Aptitude and Foundational Values for Civil Services

Aptitude

  • Aptitude is an ability to do something.
  • An aptitude is a component of a competency to do a certain kind of work at a certain level, which can also be considered “talent”.
  • Aptitudes may be physical or mental. 

What is not aptitude?

Aptitude is not

  • knowledge or understanding,
  • Interest,
  • learned or acquired abilities (skills)
  • attitude

apptitude and other

Difference between Attitude & Aptitude

Attitude Aptitude
  • It is your positive/negative feeling towards a person, object, event, idea, environment.
  • Latin Word “Aptus” meaning fitness or adeptness
  • Innate, inborn potential. But not cast in stone. It can be from nature, it can be nurtured.
  • Associated with character
  • Associated with competence.
  • Attitude determines How people arrive at correct judgment, how they’ll perform a given task?
  • e.g. If an officer has negative attitude towards minorities, he may delay passing their scholarship files.
  • It determines whether Person will develop the skills to perform a particular task?
Examples of attitudes

 

 

  • Confidence
  • Cautious
  • tolerant
  • pessimism
  • responsible
Examples of aptitude

 

 

  • Quantitative aptitude
  • Verbal aptitude
  • Reasoning aptitude
  • Finger dexterity
  • Visual memory
  • Only mental.
  • Surviving terminal disease depends on your attitude towards life rather than ‘aptitude’ in physical training.
 

 

 

  • To become an officer in defense or police services, you need to have both physical and mental aptitude.
  • Aptitude of hand and eye coordination : Good cricketer.
 
  • In India, most people pickup profession without seeing whether they’ve the ‘aptitude’ for it or not?
  • They choose a profession by change and not choice.
  • So, they make a living from their career, but don’t derive job-satisfaction e.g. Most Engineers,  pharmacist and IT graduates.
  A Civil servant must have 3 aptitudes

 

 

  1. Intellectual aptitude.
  2. Emotional aptitude.
  3. Moral aptitude.

(Souce of table: Mrunal)

Foundational Values for Civil Services

foundational values for civil serice small

  • For more on foundational values, refer Mrunal.