Short Summary
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SSC AND UPSC?
BY: SHREYA AGGARWAL, VIDHYARTHI DARPAN
Who doesn’t want a government job? There’s a reason why they are considered to be a good career choice in the country. Its perks are enormous – you get a really good pay, job security, guaranteed promotions and don’t forget the pride and status you receive in the society! On top of this the satisfaction you get for serving your country, and making contributions to the development of the country is priceless. All these factors make them a way better and lucrative offer than working in private companies. Hence, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that getting a government job is truly rewarding and very beneficial to live a secure life ahead. You can get government jobs by giving various examinations conducted. The most popular if these exams are: SSC and UPSC.
SSC (Staff Selection Commission) exam:
Staff Selection Commission is a governmental agency whose sole purpose is to recruit candidates to work in different departments within the government. Competition in SSC CGL is way more than of UPSC CSE. There are two SSC exams held in the country once a year according to any vacancy present in a particular department or ministry:
- SSC Combined Higher Secondary Level (10+2) Examination
- SSC Combined Graduate Level Examination
The posts you can apply for are:
- Sub-Inspectors in Delhi Police & CBI
- Sub-Inspectors in BSF, CRPF, ITBP and CISF
- Divisional Accountant
- Accountant
- Auditor & UDCs in various offices of Govt. of India
- Inspectors of Central Excise & Customs
- Inspectors of Income Tax
- Preventive Officers in Customs
- Examiner in Customs
- Assistants in Ministries
- Assistants in Various Subordinate office of the Govt. of India
Posts inducted: This exam is responsible for recruiting candidates at the Group B posts and the non-technical Group C posts at different departments of the Government of India.
- Group B- AAO, AAO(Account), Assistant, Inspector Examiner etc.
- Group C- Sub Inspector, Audit C&AG, Audit CGDA, Audit CGA etc.
Types of candidates recruited: SSC selects candidates which are going to do the administrative work and other daily operational work in their respective departments.
Salary: The positions offered are lower than that in case of the civil services exam, hence its quite obvious that the pay is going to be less.
Eligibility:
Age limit: the age limit for this exam is between 18- 32 years.
Conduction of examination:
There are various SSC exams conducted like: SSC CGL, SSC CHSL, SSC CPO, SSC GD Constable etc. This exam is based on your solving ability and application skills.
This exam is conducted in three phases:
- Combined Graduate Level (Preliminary) Exam: it is an objective type paper which asks questions from topics like – Numerical Aptitude, English Comprehension, Fifty marks for each subject, General Intelligence & Reasoning, and General Awareness etc. This is a two-hour exam. Extra 40 minutes are given if you are a handicapped citizen.
- Combined Graduate Level (Main) Examination: it is a conventional type paper which will test your Arithmetical Ability, English Language & Comprehension and Statistics. This is also a two-hour exam and extra 40 minutes are given if you are a handicapped citizen.
- Interview: after you qualify these two exams, you’ll be invited to give an interview.
A computer proficiency test can also be held for some specific posts.
UPSC/ IAS exam/ Civil Services Exam:
The Civil Services Exam is an exam conducted at the national level by UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) to recruit candidates to work in governmental public services. This is a really tough exam to crack. But if you do so, you can get placed as the top most level positions there are in the government.
The posts you can apply for are:
- Indian Administrative Service (IAS)
- Indian Police Services (IPS)
- Indian Forest Service (IFS)
- Indian Defense Accounts Service
- Indian Revenue Service (I.T.)
- India Foreign Service
- Indian Audit and Accounts Service
- Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise)
This is probably one of the most difficult exams in terms of competition and its extensive screening process.
Posts Inducted: This exam is responsible for recruiting Class A Officers and Class B Officers at different departments of the Government of India. It recruits for gazetted posts.
- Class A- IAS, IPS, IFS, IA & AS, ICAS, ICLS, IDAS, IDES, IFS(Foreign).
- Class B- AFHCS, DAICS, DANIPS.
Types of candidates recruited: This exam selects the best of the best candidates as they are going to be given the responsibility to serve at the highest positions within the government. They make and implement various governmental policies which his going to lead to the development of the nation. Thus, they have to be the most talented, knowledgeable and confident who will be able to handle the administrative responsibilities very well.
Salary: the positions offered are way higher and hence the pay is also a lot higher than those offered to SSC candidates.
Eligibility:
Age limit: the age limit for this exam is between 21- 32 years for general category. For candidates belonging to OBC, SC and ST category, the upper age limit is 35, 37, 37 years respectively.
Conduction of the exams: This is a more general knowledge-based exam. The civil services exam is conducted in two phases:
- Pre-exam: It has two objective-type papers (CSAT)
- Main exam: It has 9 papers of conventional type along with an interview. The paper will include comprehension of given passages, precision writing, usage and vocabulary, short essays, translation from English to an Indian language and vice-versa, etc.
If you are an IAS aspirant, and you have used all your attempts and not succeeded to crack the civil services exam, then don’t lose your hope! There’s an alternative for you. You can always opt for the SSC exam to fulfil your dream of being a part of the governmental administration.
