hi guys,my sister is an investment banking associate with bank of america ,MERILYN LYNCH in new york
she is earning a package of close to 300,000 us dollars
however,my parents are trying to suggest to her to come to india and prepare for the civil services..
i am against it knowing how tough it is for a general category aspirant and that its is no guarantee that even if she clears the exam,she will get a very good state
she is a harvard graduate and has high student debt also so foregoing job isnt easy
it would be nice to know what NRIs on this forum think ,or enlightened people in general
thanks
Comments
Mujhe accha lagega,because Harvard ppl competed with me.
Even if I dint top the exam and she appeared.mujhe tab bhi accha lagega kyunki I competed with Harvard ppl.
Now let's be serious..
I think she must give a try.irrespective of the fact of current salary,academic excellence anyone who thinks for CSE preparation must attempt.
This preparation teaches many things ,sharpens personality apart from knowledge enrichment.
So try if she feels.
And ask her to make s account here on forum IAS.
you are earning is more then even the cabinet secretary . why do u want to join civil service ;
(and we know what the answer will be there deshseva garibi hato bla bla )
but if the the truth is only "becoz parents wanted it so " i think she might would regret it later
second thing is lifestyle .. USA newyork BoA banker .. may find it dificullt adjusting to indian village life at around 14000 US doller package (i doubt even corruption/lal batti/bangla would match the life and society she is currently in )
so before going in for battle for Civil do analyse it well ... but do analyse .. my personal opinion would be that a harvard-USA -NRI-save_and_settle_in_India_later curve is far better then unpredictable civil service with no prize to win other then self-satisfaction
Your sister has worked very hard for where she is already. many would look upto her for where she is today. just like people feel for an IAS/IPS job. After the initial rush of selection, praise and admiration, IAS is still a job with various good/bad sides to it. If your sister, not your parents, has some genuine deep motivation, inspirations for it, only then she should take the plunge. with education debt and other situations in front of her, only she should decide she is inclined to leave her job and life there and why does it motivates her over her present job and earnings. ask her if she wants to be in India.. she went abroad in the first preference because of some reason.. may be she likes her life in NY better, her job too.. my brother is a british citizen now, he too did think of pursuing civil services and deliberated a lot over it but finally took a call to stay there. today with family and kids, he says he did right. So that was his choice and he appreciates it. if she prepares, I think let her test the waters there by studying for some time, finding more about the exam.. before quitting the job. quitting first won't be better, I think. In my opinion she is doing great for herself and might as well continue over there.. but if she wants to join us all, she is welcome
My situation is quite comparable with a little less salary. My college has similar status in India as HBS has in USA. Quitting any job is ok as long as the person himself is motivated for the exam. I would advise totally against it because the parents are suggesting it.
This exam needs a lot of hard work and then luck. let me highlight this with two example.
I know a guy who passed 3 years graduation in 4 years and was selected for UPSC with hard work and significant luck.
lets look at the next, one of my batch mate was in top 5% of class in college. He rejected several well paid campus offers to appear for UPSC but he did not make it despite several attempts. He worked very hard for this exam but luck failed him. This is typical testing error. He later joined corporate and quit again after one year to start an NGO.
So your sister needs to study really a lot for that she needs a lot of motivation. I think (opinion) she wont have it because the parents are suggesting the exam.
second even if she does study hard, she may not make it to IAS because of bad luck. so in nutshell, the parents are suggesting to give up all she worked for last so many years for something which is very uncertain (some people compare this exam to gambling- they too have point- this test has no consistency- IPS may not clear pre next year, on the other side people who get high score in CAT generally repeat it every year).
my recommendation: nope unless she wants it badly.
Personal disclosure: I quit my job one year ago, going back soon.