‘Skills pay bills, not syllabus’: UPSC aspirant gives reality check in Reddit post, sparks debate

A Reddit post questioning the real-world value of UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) exam preparation has gone viral for its brutally honest take on what many call India’s toughest exam.

The user argues that the UPSC preparation journey, while often glorified, doesn’t necessarily equip aspirants with practical or marketable skills relevant to today’s fast-changing job market.

“Let’s be honest, UPSC preparation doesn’t really build skills. We are not learning how to think creatively, solve real-world problems, or develop something of market value. We are just memorizing history, polity, and facts written by Laxmikant or Ramesh Singh,” the post read.

The writer points out that no company is looking to hire someone based on their ability to recall facts like Article 370 or the functions of the Finance Commission. “Those things have zero relevance in today’s industry,” they said, adding that this kind of preparation often produces “unemployed philosophers with great handwriting and zero industry relevance.”

The post also challenges the popular notion that UPSC preparation builds a solid foundation for life or careers beyond government service.

“People often romanticize UPSC prep as the foundation of a career, or quote Divyakirti’s ‘tazurba’ tagline, but that’s a myth. It only prepares you for a handful of government jobs, and even then, success is rare,” the user added.

While acknowledging that the preparation instills discipline and awareness, the post insists that these alone don’t pay bills. “In today’s world, skills pay bills. You should already have them before jumping into UPSC or develop them alongside. People who sacrifice their entire college time for it without learning anything else are the biggest losers. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”

The post has resonated with many aspirants and working professionals online, sparking conversations around whether India’s exam-centric education system adequately prepares youth for real-world employment and innovation.

A user said, “Which selection exam teaches you skills to solve real life problems or develop something of market value?”

“As a person who has prepared for upsc civil services and then moved on to computer engineering, I would say that the whole government job market is screwed to the core, we are still following the age old practices for selecting candidates. I don’t know how our country will fare in the future. We grossly lack the scientific temperament, there are no major Deep tech research centres, most of the talent is either going abroad or is preparing for govt jobs where they will not utilise any of the technical knowledge they earned in college. We are decades behind the developed countries in scientific research, and once quantum AI becomes mainstream, God only knows how we will be able to keep up,” a second user commented. 

A third user said, “UPSC like gov exams are scam organised by govt. itself. so that the whole youth population will revolve aroud it till their youth exhaust. and no one will ask for jobs/skills as the govt. will tell go and prepare for this. The situation is like 1 anaar 100 beemar. and also that 1 anaar after selecting doesnt creat any job further. after not getting selected they only can do is to teach for the same exam they were fighting for, and the loop goes on. So the whole ecosystem is flawed leading the country towards nothing.”

“It’s just a filter test bro real officers are built at lbsnaa and respective training academy. With soo much population this the only cost effective mechanism to filter people out,” a fourth user commented. “This is 100 percent correct,” another user said.