candidate:
Yes sir,
Interviewer 4:
Do you think it’s a true representation of Islamic philosophy being represented in the constitution of Iran?
Candidate:
Sir, it can be said that it is representative of Shia Islamic philosophy.
Interviewer 4:
Okay now come to the Pakistan study, Pakistan affairs, when in 1885 Indian national congress established why Sir Syed Ahmed Khan Abstain Muslims to join this political party?
Candidate:
Sir after the turmoil of 1857 Muslims were held responsible for all that scenario and according to Sir Syed point of view Muslims should focus on education he was you can say that he was of the opinion that Muslims should get even western education, English education, and scientific education so by getting the education they can get their views about their rights and about their duties so this was not an accurate time for joining politics according to Sir Syed’s point of view he said that first Muslims should focus on their education after improving the education they can participate in politics as well .
Interviewer 4:
Okay by which constitutional Indian council act diarchy system was introduced in Sub Continent?
Candidate:
Sir, I’m not sure about that but I think if you allow me to guess it was in 1919?
Interviewer 4:
Yes, you are right,
I’ve done okay thank you very much let’s conclude this formula interview.
Conclusion / Remarks:
Interview Panelists:
And now you tell us what your opinion about your performance today is?
Candidate:
Sir, I think I perform good but there are some issues in which I lack knowledge and i think there are some wording problems communication problems at some points I am unable to elaborate my ideas in a proper way I think these were.
Interview Panelists:
Okay glad you see this is self-realization because you are the best judge for yourself you have performed this is a training session in fact mock interview so I think you have learned a good lesson and you are good to be here because when you will go to the public service commission you will perform better it will be almost identical at my environments.
Interview Panelists Assessment – Advice / Tips :
My advice to you is that as far as your introduction is concerned since you have spent seven years in education you need to make it meaningful but for that matter you
1) Need to write your one-pager interview,
2) Speak in front of the mirror
3) Improve your Communication gaps
4) Keep more focus on English Literature.
5) Don’t rely on only newspapers news for current issues
6) Struggle need on international relation
7) Be yourself
Our assessment is that you are 65 – 70 % but you need to improve it for winning numbers keep working hard and studying hard.
Best of Luck