A competitve exam may be objective or subjective with an additional interview stage.
Objective Exam:
- answer is given.
- One needs to just recall.
- Recall the most appropriate answer.
Subjective Exam:
- One needs to reproduce knowledge in given time.
- Devise tools to aid it.
Interview:
- Interaction to establish profesional competency.
- Technical know how as well as see suitability to the work culture.
This should be our broad approach and we should orient ourself as per the need.
Remember the foundational testing is same in all forms. Only the means varies.
Just : Read, Recall and Reproduce.
Source: UPSC CSE Toppers