Hi all,
I am 32, Jobless, unmarried, dad retired. Left job 2 years ago when i heard there will be two extra attempts to be given. Seems made a wrong decision in my life. Never quit a Govt job this late in life because if u work for more than 5-6 years in govt job, there will be almost no takers and you wont be able to find a job so easy as Govt job and that too with good salary. Keep preparing with job. UPSC is too unpredictable to leave a govt job.
This was my fourth and final attempt (age wise) ... Am scoring 88 (General category) ... There is no chance I am going to qualify... So, I am done now (age wise) .. no more attempts left. So, Good bye to UPSC
Few suggestion from a failed student and what not to do to be a failure like me.
I based my study on last two yaers paper hoping the pattern wouldnt change and everytime they changed it to my disadvantage. So, decide what is your strength and stick to it even if you dont qualify once or twice. Because at least one attempt will be such that you will get paper to your advantage. I always thought that CA would be my strength. But after being bitten twice by static portion of the exam in last two attempts, i decided to go for static portion and this time they asked CA (lolz). Though i had read almost every question that they asked, due to neglecting revision of CA, I was thrown out as I was not able to recall many stuff, such as which state got its state butterfly. I knew it was in south, there was maharashtra and Karnataka given in option. I makred Karanataka. So, my advice would be that you stick to your strength and once in 6 attempts u will get paper to your strength.
Also, one more advice, this is a memory based exam. So try to remember every new data whenever you see them. Never leave it for posterity. Keep making notes of data in a copy. I made notes on paper and in the end all papers were placed in different places and i couldnt even find most of them and those i found were too staggered and so I was not able to revise it in a good way (i mean topic wise). I had a page where i had noted all the reports and name of reports and which organisation brings out that report. But i was unable to find it even after searching for 2 hrs. And two questions were directly from that page and I marked both answers wrong. So make 4-5 copies filled with data only about current affairs, history, culture etc. This will help you in mains also as the data will serve as examples and fodder point to give substance to your answers.
Though Making notes on laptop or electronic form has advantage of editing, it also has some disadvantage. You copy paste things and so it doesnt get into your brains. Whereas writing them on paper does help in memorising as you write it. If you want to make notes in electronic format, after u edit the word document, try to revise then and there by writing on piece of paper or rough copy. Remember, its the data in your head that gets you selected and not those written in notes. Many thing i revised by writing on paper, stuck to my head and i did them right. But most of those in electronic format, even though i was able to revise them, i was not able to recall them. These questions included some data on schemes of govt. I had copied them directly from pib and other sources and was not able to recall them even after i revised.
Also revising on laptop has many distractions. You keep checking more stuff. Always waste of time. Just stick to wikipedia's first few paragraphs and pib. That will be enough to answer most of the questions. Dont go searching many newspapers etc. Its a waste of time
Also, one last thing. Dont get into pressure of marking 85 or 100 questions as many suggested to me. I was done with paper within 1hr 20 mins approx and was able to do 57 questions out of which, i got 53 correct and 4 wrong. But i remembered many teachers, toppers and others whom i hold in reverence that you cant expect to mark 60 and expect to get 110. So, I marked another 30 questions in last 40 mins. trying to eliminate and mark. Butterfly question, and which organisation brings out what report were among them. Though i elimnated 2 out of 4, i still marked the wrong answer(seems guess work is not my strong suite and i knew it before also, but i still took the risk as i was only able to do 57). But if you are marking on your strong suite, you must be sure that they will be correct. CA was my strong suite. I shouldnt have marked the later 30 questions i marked of which I got only 2 correct and 28 wrong. So i went from 53 correct and 4 wrong to 55 correct and 32 wrong reducing me to roundabout 88. So, what works for others may not work for you. You have to figure it out during your preparation time when you do mock Test papers/ Test series. I was aware of my weaknesses but i was not able to apply it chasing imaginary cut offs. Or I would have been somewhere north of 102 and a might have some chance to clear prelims. This year the paper was not good for first timers as the coachings tell them to depend on the static part which was true for last many years except 2013, after which i decided to take IAS exam seriously. I personally dont feel that cut off for general will go more than 100.
So, In all good luck to you all in your future endeavours.
Now, for my part.
I am 32, Jobless, unmarried, dad retired. Everyone at home is sad after yesterday's fiasco. I have not looked for any job since i got job out of campus. And it has been years. I dont have any experience in job searching in private sector and where to look for it. I dont think any Govt job is now open for me as I am already 32. So, I have to look for private field. If anyone has any idea/suggestion where to start, it would be great help. Any and all advice is welcome even those which you feel is too stupid to comment.
Thanks all.
Comments
& u covered some miles in civil
Let few more more
& yes after a failure only a winner can write that u wrote above
Atb
@maginot
Bro, wahi to mai bhi soch raha hoon. But I wont go back to what i hated. Thats why this is a bigger challenge. I wanted to work inside the govt and in Foreign services. Also, have no idea where to look for job. Thats why the last part asking for suggestions.
Thanks for your support.
Thanks for the sugestion. I will keep it in my mind if something doesnt transpires in the immediate few months.
Good luck to you for you future attempts.
Obviously perks r less & salary too
Be besharm & call every near ones to some jugaad
Contacts works most of the time
Sorry to hear abt ur prelims exp ..
I never left my job because I know how cruel this exam is
Saath Mai PCs ki tayari karte rahyee. Hope is a good thing and may be the best of things and you will definitely do great in your life.
Kuch kohish zaroor karenge agar aap manufacturing ya auto se ho toh!!
Dil mat haaro bas!