As many of you would know, I had a tough decision to make last year. Based on my CSE 2016 result, I was allocated IRS-IT and I had to decide whether I should leave IA&AS or not. It was by far one of the toughest decision I had to make in my career.
I left IA&AS and joined IRS-IT after much deliberation and consultation with many seniors and colleagues. In the process I came across many positives and shortcomings of both the services, and I felt it would only be fitting to share it here so that aspirants who come after me are well informed when filling in their service preferences.
A Completely Personal Decision
Let me state at the outset that this decision is a very personal one, which no one else can make for you. Everyone will be able to point to you what they think are the best things in both services, but ultimately you will have to decide based on your priorities in life, which service will suit your aptitude the most.
It was a combination of familial and career priorities I have set over time that made me choose IRS-IT over IA&AS and therefore, I do not want anyone who follows me to go by the notion that IRS-IT is better than IA&AS or vice versa. This particular aspect was already dealt by me in a previous answer Which is better service in UPSC IRS or IA&AS?. This post is primarily intended to help you understand the factors that went into my decision making process, and guide you if you are similarly placed like me.
A Really Tough Decision…I mean Really
I loved IA&AS. I really loved the job there. I was able to contribute much to my academy NAAA, and gained much in the process too. For example, the current website of the academy http://naaa.gov.in was developed from scratch by me, and in the process I learnt a lot about the government procedures involved in executing a project like this. Right from dealing with different departments, like the Government Registry (Registrar for the Domain) and NIC to tendering and procuring services, I learnt a lot of interesting things. In the end, I was given an appreciation letter by our Director General for my work, which I consider was one of my best achievements last year.
I learnt a lot in the form of academic inputs too. I was thoroughly aware of the role Audit played in the government set-up, its scope and its application. The opportunities that IA&AS provided me with was enamouring and you must have read about it all in my posts and answers written in the last year.
So when it came to making a decision like this, my quick response was “No”. When the results came, my course director called me, and I told her that I would not be leaving. I decided to not attend the foundation course.
Advices
My wife and mother also was convinced that there was not much point in leaving, since there are no significant gains in leaving one Central Service for another. However, my father asked me to thoroughly think through my decision without any bias. He told me that I had seen the good side of one department, but that I should not draw conclusions about the other based on that experiences alone. Since I had decided to skip the foundation course, I was in a unique position to ponder over the pros and cons of one decision over another for a long 6 month period.
Personal considerations
The most important thing as far as I was concerned was stability. I wanted to settle down at one place for a long time because it would really help my son have a stable education and a good friend circle. This would also mean my wife could also concentrate on her career without sacrificing anything for me. In this respect, IRS-IT had a clear advantage in that it would enable me to stay at one place for a long period of more than 10 years.
Promotions
I have already written about promotions in IA&AS v IRS-IT. There is a definite advantage in IA&AS, where you will reach J-Sec level in 16 years, while in IRS-IT, you have to wait close to 21 years for the same. And further promotions are even slower in IRS. This weighed a lot in my mind. However, given that I will have only 31 years of service, it did not matter because, either way, I wouldn’t be retiring at apex scale.
Besides, it didn’t make sense to me to plan such a long time ahead. I have already jumped close to 5 jobs, and therefore, it would be unwise for me to predict that I will remain in Government for the entire length of my career. There was also the prospect of cadre restructuring happening in IRS after which this scenario might change.
Job Diversity
There is no other department in the government with as much variety as Audit, save IAS probably. As a knowledge department, it requires you to constantly learn new things in many different areas. However, at the core of it, you will be doing the work of an auditor and a manager, even though in different areas.
I enquired some seniors from both the departments about this. After consulting them, I came to this conclusion:- In the end, the core objective of both departments is to check evasion. One department checks the evasion that happens in government sector, while the other checks evasion in Private sector. There is enough diversity in both services to satisfy your quest for knowledge and in the government there is nothing that will prevent you from working in one field or the other. That is what deputations are there for. My current course director, Saritha Kumari IRS has been with the CAG on deputation. There are numerous examples of civil servants moving from one department to another to work in areas of their choice.
Recognition
IA&AS, while well respected within the government set up, has very little interface with the public. IRS is a department that is well known within the middle class and higher levels of society, which mattered to me. I would be dealing with people, even though it is also a desk job. This also weighed in my decision making.
Executive Capacity
Audit is a process that happens after the fact. Some people would go on to say it is a “post-mortem job” ( Even though I don’t agree with that). There is little that you can do in an executive capacity in Audit, when you are not on deputation. I felt that an executive role would suit my temperament more than being a critique of others action.
Hierarchy
Whereas in IA&AS there is not much of strict adherence to hierarchy, I was told at the time that IRS-IT has a highly hierarchical structure. This was something I did not particularly like.
Consultation with seniors
In the process of deciding, I consulted with many seniors, many of whom guided me well. Seniors from IA&AS told me why there are no particular gains in moving. Seniors from IRS-IT told me what I would gain and what I would lose. When I say seniors, I mean people at Joint Secretary rank and above. There were many at the lower ranks also whom I consulted, but the opinion of the senior officers were given more weightage by me since they have seen the government set up more than others.
Babu Paul Sir IAS, who retired in the rank of Chief Secretary in Kerala advised that I should stay in IA&AS. A retired DGP, and a very close family friend of mine, told me that I should move.
At the end of it, I understood that it should be my personal priorities alone that can guide my decision. The other things, would matter little even if stayed or left.
Two Books I read
At the same time, I read two books which also influenced my decision.
The first book was Thinking fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. Two concepts that DK describes particularly struck me as applying to me. The first was endowement effect, where you always have a tendency to stay in a position that you are comfortable in, or the love that you develop for something that you have.
The second concept was that of focusing illusion. It simply says that nothing in life matters as much as you think it does, when you think about it.
The other book was So Good that they can’t ignore you by Cal Newport.
Final Decision
After much thinking, I finally decided to leave IA&AS. I completed my medical examination only in December, following which my appointment letter came. I put in my Technical resignation on 20th December 2017, and joined IRS-IT at Nagpur on 21st.
This has been a long post. However, if this helps you in deciding what choice you should make if you are similarly placed like me, I hope you would also know what to prioritise and what not.
I will continue to write about my experiences in the government in this blog and I hope I contribute a bit in helping you all to understand the prospects and possibilities of a career in the government.